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5. Don’t Skip Out On Sella

Brian Sella has, as he puts it, “spent most of his life tossing words and melodies out of his head and into the world”, predominantly as the vocalist for The Front Bottoms. As a band who’ve possibly outgrown even their creators’ wildest aspirations, Brian has found himself playing huge venues, further and further away from where it all began, and for his solo project, Sella, he decided to undo all that. Working with producer and old tour mate, Chad Matheny of Emperor X, Brian set about, “going inward to stay alive creatively”, and the result is the upcoming debut album, Well I Mean. Ahead of the release, Brian shared the latest single from the record, Skipping Out.

If the entirety of Well I Mean questions the joy, or lack thereof, that comes with success, Skipping Out is possibly the most candid exploration of that theme. The track initially sounds contrastingly breezy, from the jerky piano chords to the pillowing clouds of sun-dappled brass; yet for all his skippy presentation, it’s evident that Brian’s, “nice routine”, might not be quite so nice after all. The song tackles the pitfalls of life on the road, where alcohol and self-medication replace therapy and good habits, as he admonishes himself for not moving on from bad habits, “we should have grown up by now, it’s been a while”. Ultimately, here he’s feeling stuck in a loop, “at this point, the right way, it just don’t feel right”. The song beautifully marries the way we present ourselves to the world with the truth of how we are feeling inside. Skipping Out sounds like it’s leading its best life, only in its closing bars taking a turn to a minor-key collapse, as the piano chord rings out and the brass runs out of puff. It’s not clear from listening Well I Mean if it’s a record that Brian Sella wanted to make, or one he needed to, an attempt at reminding himself of why he did this in the first place. The result is a highly relatable effort at breaking the old routine and perhaps finding a new one that might serve him much better in the long run.

Well I Mean is out now via Bar/None Records. For more information on Sella visit https://www.instagram.com/sellasellasella/.

4. Don’t Get Stuck Behind The Loft If You’re In A Hurry

The Loft released their debut album, Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same, last year, which would be normal enough, if it hadn’t happened 40 years after the band infamously split up mid-set at the Hammersmith Palais. Back then the band were at the vanguard of the alternative-scene, defining the sound of the Creation label and arguably the entire genre we call indie. While forty years downtime will inevitably have an effect on a band’s momentum, Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same still felt like a breakout moment for The Loft, one which saw them out on the road, and lead naturally to them getting back into the studio once more, with guitarist and co-songwriter Andy Strickland noting, “it’s a real privilege to still be able to get together and do this”. The result is their upcoming second album Badges, recorded in Hackney with producer Sean Read and due out at the start of May. Ahead of the release this week the band shared their new single, Campervan.

A song writ large with wanderlust, Campervan seems to find vocalist Pete Astor daydreaming of a life on the road, planning a hypothetical escape from the drudge of the everyday, “when I’m dreaming of escape, you’re the perfect plan”. That sense of perceived freedom is married to a song that The Loft at their leanest and most direct, all bassy strut, and lithe meandering lead-guitar behind Pete’s wistful vocals. While initially the plans feel specific and relatively concrete, “we can go to Montenegro, whatever feels right, drive to the Highlands and get high”, as the song trundles on like the titular vehicle, the open road seems to fade from view, and the reality he doesn’t even have a van becomes clear, “van life for me, one day I’ll be free. Adventure calls, next year for sure“. Ultimately perhaps the song is about the dreams that we never follow through on, our tendency to romanticise the decisions we don’t take every day of our lives, maybe it’ll happen one year, The Loft will quit their jobs and hit the open road, for now it’s just a nice thought to keep them company when the office calls.

Badges is out May 8th via Tapete Records. For more information on The Loft visit https://the-loft.bandcamp.com/

3. A New Thomas Dollbaum Record Is Much Better Than A Bunch Of Flowers

Born in Tampa and now based in New Orleans, Thomas Dollbaum caught the attention of many with last year’s release of the EP, Drive All Night. Like its 2022 predecessor, Wildwood, it was a record that, for reasons outside of Thomas’s control, took a lot longer than he wanted. It was with that in mind that he approached writing his new album, Bird of Paradise, with an emphasis on immediacy. He spent three months writing, called up the musicians he knew and trusted and told them to meet him in Mississippi, and after just four days of learning, tracking and recording, the album he’d always wanted to make was finished. While the fruits of that labour won’t arrive until May, this week Thomas shared the first single from the record, Dozen Roses.

