Further Listening:

5. Georgia’s Far Too Close For Comfort

We last heard from Welsh-music prize winner Georgia Ruth back in 2016, with the release of her second album, Fossil Scale. Since then Georgia has had a child and moved back to her native Aberystwyth, yet despite that understandable break, we were delighted to discover this week, that Georgia will be back next year with a new album, Mai, out on the excellent Bubblewrap Collective. Ahead of that release, this week Georgia has shared a brand new single, Close For Comfort.

Resplendent with lush flourishes of slide guitar and bright acoustics, Close For Comfort has a certain country-twang without losing that unmistakable Welshness that permeates all of Georgia’s songwriting. Described by Georgia as a, “jaunt through living rooms, holes in the ground and rivers”, Close For Comfort reads like a reflection on being lost, then found again without ever even realising it, a study on intimacy and its ability to ebb and flow as a relationship progresses. An intriguing return from an exceptional songwriter, welcome back Georgia Ruth.

Mai is out March 20th via Bubblewrap Collective. Click HERE for more information on Georgia Ruth.

4. California Is For The Bunnies

We featured Beach Bunny last month when they announced their upcoming album Honeymoon, due out next year, and shared the first single from it, Dream Boy. Ramping up anticipation for the release, the Chicago-quartet have this week shared the second single from it, Ms. California.

While set to a dreamy-grunge-pop backing, Ms. California has a more downbeat lyrical thread, as songwriter Lili Trifilio explains the track, “tells the story of someone who is secretly in love with a person who is in a relationship and wishes that they could be their significant other. I wanted to write a song that captured the frustration and feelings of jealousy and bitterness”. Sweet melodies colliding with the bitter twang of unrequited love, sure it’s not the first time that’s been done, yet in music as in food, sometimes the best combinations are classics for a reason.

Honeymoon is out February 14th via Mom + Pop. Click HERE for more information on Beach Bunny.

3. HUSSY’s New Single Is A Real Let Down

A new one on us, HUSSY is the, “avant-garde dream pop project”, of Sophie Nicole Ellison, originally from the North East of England, and now operating out of South East London. Having only emerged from the studio back in October, HUSSY have already supported the likes of FEELS and Lala Lala, and this week have returned with a brand new single, YLMD (sensing the question that’s on your mind, it stands for You Let Me Down).

The track is something of a sonic experiment for HUSSY, removed from the bedroom pop of previous releases, and involving considerably more studio craft. The track sounds lush and fully realised, with ambitious production and perfect pop melodies. Lyrically, the song has become something of an empowering one for Sophie, “originally it was the frustration over seeing loved one’s self-destruction. Ultimately though, it’s a journey of reflection and self-empowerment”. A musician whose songs are evolving on all levels, HUSSY’s brand of grunge tinged dream-pop is already intriguing, and only seems to be getting better.

YLMD is out now. Click HERE for more information on HUSSY.

2. Charmpit Burn Their Bridges

For as long as they’ve been releasing music, we’ve been telling people to listen to Charmpit, and don’t expect that to end anytime soon. The queer, DIY, “anarcuties”, have long been winning us over with their charming harmonies, compelling lyricism and stunning live shows, and luckily we weren’t the only ones who noticed. This week the band have announced their signing to Specialist Subject, and shared a brand new single, Bridges Go Burn the first taste of their upcoming debut album, due out next year.

Bridges Go Burn is a break-up song, only not in the way you’re probably thinking, it’s about ending toxic relationships, only not romantic ones, as Charmpit explain, “in our experience, ending friendships, or being estranged from family, was heartbreaking, often more heartbreaking than our romantic breakups…It can take time to burn a bridge, especially when it’s guarded by a troll”. As with so much Charmpit do, the message is powerful, and the tune is unforgettable, hear sounds a little less lo-fi that before, without losing any of their DIY-essence. An album a number of year’s in the making, Charmpit have grown into the exciting prospect they now are, and the world had better get ready for them.

Bridges Go Burn is out now, with a debut album due 2020 on Specialist Subject. Click HERE for more information on Charmpit.

1. Lilac Porridge Is Surprisingly Good

“I don’t want to get bitter, I want us to get better, I want us to be kinder to ourselves and to each other”, it’s a mantra that’s been running through our heads on a loop this week. At a time when we’re thrust further and further into tribalism, we need to breathe, to step back and ask, how does it get better? Heal those wounds and find a way to move forward. It’s also a line from the new Porridge Radio single, Lilac, their first new music since signing to Secretly Canadian.

The reality is that timing aside, Lilac isn’t actually a political solution for a nation, but a personal musing, as vocalist Dana Margolin explains, “I was thinking about love and control and the things out of my control, and how fragile and incapable depression can make you feel”. Despite the personal nature of the song, the message of hope is one that resonates, its married with a musical swirl, the lyrical repetition repeated in the music, as it swells to the sort of a-tonal crescendo the Velvet Underground would be proud of. With a new album in the pipeline, Porridge Radio are quietly making a case for being the sound of 2020.

Lilac is out now via Secretly Canadian. Click HERE for more information on Porridge Radio.

Header photo is Porridge Radio by El Hardwick