Photo credit: Matt Barnes
Broken Social Scene – ‘Halfway Home‘
Broken Social Scene’s first song in seven years is full of the dreamy soundscapes, gorgeous hooks and joyful wonder that makes the collective so beloved. The band sing about being halfway home and the sunrise and all sorts of other things that bring good vibes over a bombastic wall of sound. It takes a surprising turn around 90 seconds in and there’s even a bit of Everything Everything in its final throes as the band chant ‘If you never run, how they gonna catch you alive’ over a burst of brass.
Kamikaze Girls – ‘Berlin’
Joining Jamie Lenman and Cassels as new additions to Big Scary Monsters’ always impressive roster, Kamikaze Girls have unveiled ‘Berlin’, the first track from their debut album ‘Seafoam’ (out in June). It opens with a big blast of My Vitriol-esque guitar as Lucinda Livingstone reveals: ‘I feel like I’m having a heart attack’. Combining punk-rock melodies with a grungey outlook, it’s something akin to Cloud Nothings meeting The Winter Passing. It all calms down in the last minute as Lucinda explains how ‘I know now that I wasn’t cut out for this, I know now I couldn’t exist’.
Dome Hall – ‘Marske Woods‘
Based in Newcastle and listing the likes of Grizzly Bear and Real Estate as influences, Dome Hall’s debut song ‘Marske Woods’ is a chilled four and a half minutes that is perfect for lazing about in as we head towards the summer months. There’s a casual blast of brass that glides over the guitar work and talk of nights going by and not being scared anymore when you have someone to share your time with. You can catch the band at Hit the North Festival in Newcastle on 28 April.
The Charlatans – ‘Plastic Machinery‘
There’s a classic Charlatans sound as Tim Burgess sings about ‘putting all of this behind’ and how ‘it’s hard to take it’ in the first single to be unveiled from their next album, ‘Different Days’ (a record featuring guest appearances from Johnny Marr, Paul Weller and Sharon Horgan – and on that note, we hope you’ve all been catching up with Catastrophe). Tim also muses ‘Oh wait, I’m such an idiot’ over melodies and guitar grooves that sound a little bit like a more grown-up ‘Can’t Get Out of Bed’.
Chloe Foy – ‘Flaws‘
The first song from new EP ‘Are We There Yet?’, Chloe Foy’s ‘Flaws’ starts in very minimal fashion as her lilting voice gently glides over some goosebump-inducing strings. It’s a comforting combination of folk in the vein of Laura Marling and a more avant-garde classical sound. Quite ambient, there’s also a fascinating air of mystery as Chloe states ‘I know something you don’t know…’
Filed under: New music, Preview, Top 5s Tagged: alternative music, Berlin, big scary monsters, Broken Social Scene, BSM, Chloe Foy, Different Days, Dome Hall, Flaws, indie music, Kamikaze Girls, Marske Woods, new music, Newcastle, Plastic Machinery, The Charlatans
