Further Listening:

5. Pet Deaths Are Always Bad Things

Pet Deaths are the London based musical duo of Graeme Martin and Liam Karima. The pair bonded back in 2017 after a chance meeting at Ladbroke Grove, and after a series of writing – and drinking – sessions, Pet Deaths were formed. The band released their debut album, To The Top Of The Hill And Roll… back in August, and this week the pair have shared the latest single from it, If Only Bad Things Could Happen.

Described by the band as a defining moment in the album, If Only Bad Things Could Happen serves as the record’s mood shifting centre-piece. In many ways, it’s a break-up track, a reflection of the moment, “when you find out your loved one has found someone new and your stomach implodes”. The gut-wrenching lyrical content is played off in a surprisingly ethereal musical package, taking influence from classic heart-break songs from the likes of Serge Gainsbourg and Elvis. That influence combined with Pet Death’s melancholic indie-folk, results in something beautiful and bruising, with the wistfulness of Here We Go Magic and the emotive punch of Villagers. A perfect sign-off to a fine year, surely only good things will happen for Pet Deaths from here on in.

To The Top Of The Hill And Roll… is out now. Click HERE for more information on Pet Deaths.

4. You And Your Fast Blood

Hot of the presses, Newcastle’s Fast Blood only formed earlier this year, which hasn’t stopped them already sharing stages with the likes of Martha (at their first ever gig) & Jeffrey Lewis. The band recently recorded their debut four-track EP, and this week have shared the first single from it, You.

Fast Blood’s sound combines the influence of American indie-punks like Pretty Girls Make Graves or Cursive, with something distinctly North-Eastern. As the band crash out an energetic blast of punk-rock urgency and hook-laden choruses, in the foreground throughout is vocalist, Abi Barlow’s yelping vocal; uplifting and honest in equal measure. Lyrically, it’s a homage to someone who always stands with you through the thick and the thin, “on days I say I can’t do this, I know you’re there to help me out“. The latest act to emerge out of the Newcastle DIY-scene, Fast Blood might just be our favourites to date.

You is out now. Click HERE for more information on Fast Blood

3. Ce Qui est Anglais Pour le Milieu de la Maison?

Asides from having a name so similar to ours that we were never going to ignore them, French For Rabbits also make some genuinely excellent music! The New Zealand-based dream-poppers impressed early this year with their album, The Weight of Melted Snow, and returned this week with a brand new track, Middle Of The House.

Middle Of The House is a gorgeously delicate affair, with Brooke Singer’s intricate vocals initially accompanied by little more than a piano before swelling with complex beats, processed vocals and icy electronic flourishes. Discussing the track, the band have suggested, “it’s about childhood, letting go, moving on, and growing up”, the track finding the protagonist returning to her partner’s childhood home and watching them retreat into a shell, and return to a younger, less sure person. Like much of French For Rabbits’ music there’s an undeniable darkness here, an unfinished story with gaps left for the listener’s own emotions to fill in the blanks – c’est très bien.

Middle Of The House is out now. Click HERE for more information on French For Rabbits.

2. Is This The End Of Lande Hekt?

Best known up to this point as the vocalist and guitarist in Exeter indie-punks Muncie Girls, Lande Hekt is stepping out as a solo artist with her debut EP, Gigantic Disappointment, recorded alongside producer Ben David, and some local Kangaroos, in a self-sustainable studio in Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills. Ahead of the release, as well as tour dates with the wonderful Soot Sprite, Lande has this week shared the latest taste of the record, Everything Ends.

In a twist from the Rock’n’Roll clichés, Everything Ends is a song about giving up alcohol, and the potential feelings of isolation that can follow, as Lande puts it, “the best way to make sure you don’t drink is to not hang out with anyone who drinks. And everyone drinks”. Musically, the track is a beautifully dynamic affair, from the swooning dream-pop intro through to the driving distorted crescendo, with Lande’s impressive vocal stitching the two disparate musical strands together. With the rest of the EP promising tracks about climate change and confronting a fear of flying, Gigantic Disappointments feels like an artist throwing themselves to the front of their music, luckily in Lande’s case there seems to be plenty here that’s well worth discovering.

Gigantic Disappointments is out now. Click HERE for more information on Lande Hekt.

1. Emily Yacina Takes Her Seat In The Stands

Lifting it’s name from a Dana Redfield book about alien abductions, Remember the Silver, is the debut studio album by New York – via Pennysylvania songwriter, Emily Yacina. In the book the line is used as a mantra to remind the abductee about how her experiences are real despite the doubts of others; on Emily’s debut album, she takes real experiences from her life and wonders how they can start to almost feel unreal. This week, ahead of the album’s release next month, Emily has shared the latest single from it, Bleachers.

Discussing the track, Emily has suggested Bleachers is about, “how people can stay in your life for a long time, and how losing them can feel like losing a part of your own identity”. The hazy lyrical content is married in a musical collage of fuzzy bass and woozy guitars, creating a spacious back-drop for Emily’s easy vocal style, an impressive instrument that’s a sure fire winner for fans of Soccer Mommy or Squirrel Flower. The track seems to cast Emily as stuck, watching the world move on as she struggles to do the same, “time is a silk web tangled in pleas, I choke to move on, what are you doing to me?” There’s both a claustrophobia and expanse to this record, the musical backing is dense, almost engulfing, yet the voice has a clarity that cries out, and demands to be heard, expect the world to catch on, Emily Yacina isn’t going to stay underground for long.

Remember the Silver is out December 6th. Click HERE for more information on Emily Yacina.

Header photo is Emily Yacine by Caroline Pigou – https://www.carolinepigou.com/