Further Listening:

5. We Can Happily Suffer The New Pozi Single

The latest in a wave of politically charged post-punk revivalists, London’s Pozi only formed last year, although they’re wasting no time in making quite the impact. This week the guitar-less trio have shared their new single, Watching You Suffer, as well as detailing their upcoming debut album, PZ1.

Watching You Suffer was inspired by a friend of drummer, and like all three members of Pozi vocalist, Toby Burroughs, who spent six years between mental health institutions and halfway houses. The track may be well under two minutes, but manages to fit in a biting critique of systematic failures, and a more personal reflection on the guilt found in feeling like you could have done more. While Pozi will draw inevitable comparisons to the likes of Sleaford Mods and Idles, they’re musically far removed from either, their violin and bass-led sound, having a strut more akin to Devo or the much-loved Clor. Pozi are keen to stress they’re not political preachers, more quiet observers reflecting the world back at their listeners; Pozi paint a picture of the current state of our country, and ask you to make your own mind up whether you’re okay with what you see.

PZ1 is out April 5th via Prah Recordings. Click HERE for more information on Pozi.

4. Dana Could Be Your New Number One By One

Based out of Toronto, it was on a trip to her ancestral homeland of Serbia that Dana Gavasnki penned her debut single. That track, One By One, is the first offering from Dana, and is being shared as a 7″ on the excellent Full Time Hobby label in April.

Despite having been a singer since she was a child, Dana was all set to follow her father into the film industry, until an ex-partner left Dana a guitar. Then, inspired by memories of playing Joan Baez’s Diamonds and Rust, Dana reconnected with music; based on One By One that was a very good idea. A meditation on, “being alone and the melancholy, vulnerability and rebuilding of self that comes with it”, One By One is a beautifully understated piece of songwriting. There’s a simplicity to the gently strummed guitars that greet the listener, only picking up the pace later as a rumble of bass adds some perfectly placed propulsion. At the fore throughout is Dana’s vocal, with all the nonchalant, emotionless emotion of Cate Le Bon, the beautifully clipped delivery and ability to jump effortlessly from the most impossibly distant parts of the scale are frankly stunning. Even better news, Dana has recently been hauled up working on her debut album, on this evidence it might just be one of the most exciting debuts of the year.

One By One/Do You? is out April 26th via Full Time Hobby. Click HERE for more information on Dana Gavanski.

3. There’s Witching In Those Eyes

Formed back in 2013 as the brain-child of drummer Emma Wigham and guitarist Mark Jasper, Witching Waves have been one of the most thrillingly brutal acts on the London DIY scene ever since. Now relocated to Yorkshire, and with quite possibly music’s busiest person, Estelle Adeyeri adding some bassy brilliance, Witching Waves have recently announced the release of their third album Persistence, and shared the latest single from it Eye 2 Eye.

Persistence was recorded completely live in just two days at Sound Savers, the East London studio Mark co-ran, and which was such an important hub for so many of the records we cover on this site. As the title would suggest Persistence, is in some ways a record about the power of carrying on, a record about change, distance and making things works: perfectly captured here on Eye 2 Eye. The band have described the track as, “an ode to conflict”, that energy matched in the typically frenetic playing, three minutes of breathless, guitar riffing, driving bass and quite possibly the most thrilling drum sound we’ve ever heard. Emma and Mark share vocals throughout, breathlessly spitting out lyrics, barely giving them time to register, only revealing themselves on repeat listens, “when did we decide to talk about it? how do we begin to talk about it?” The energy, the drive, the beautiful, brutal noise of it all, Witching Waves are everything we want in a band, and have never sounded better.

Persistence is out April 5th via Specialist Subject Records. Click HERE for more information on Witching Waves.

2. I Wanna Listen To The Knew Mammoth Penguins Single

Mammoth Penguins, the Cambridge based indie-pop band fronted by Emma Kupa, first came to the world’s attention back in 2015 with their Fortuna Pop-released debut, Hide And Seek. After a foray into concept albums, plus adding and friends to their name, on 2017’s John Doe, they’re back to their power-pop trio roots with a new album, There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win, out in April, and this week they shared their blistering new single, I Wanna.

The track is about how falling for someone can send you into a whirlwind of creativity and energy, as Emma explains, “suddenly there are so many possibilities and so much potential, and life becomes way more fun.” The joyful tone of the lyricism, is matched in the musical progression, seemingly inspired by the richer-textures of John Doe, here they sound bolder and denser than before; the guitars crunch, the layers vocal shine the drums hit like the proverbial ton of bricks. As they sing in unison with a sense of abandon and freedom, “I love you, fuck it all”, with tracks as cathartic and joyful as this, expect a lot of people to be screaming that back at them soon.

There’s No Fight We Can’t Both Win is out April 26th via Fika Recordings. Click HERE for more information on Mammoth Penguins.

1. Spend The Rest Of Your Life With Siobhan Wilson

Back in 2017 we raved regularly about the wonderful Siobhan Wilson and her debut album, There Are No Saints. The Elgin-born songwriter, inspired by her time in Paris as much as her Scottish roots, produced a potent blend of musical virtuosity and melodic charm. Some two years later, Siobhan has completed work on the follow up, The Departure, and has this week shared the first single from it, Marry You.

Roaring into life with a guitar-line surprisingly reminiscent of Everlong by Foo Fighters, it’s quite obvious that the departure, isn’t just the album title but a whole new approach. The beefed up electric guitar sound, courtesy of a new Baritone Gretsch if you’re interested in such things, created a delightful counter-point to Siobhan’s flittering, dancing vocals, every bit as wonderful as you remember them. Lyrically, the track is both a musing on the still gendered process of proposals, and a wider swipe at anyone waiting for someone to give them the okay, as Siobhan sings, “if indecision is your decision, I do not need your permission”. Like the sirens of Greek mythology, on Marry You, Siobhan is taking us to darker, murkier musical waters,

The Departure is out May 10th via Suffering Fools Records. Click HERE for more information on Siobhan Wilson.

Header photo is Siobhan Wilson by Chris Scott – https://www.chrisdonia.co.uk