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Yola: Stand For Myself

August 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Yola: gloriously powerful

Yola: gloriously powerful

New album: The title track was a splendid previous Song of the Day, and the rest of this second album by the equally stands up as excellent soul and funk by the singer and songwriter Yolanda Quartey from Bristol

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In albums, country, funk, gospel, soul Tags Yola, Dan Auerbach, Easy Eye Sound
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Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever

August 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish

New album: The teen queen of dark, teenage bedroom pop returns with her second LP, astonishingly mature, with supremely low-key, close-mic intimacy, and innovative songs about inevitable concerns - stardom, the difficulty of privacy and relationships and all their associated dangers

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In albums, experimental, pop Tags albums, new releases, Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, Interscope, Darkroom
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LUMP: Animal

July 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Animal is the second LUMP album by Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay

Animal is the second LUMP album by Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay

New album: With a suite of exquisite sounds from flutes to the soft thunk of bass and ethereal vocals, the second album by Laura Marling and Tunng’s Mike Lindsay is a little more stripped back than the first, but still brings otherworldly beauty

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In albums, experimental, electronica, folk Tags albums, new releases, LUMP, Laura Marling, Mike Lindsay, Tunng, Partisan Records, Chrysalis
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Dave: We're All Alone In This Together

July 28, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Dave’s second LP We're All Alone In This Together

Dave’s second LP We're All Alone In This Together

New album: Second LP by the much lauded Mercury-winning David Omoregie for his first, Psychodrama, shows his talent for diversity of rap styles through social commentary and relationship themes, comprising R&B, Afrobeat, gospel, electronica and piano-led melancholy

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In albums, hip-hop, R&B, gospel, electronica Tags albums, new releases, Dave, Stormzy, James Blake, Ghetts, Giggs, Fredo, Meekz, Snoh Aalegra, ShaSimone, Neighbourhood Records
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Leon Bridges: Gold-Diggers Sound

July 26, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Leon Bridges: Gold-Diggers Sound

Leon Bridges: Gold-Diggers Sound

New album: Delicate soul mixed with R&B, Afrobeat, late-night jazz and even a dash of country come in this third LP by the 32-year-old singer, songwriter and record producer, filled with heartbreak and hope stemming from events of the past year

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In albums, soul, R&B, jazz Tags Songs, albums, new releases, Leon Bridges, Columbia Records
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Prince: Welcome 2 America

July 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Welcome 2 America is the third Prince LP since his death in 2016

Welcome 2 America is the third Prince LP since his death in 2016

New album: The third posthumous album since the Purple One’s untimely passing in 2016 stands out as the best for a long time, including when he was alive, packed with punchy funk, soul, and social commentary that echoes peak-period Curtis Mayfield

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In albums, funk, pop, soul Tags new releases, albums, Prince
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Joel Culpepper: Sgt Culpepper

July 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Joel Culpepper’s debut LP

Joel Culpepper’s debut LP

New album: With an impressive, extraordinary vocal range, especially in falsetto, the south-east Londoner’s debut LP feels like an instant soul and funk classic, bulked great bass and brass, and shored up with a team of top-notch producers

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In albums, funk, soul Tags albums, new releases, Joel Culpepper, Prince, Curtis Mayfield, Guy Chambers, Pepper Records
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Shungudzo: I'm Not A Mother, But I Have Children

July 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Shungudzo

Shungudzo

New album: An impassioned, political debut album by the Zimbabwean-American artist, activist former gymnast and soul singer touching on climate change to race issues to women’s rights, typified in first singe It’s a Good Day (To Fight The System)

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In albums, pop, soul, gospel Tags albums, new releases, Shungudzo, Svikiro Records, Young Forever, BMG
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Fryars: God Melodies

July 20, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Fryars: God Melodies

Fryars: God Melodies

New album: Mischievously wry and marvellously inventive twinkling electro-pop in the third full album by the multi-instrumentalist and producer Benjamin Garrett who has also released multiple EPs and mixtapes

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In albums, electronica, indie, pop Tags albums, new releases, Fryars, Benjamin Garrett, Rae Morris, Fiction Records, Universal Music
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Clairo: Sling

July 19, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Clairo’s new album - Sling

