Hatchie - Rooftops (ft. Liam Benzvi) (Official Visualizer)

A bonus track from last years Giving The World Away album, the uplifting indie pop of 'Rooftops' features the talents of US singer/songwriter Liam Benzvi, whose voice undercuts Harriette Pilbeam's crisply sweet lead vocal perfectly. As with the rest of the album, the track is pop orientated modern shoe gaze, but there's a euphoria and optimism about 'Rooftops' that is particularly infectious. It's jangly guitars and beguiling vocals create a sense that, if you get up high, you'll find a space to breathe.

Heartworms - Retributions Of An Awful Life (Official Music Video)

Heartworms Jojo Orme comes across very much as a young woman who doesn't take any shit. Witness the icy stare in the video to 'Retributions Of An Awful Life', the standout track on her debut EP A Comforting Notion. She also survived a Production and Performance course at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, without being crushed by the naked hostility of her fellow students and has lived on her own since she was 16. When asked to describe her sound in an interview for Fred Perry she opted for "Gothic military fairy?" which feels like as good a summary as any.

'Retributions Of An Awful Life' combines these icy elements with crunchy goth infused industrial sounds, scratchy, choppy guitars and a terrible sense of foreboding. She's signed to Speedy Wunderground, has been playlisted on 6Music, and the future looks bright for such a dark artist. The album, whenever it happens, will be very keenly anticipated.

Gerry Cinnamon - Belter (Live at TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow, 2018)

Taken from a live set at Glasgow's TRNSMT festival in 2018, this rendition by local boy Cinnamon of the always rollocking classic 'Belter' represents a perfect moment of unity between artist and crowd. And it is beautiful.

DEBBY FRIDAY - SO HARD TO TELL (Official Video)

Debby Friday's debut album Good Luck was released in March, showcasing the Vancouver based artist's journey from DIY releases to arrival on Sub Pop. 'So Hard To Tell' was the first single from the album, and it's perhaps the most obviously commercial track to be taken from the sprawling and experimental electronic soundscape. 

With 'So Hard to Tell', you get the sense that Friday is writing a letter to her younger self while at the same time witnessing the same struggles and difficulties in other young women around her. 

"Is this heaven or hell?" she asks "When it gets like this, oh it's so hard to tell."

The result is at once eerie and weirdly comforting. 

Griff X Sigrid - Head on Fire (Official Video)

As the sheer exuberant joy of this video suggests, Sigrid and Griff already had a mutual admiration society going on. That was before they connected with each other during lockdowns and before they hung out together and had a songwriting session, the fruit of which was 'Head on Fire'. 

An uplifting, giddy headrush of pure pop, 'Head on Fire' seeks to capture the experience of meeting someone new, who utterly disrupts your thoughts and feelings, who you are not able to stop thinking about. A particularly irresistible ear worm, it's surprising that it didn't go on to dominate the charts upon its release in January 2022. Especially given the love it received from critics ahead of its release. But, over a year on, it's ageing well and has all the early hallmarks of a pop classic.

The Lemon Twigs - Every Day Is The Worst Day Of My Life (Official Video)

Because we all have days like this.

The Linda Lindas - "Too Many Things"

A welcome return from LA's premier punk band, seen here having fun with food as they sing about living in a society where there's just... Too.Much.Stuff.

They continue to exude the same kind of breezy punk spirit of the Go-Go's, which is certainly no bad thing, and it still looks like they're having fun with the band (always good).

I salute them as I await further singles.