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5. Weather Your Like Orillia Is Really Up To You

The moniker of Chicago’s Andrew Marczak, Orillia emerged last year with his self-titled debut album. Recorded live and acoustic, and featuring a number of cover versions, it was something of a soft launch for the folk-leaning project, an intriguing sign of even better things to come. Those better things arrive this week with Orillia’s second long-player, Fire-Weed, an album made with a backing band and a host of guest stars that really stamps Andrew’s vision out for the world to enjoy. Ahead of the release, he shared the final single from the record, Weather.

For Andrew, Weather is in a way a cover of himself, having previously been recorded the track with his indie-rock band, The Roof Dogs. Not that much, other than the words, remains from the original. Here, Andrew is joined by fellow Chicagoan country-band Local Memory, re-imagining Weather as a slice of bounding Americana, every instrument loaded with propulsion from the fiddles’ twang to the ebbing guitars reminiscent of the late Justin Townes Earle. Described by Andrew as, “the only song I’ve written that could be classified as a ‘lockdown’ song”, it seems to find Andrew in much earlier days with his grandpa reading from the newspaper of an at-large serial killer, and the strange, “conflation of violence and art”, that exists in our media. Revisiting this old song with new eyes was a stroke of genius for Andrew; the pairing is a match made in heaven, and suggests with Fire-Weed, Orillia have truly arrived.

Fire-Weed is out now via Far West Records. For more information on Orillia visit https://www.magicmothswarm.com/

4. Pictish Trail Are Lighting Up

Johnny Lynch, the man behind both the Pictish Trail moniker and the Lost Map label, is one of music’s good guys, a staunch supporter of creativity in all things musical, who has championed everyone from Alabaster dePlume to Firestations. When the Isle of Eigg dweller isn’t pointing everyone in the direction of fabulous new music, he’s often found making it himself, as showcased across his five albums and counting, plus 22 years of consecutive appearances at Green Man Festival. There were glad tidings this week, with news of Life Slime, an upcoming sixth album, produced by Tunng’s Mike Lindsay, which was shared alongside a brand new single, Torch Song.

Johnny is quick to point out Torch Song is somewhat against the grain for his musical output, “I try to avoid writing sad epics with big swaying choruses, but this one just came pouring out and I couldn’t resist”. A study on, “the unease of late-night solitude, where the screen’s glow becomes both torchlight and mirror”, the track began with a bassline and gradually evolved from there. The whole thing is really given life by the choppy bar-room piano chords, courtesy of Voluntary Butler Scheme’s Rob Jones, giving the whole thing a certain time-warping quality reminiscent of The Flaming Lips. There’s even what Johnny describes as, “as close to a guitar solo as I’ll get”, as he embraces the messiness and twists and warps the sound in a way Radiohead would be proud of, before it falls back to just those doleful piano chords to take us out. Sad sure, epic sure, but if you’re expecting a Coldplay-like lighters in the air moment, you’ve probably come to the wrong place. Pictish Trail remains as distinctly weird and wonderful as ever, something thankfully, I don’t imagine will ever change.

Life Slime is out soon via Fire Records / Lost Map. For more information on Pictish Trail visit https://pictishtrail.com/.

3. Whodunit? Iona Zajac Of Course

Part two of this week’s Scottish triple-header, Iona Zajac last appeared on this site back in 2022 with her debut single, Find Her in the Grass. Her career has taken something of a left turn since then, following the unusual career path of becoming one of six vocalist for The Pogues. That amazing opportunity has understandably put some delays on her own solo work, and her debut album, Bang, will finally see the light of day at the end of November. Ahead of the release, this week Iona shared the latest taste of Bang, courtesy of her new single, Murder Mystery.

Described by Iona as, “a surreal exploration of discomfort”, Murder Mystery finds her asking, “questions about a woman’s place in the world and the space we occupy – of femininity, of reputation, of fear and defiance“. Musically, it puts me in mind of fellow Scot Siobhan Wilson, combining elements of folk traditions and modern production, as timeless melodies are adorned with electric twang and swampy, gothic-tinged bass. Particularly striking is the outro; it has the feeling of a breaking wave, as if all the song’s tension has nowhere else to go, so it erupts as a wiry explosion of distortion that burns out rapidly but leaves a jarring impression. Iona has spoken of Bang as a record, “that looks darkness in the eye” Murdery Mystery does exactly that, a song that is disconcerting, gory, and above all else, deliciously human.

