Further Listening:

5. It’s All Lyys, We Never Fight

We last featured Lyys, the musical moniker of South London-based songwriter Rebecca Holloway, back in 2017. Since then things have been a little quiet for Lyys although that changed a few months back with the release of a new single, Can’t Hear It. This week Lyys has returned with I Don’t Fight, the second of four singles promised for 2020.

Describing herself as, “a chronic over-thinker”, I Don’t Fight finds Lyys in typically cerebral form, a reflection on shutting down your emotions in the face of being hurt. As Rebecca explains, “after feeling like you’ve been turned inside out there can be a knee-jerk reaction to do anything to feel in control, powerful or to just feel nothing”, here she explores how that can be counterproductive and result in a failure to form, “proper connections with other people going forward”. Musically, the track sticks to the blueprint of previous Lyys material, dealing in glistening, introverted dream-pop, with Rebecca’s reverberating vocal accompanied by a variety of drum-machines and electronic pulses. Still walking the line between the bedroom studio and the dance floor, this sad-synth-pop-banger might just be Lyys’ most intriguing statement yet.

I Don’t Fight is out now. Click HERE for more information on Lyys.

4. Dunebug’s New Single Is Impossibly Good

Born in Manchester and based out of London, it’s not quite clear to us how Dunebug manages to write such wonderfully sun-kissed music! The brainchild of Chi Limpiroj, Dunebug started last year and marked a return to recording for Chi after a, “five year fall out with music”. The debut Dunebug EP emerged last year, and with plans for a new album underfoot, this week Chiara has shared her latest single, Impossible With You.

Citing influences from Beach House to Jay Som, Dunebug’s sound is delightfully dreamy, resplendent with warm guitar tones, lush layered backing vocals, and the magic lead vocal line that seems to hide its sadness in a wash of airy beauty. Nodding to the likes of Living Hour or Martha Ffion, this feels like a classic-pop song given a modern, jangling re-interpretation, as Chi sings of a relationship coming to an end, wistfully noting, “I’m close to giving up, you never gave a fuck, I never thought I’d walk away from love”. Let Dunebug sashay their way into your life, because this instantly feels like the start of a beautiful friendship.

Impossible With You is out now. Click HERE for more information on Dunebug.

3. If I Could I Would Recommend Native Harrow

Native Harrow are the Pennsylvania based duo of Devin Tuel and Stephen Harms. The pair first emerged back in 2015 with their debut album, Ghost and have wasted no time already putting two further albums out into the world. The band are currently gearing up to the September release of their latest offering, Closeness, and have this week shared the George Harrison-inspired video to their new single, If I Could.

If I Could is in many ways a very relatable track, hinging on a desire for others to pull their fingers out, as Devin explains the track, “hangs on my own personal desire to shake people into realizing we only have one earth, one chance to keep it healthy and green and cool. And we’re blowing it”. Across the track Devin, in her easy, timeless vocal, seems to plead for us to look around and see how inaction is no longer an option. The whole thing is set to a delightfully retro shuffle, like Fleetwood Mac recording with the soulful tones of the Spacebomb house band. If this is a plea for us to care and find kindness, then it is one to embrace, Native Harrow might not be the first to plead for a bit of peace, love and understanding, yet they make a very compelling case that it might be the only way forward for humanity.

Closeness is out September 4th via Loose. Click HERE for more information on Native Harrow.

2. Jacqueline Tucci Finds Enjoys The Sweeter Things In Life

Hailing from Toronto, Jacqueline Tucci’s musical output so far has been a drip feed of cover versions and the odd intriguing composition of her own. Back in March, Jacqueline made her most compelling statement to date in the shape of the well-received single, Fear. Wasting no time, this week saw Jacqueline share her latest offering, Sweeter Things.

Discussing the track, Jacqueline has suggested Sweeter Things is about her own concerns at the state of the world, and worries about, “stepping on some toes”, in discussing them. As Jacqueline further explains it is, “about shedding those insecurities and finding the confidence to speak my mind”. This sense of freedom is expressed in the form of a grungy-pop song, full of driving guitar chords, clattering drums and Jacqueline’s powerful growl of a vocal, “do you think I’m cuter with my mouth shut? Do I look pretty with closed eyes? Do you like me better when I’m singing about shit that I don’t care about?”. Ultimately, this is a song about finding your own voice, and feeling empowered to use it. Fittingly for the theme, the final words must fall to Jacqueline, “I’m not trying to be sweet, I’m trying to be honest, and right now I have something to say”.

Sweeter Things is out now. Click HERE for more information on Jacqueline Tucci.

1. Winter Garden’s Offer A Vast Tapestry Of Options

Based out of East Sussex, Winter Gardens are a hot-off-the-press dream-punk quartet who cite influences from, “80’s post-punk, 4AD and Creation-era bands“. The band originally formed in the summer of 2018, and despite having just one single to their name, have already shared stages with the likes of Say Sue Me and Penelope Isles. The band have recently signed to the socially-conscious independent record label, Austerity Records, and in September will release their debut EP, Tapestry, the title track of which they’ve shared this week.

In many ways Tapestry is a love song to the beauty to be found both in nature and art, the track has been described by the band as, “a crescendo of artistic emotion”. Musically, Tapestry is a vast song, a slowly evolving soundscape, starting like a wistful dream before sliding into a more driving, edgy moment as crisp drum hits collide with bright slashes of tremulous guitar. It’s a song that seems to borrow from across the eras of independent music, nodding in equal parts to classic acts like The Sundays or The Cocteau Twins, and their modern DIY contemporaries like L I P S and Soot Sprite. With a winning combination of ambition and beauty, Winter Gardens seem to have stumbled onto something uniquely exciting, they already sound like a band with a very bright future.

Tapestry EP is out September 25th via Austerity Records. Click HERE for more information on Winter Gardens.

Header photo is Winter Gardens by Rob Orchard