Further Listening:

5. Long Live Babe Rainbow

A psychedelic rock band from Byron Bay in New South Wales, Babe Rainbow were formed a decade ago by childhood friends Angus Dowling and Jack Crowther. The band have been closely linked with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, recording, touring and releasing records alongside them, making Babe Rainbow a natural fit for the band’s newly minted p(doom records). Celebrating, “keeping it indie and joinning p(doom)”, the band shared a brand new track, LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS.

A distinctly Australian take on all things Autumnal, Angus describes LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS as, “a celebration of the sheer beauty of the lush Hinterland landscape”, as he further explains the track, “the major theme of the song is the loss of innocence…the changing seasons and realization of the transient nature of life”. LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS is a delightful strut of a thing, like a T-Rex glam rock number colliding with the upbeat, playful psychedelia of Steve Mason or Gruff Rhys. Songs about nature and environmental change can often focus on the negative, looking at what could be lost rather than what we have in front of us right now, LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS does the opposite, it asks us to look at how beautiful the world is, and in that appreciation to find the answers to an uncertain future.

LONG LIVE THE WILDERNESS is out now via p(doom) records. For more information on Babe Rainbow visit https://baberainbow.com/

4. Sasha Adrian Is Growing Up So Fast

Hailing from the Danish capital of Copenhagen, Sasha Adrian appeared on these pages last month as she shared Shell, the title track of her latest EP, which is the follow-up to the well-received 2023 debut, Token. Released via Celebration Records, Shell found Sasha confronting the darkness of sexual trauma, exploring, “what it means to be a victim and how to grow and learn to love yourself despite your baggage”. Marking the release, Sasha recently shared the accompanying video to one of the EP’s stant out moments, Adult.

A song tackling, “the myth of adulthood”, Adult explores the assumptions that are made about growing up and the expectations society puts on us to be able to move forward and learn from our past experiences. Musically, Adult is a beautiful cascade of shimmering guitar chords and crashing percussion, all underpinning Sasha’s musing on the journey to becoming who you want to be, “I wanna be full of love, and full of ease and full of strength to know myself”. That desire for growth plays off against the work it requires, Sasha lying to her physiotherapist about taking up running and seeing eating well and resting as goals for the future rather than lifestyle choices for the here and now. Adult closes off Shell, and it could perhaps be read as the light at the end of the tunnel, not a full-blown throwing open of the curtains, but a shaft of light creeping through, acting as a guide towards something brighter around the corner, that at last feels within your reach.

Shell is out now via Celebration Records. For more information on Sasha Adrian visit https://linktr.ee/sashadrian.

3. Charlie Kaplan Keeps Getting Away With It

Recently found playing bass on the excellent Office Culture record Enough, New York-based musician Charlie Kaplan is also a fine songwriter in his own right. He first emerged in 2020 with the ambitious debut album Sunday, before returning with the more stripped back stylings of last year’s Country Life In America. Back in August, Charlie announced his new record, Eternal Repeater, which will arrive at the start of November via Glamour Gowns, and which he previewed this week with the excellent single, Edie Got Away.

Charlie’s self-styled, “highway anthem”, Edie Got Away begins with a guitar-like as sun-baked and gnarly as a desert expressway, before sliding into a glam-stomper, like the middle ground of Kevin Morby and The Rolling Stones. If the music is a confident retro swagger, then the lyrics seem to be contrastingly bogged down, Charlie sinking into quicksand under the influence of, “a lead balloon and a bolt from the blue”, and gently accepting, “feeling like nothing’s gonna change”. A little frazzled, a little lost, and maybe a little terrified about where it’s going next, on Eternal Repeater Charlie Kaplan might just have written the tale of modern America, following the old roads and hoping they’re going to end up somewhere different this time, still at least there’s something good to listen to on the radio this time.

Eternal Repeater is out November 1st via Glamour Gowns. For more information on Charlie Kaplan visit https://linktr.ee/ciwk

2. Wonderbug Are Anything But A Waste Of Time

Something of a testament to taking your time, South-East London natives wonderbug have been making music together for years, and spent the last three honing their craft on the capital’s stages alongside the likes of Bug Teeth and Flip Top Head, while up until only sharing a single track, the brilliant 2022 offering, Hiding In Plain Sight. Next month the band will share their debut EP, scrap, produced by Honeyglaze’s Yuri Shibuichi, responsible for recent acclaimed offerings from Tapir! and Mary And The Junkyard. Ahead of the release, wonderbug recently shared the first single from the EP, What A Waste Of Time.

Inspired by the ever-changing landscape of their home city, wonderbug explain the track is about, “finding joy in impermanence and moving on, eventually“. With nods to recent breakout stars like Divorce and Black County, New Road, What A Waste Of Time is a song with a sort of gritty flamboyance, the sludgy strut of the guitar contrasting the flourishing twin vocals, which seem to blend matter of the fact pronouncements with emotive howls. Lyrically it reflects on what could have been, almost in spite of itself, the band reflecting on transient attachments that shake you to the core, but ultimately, as the title suggests are doomed to fail, “I wish we had met sooner, but where would we begin? Would you pretend you don’t like me just to change my mind?” wonderbug’s return might have taken a while, still it’s certainly no waste of time, as the lyrics say, “slow and steady wins the race” and right now wonderbug are racing towards the finish line.

scrap is out November 8th. For more information on Wonderbug visit https://linktr.ee/wonderbugband

1. Kylie V Deserves To Be On This Site For A Whole Year

Based out of Vancouver, Kylie Van Slyke, aka Kylie V began making music aged just fourteen, releasing their debut album, Big Blue, in 2021 and catching the ear of the renowned Royal Mountain Records. For their next move, next month will see Kylie share their second album, Crash Test Plane, a record about thinking the worst is going to happen and realising that often, it doesn’t. Ahead of the release this week Kylie shared the latest single from it, Year Of The Rabbit.

Inspired by the likes of Andy Shauf and Sufjan Stevens, Year Of The Rabbit is a track Kylie recalls was written, “while healing from a breakup and reflecting on my (incredible) friends/support system and my feelings after the fact“. Starting with an amble of acoustic guitar chords, Year Of The Rabbit is an intricately constructed series of builds, from the gorgeously smoky trumpet lines to the chorus-like crescendo, where Kylie finds all the intensity of Kristine Lechper as they sing, “I don’t hold your cowardice against you, though I just wish you’d given me less reason to”. If that is an audio equivalent to the low of an ending, the rebuild is even more powerful, as a choir of friends cocoon Kylie at their most fragile moment, voices swelling around them, “do you see the light was fading out?”. The sense of growth is palpable, a record about growing up that fittingly feels like a giant leap forward, a songwriter ready to take their moment in the spotlight and run with it.

Crash Test Plane is out November 15th via Royal Mountain Records. For more information on Kylie V visit https://kylievmusic.com/

Header photo is Kylie V by Cole Schmidt