Liquorice stick? This is more like a full musical feast as we tootle across multiple nations, eras and genres courtesy of the nimble fingers and ears of guest Nicko, who picks many great notes from last week’s theme

Across all the genres it's time for a tootle on the old liquorice stick. Versatile in sound, from a smooth, pure voice, to a dirty growl, a gradual glissando to a noisy blast of so-called blarinet, from resonant, lovely soloist to a voluminous harmonised group

Across pop, rock, jazz, electronica, African and beyond, the fingers of many musicians have continued to create the timeless catchy. Guest playlister ajostu really hooks us in with excellent picks from last week’s lick-filled topic

A term coined in the early the 20th century, often played on guitar but also on piano and other instruments, this core, repetitive musical phrase could be even more memorable and catchy than the sung melody. But what riffs have you humming from the last 25 years?

Silly ballads to battles of the sexes, parodies to social commentary, odd duets and witty wordplay and musical japery, guest jester Marco den Ouden picks a bundle of lyrical and other laughs inspired by last week’s comedic songs theme

New album: Vibrant, catchy, reflective, clever indie rock and pop with an twangy, effervescent, country flavour in this sixth LP by the Chicago band fronted by the candid clarity gentle humour, and emotional insight of singer-songwriter Julia Steiner

New album: Throbbing, pulsating, dark, deep-voiced indie post-punk pop with a double-edged theme and an 80s goth-rock feel in this fifth LP in a decade by the Manchester quartet known for delivering exciting gigs

New album: Arresting, intelligent art rock and electronica, krautrock and psychedelia and a marriage of the analogue and electronic, all intermingle wonderfully different and intelligent new LP by the London band fronted by Rhys Edwards

New album: Delightful, charming, old-fashioned, touching, tender and timeless, this late-career LP from from 82-year-old American-born Canadian singer alongside partner Elizabeth is a love letter to their companionship, and an embrace of the inevitable

New album: An extraordinary second album by the Manchester experimental noise and electronica quartet of the visceral and playful, protest and cartharsis, in a fierce, throbbing, shape-shifting, genre-bursting tour de force that’s responds to very challenging times

Song of the Day: Classic acoustic indie-pop with wistful, witty songwriting with a wonderful melody, bridge key change and entertaining video, heralding the Chicago band’s sophomore album Something Worth Waiting For, produced by the Grammy-winning John Congleton, and out on 24 April via ATO Records

Song of the Day: A pulsating duet between two outstanding artists, in which the acclaimed singer-guitarist turns to Iggy as perfect character to embody the voice of her passionate, destructive internal monologue, heralding the new EP Is This All There Is? out on 20 March on Domino Records

Song of the Day: Catchy, caustic, satirical and fun post-punk by the Manchester-based band fronted by charismatic singer Jacob Peck and with the latest of so-called “fenland gothic” preoccupation, and stylistic echoes of Sports Team and Deadletter

Song of the Day: A beautiful, sparsely crafted, mesmeric new single with gorgeous haunting violin and vocals by the Danish, Copenhagen-based singer-songwriter who previously performed and recorded as Broken Twin, returning after a decade, and now out on Broken Records

Song of the Day: Shimmering, bright, insightful, double-edged indie by the five-piece band from indie, returning after 2022’s Endless Rooms LP, about the UK capital city and sensory overload, out on I OH YOU/Mushroom Music