Bang is out November 21st. For more information on Iona Zajac visit https://www.ionazajac.com/

2. Langkamer Have Got Plenty To Crow About

One of my favourite bands of recent years, Langkamer are a Bristolian-based outfit who turn their hand to everything from alt-country to slacker-rock and pretty much everything in between. Their last record, Langzamer, was their third in as many years, and found them at their most sincere, exploring themes of grief and loss from a makeshift studio underneath The Cornish Bank in Falmouth. For their next record, No, due out early next year, the band have seemingly just carried on South, finding themselves in the village of Zarzalico in Murcia. There they recorded with producer Remko Schouten, and produced an album they describe as, “a vision unclouded”. Introducing the record, this week the band shared the first single from it, Crows.

In some ways, Crows picks up where Langzamer left off. The cause might be different, but the sense of malaise remains, the band railing against a world that seems designed to keep you in your place. This reflection on life’s kicks and struggles is there from the opening line, “why am I running around this like, why am I running around breaking my back, carrying your shit”, through to the chorus-like farewell “suffer, struggle, picking up the pieces of the puzzle”. Musically, Crows find the band shifting away from the thoughtful gentility of their last record. Here they’re a pressurised container ready to explode, all primal proto-punk rhythms and guitars so rapid-fire it sounds like you’re playing Television at the wrong speed. While Langkamer’s struggle is distinctly that of the grafting musician, it’s a feeling that will feel relatable to anyone who finds their ambitions thwarted, “am I wasting my time, you can be honest?” Making music this vital, stirring and inspiring should never be a waste of time, I can only hope enough people realise and make No the roaring success it surely deserves to be.

No is out January 22nd via Breakfast Records. For more information on Langkamer visit https://linktr.ee/Langkamer.

1. Curses! I Just Can’t Wojtek The Bear’s New Single Out Of My Head

Glasgow and indie-pop have always been peas in a pod, and right now, there are few acts doing it better than Wojtek The Bear. Formed in 2016, the band last graced us with their presence back in the spring of last year, with the well-received third album, Shaking Hands With The NME (disappointingly, it seemingly wasn’t reviewed by the NME!) For their next move, the band brought on board the ears of no less than Bill Ryder-Jones, who produced their upcoming album, I Don’t Think You Want To Hear This. While the album won’t arrive until the middle of next year, this week the band shared the first single from it, Kylie’s Put A Curse On Us.

With it’s title referencing Gerry Love’s song Kylie’s Got A Crush On Us, released by both his bands Teenage Fanclub and BMX Bandits, Kylie’s Put A Curse On Us is, “a fictional tale about an extremely over-zealous fan of Kylie…so she decides to take matters into her own hands and puts a voodoo curse on the person to try and get rid of them“. Musically, this is Wojtek The Bear at their most ambitious, a sashaying glittery slice of pop that’s not a million miles away from what I imagine a Glaswegian take on Motown would sound like. It’s full of delightful textural music, from the bouncing tick of the drums through to the cooed vocals and flourishes of brass and string that bring to mind the much-missed Fanfarlo. There’s even room for a splendid lyrical twist, as our protagonist, downed by the hex of the pint-sized princess of pop, realises, with only a slightly creepy overtone, he doesn’t actually mind so much after all: “I guess I should be flattered, it was especially for me”. Overall, this is a simply brilliant reintroduction to an ever-intriguing band, but don’t just take my word for it, Gerry Love gave his seal of approval in the form of recording some handclaps for the album, so now they just need Kylie to pop in for some backing vocals, and we’ll call it a full house.

I Don’t Think You Want To Hear This is out next year via Last Night From Glasgow. For more information on Wojtek The Bear visit https://linktr.ee/wojtekthebear

Header photo is Wojtek The Bear by Chris Hogge.

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