The second track on Birds of Paradise, Thomas explains that Dozen Roses is an introduction to the themes of the record, magical thinking as “a way to process the world and the memories I have”, the natural world and the passing of time. The track seems to dial specifically into the idea of time passing by too quickly, and “never feeling like there is enough of it“. Musically, the track is a distinct journey; initially, the whole thing is swampy, the layers of gutsy guitar and barked lead vocal sounding like they’re wading through a jar of treacle, as Thomas pleads for someone to, “help me hold my head up, I’ve been burying it for so damn long”. Then, with two minutes left to run, Thomas leaves stage-right, the guitar, courtesy of MJ Lenderman, takes the centre ground, and the whole thing becomes vast, like stepping out of the mountain clouds and seeing miles of verdant grassland unfurling in front of your eyes. There’s a wonderful freedom to where Thomas Dollbaum’s music greets us here; it feels alive with possibilities and rich with the sound of a songwriter truly hitting their stride.

Birds of Paradise is out May 22nd via Dear Life Records. For more information on Thomas Dollbaum visit https://linktr.ee/ThomasDollbaum

2. A Special Friend Will Save You From Isolation

This week, I had the pleasure of seeing Special Friend live, the French/American duo of guitarist Guillaume Siracusa and drummer Erica Ashleson, showing themselves to be just as good at weaving the thread of indie-music’s past together in person as they’ve always been on record. Talking of records, the band’s third one Clipping, is now just days away from release, and this week they showed off the diversity of the songs within it, via the country-tinged exploration of, “homesick melancholy”, that is their new single, Isolation.

While Special Friend have previously dealt largely in the urgent and insistent, here they seem to take a breath of the purest air. The drums are an absent-minded shuffle, the guitars the sort of easy sway you surely only stumble upon when you’re not really trying, and there’s even enough room for a brief guitar-solo in the endless vista they’ve created. All of which is a distinct contrast to a song about, “the void of loneliness”, as Erica takes lead vocal and welcomes isolation, “my old friend I have known through my whole life”. It’s perhaps not even that reality of isolation anymore that Erica’s experiencing, throughout it’s almost like a shadow, a nagging doubt that you’ll ever truly find a home away from home, “far removed from where I am”. Releasing this beautiful about-turn in the catalogue of Special Friend as a single is a sign of just how confident the band are feeling in their new material. The sound of musicians revelling in exploring new sounds without ever fearing losing that magical spark that this duo have always kept burning.

Clipping is out March 20th via Skep Wax / Howlin’ Banana / Hidden Bay Records. For more information on Special Friend visit https://specialfriend.bandcamp.com/.

1. Mildred Are On The Fence About It

Hailing from Oakland, California, Mildred are a somewhat unusual prospect, a band with no lead singer and no main songwriter. A collaboration in the truest form, the members all bring their perspectives to the party and see what sticks. In the case of last year’s two brilliant EPs, Mild and Red, an awful lot stuck, with support from all the best online places, leading to their first ever UK shows, and a string of dates supporting Naima Bock across their home country. All of that was perhaps just a taster of what the band have in store, with their debut album Fenceline on the way next month, the sparkling title track of which landed in our laps this week.

Sung by guitarist Henry Easton Koehler, Fenceline is a track that Mildred explain, “attempts at filing experience into order“, fighting against their tendecy to lose track of time and how, “it bleeds, blurs and tangles no matter how much I try to corral and chapter it”. I’ve always found that my mind runs to The Band when I listen to Mildred’s music, and not just because of their rotating singers and sense of true collaboration. On Fenceline, they really seem to hammer home that influence, showcasing a similar ability to inject Americana with a good dose of soul. It’s there in the unhurried guitar and the gentle push-and-pull of the ticking drum rhythms, undeniably laid back and instinctual, yet nothing is wasted, no piano flourish, or perfectly placed bass note is not there to serve the greater good. This isn’t music to overthink or overanalyse, Mildred just have it, that undefinable something that blurs the lines between making music and making magic and for three and a half-minutes makes the world stand blissfully still.

Fenceline is out April 24th via Memorials Of Distinction / Dog Day Records. For more information on Mildred visit https://linktr.ee/mildredband

Header photo is Mildred by Kevin Herhusky