Clairo’s new album - Sling

New album: Willow-the-wisp delicately soft and profoundly beautiful, this second LP by Massachusetts singer-songwriter Claire Cottrill, 22, has refined her bedroom indie pop of 2019’s acclaimed debut album Immunity for something more akin to Elliott Smith or Sufjan Stevens

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In albums, folk, pop Tags albums, new releases, Clairo, Fader Records, Jack Antonoff
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Stephen Fretwell: Busy Guy

July 16, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Stephen Fretwell is finally getting busy again …

Stephen Fretwell is finally getting busy again …

New album: Very welcome fourth album by the Scunthorpe guitarist-singer-songwriter after a 14-year-old absence with a life “song cycle of sorts,” sensitive, quiet and eloquent exploring fatherhood, grief and rebirth

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In albums, folk Tags albums, new releases, Stephen Fretwell, Dan Carey, Speedy Wunderground
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Half Waif: Mythopoetics

July 14, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Half Waif: Mythopoetics

Half Waif: Mythopoetics

New album: This fifth solo LP by American Nandi Rose Plunkett strips her music back to a piano ballad pop format but with added electronica, and her subject matter is again infused with intense emotions and dark humour, even to fear of total identify loss

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In albums, pop Tags albums, new releases, ANTI Records, Half Waif, Nandi Rose Plunkett
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Ruth Goller: Skylla

July 14, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Ruth Goller’s Skylla

Ruth Goller’s Skylla

New album: A strange and alluring debut solo LP of experimental work by the jazz bassist, singer, environmentalist and composer whose combination of pieces, each with different tunings, often uses harmonics and atypical vocal harmonies to often create a chiming bell effect

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In albums, experimental Tags albums, new releases, Ruth Goller
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Charlotte Day Wilson: ALPHA

July 13, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Charlotte Day Wilson: ALPHA

Charlotte Day Wilson: ALPHA

New album: This serenely soulful debut by the Toronto singer-songwriter and producer is a slow, sensual, and mature, drawing on elements of gospel, folk, jazz and R&B, but is beautifully minimal and restrained

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In albums, soul, pop, gospel Tags Charlotte Day Wilson, albums, new releases, Badbadnotgood
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Tashaki Miyaki: Castaway

July 12, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Tashaki Miyaki

Tashaki Miyaki

New album: Better known as an innovative 20th-century songbook covers band, the LA trio's LP of original material offers a lush, smooth 90s shoegaze menu of woozy delight, richly mellow work, with rich orchestration, drone and languid vocals by singer-drummer Paige Stark

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In albums, indie, shoegaze Tags albums, new releases, Tashaki Miyaki, Paige Stark, Metropolis Records
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Blank Gloss: Melt

July 11, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Melt by Blank Gloss

Melt by Blank Gloss

New album: The duo of Patrick Hills and Morgan Fox from Sacramento, California release a set of serene pieces that capture wide American landscapes and skies with beat-less reverberating ambient guitar, violin, piano and and synths

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In ambient, albums, experimental, electronica Tags albums, new releases, Blank Gloss, Patrick Hills, Morgan Fox, ambient, instrumentals
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Sault: Nine

July 10, 2021 Peter Kimpton
sault-nine.jpeg

New album: With limited availability, an excellent fifth album in two years by the collective headed by producer Inflo (Dean Josiah) centres around growing up in inner city London with a mix of old-school soul and African styles

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In albums, soul, spoken word Tags Sault, albums, new releases, Forever Living Originals, Michael Ofo, Little Simz
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Hiss Golden Messenger: Quietly Blowing It

July 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
MC Taylor aka Hiss Golden Messenger

MC Taylor aka Hiss Golden Messenger

New album: This LP of Bob Dylanesque country Americana by the North Carolina singer-songwriter MC Taylor offers a gentle set of songs that gentle protest about how society is tacitly controlled, but mixed with the desire and sweet moments of hope

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In country, blues, albums, folk Tags Hiss Golden Messenger, MC Taylor, Bob Dylan, Merge Records
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Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth: Utopian Ashes

July 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth: Utopian Ashes

Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth: Utopian Ashes

New album: The Primal Scream frontman and former Savages singer collaborate in an unusually mellow set of heartbreak numbers that recall the country rock duos between Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris

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In albums, country, pop, rock Tags albums, new releases, Bobby Gillespie, Primal Scream, Jehnny Beth, Savages, Sony Records, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris
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Modest Mouse: The Golden Casket

July 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Seventh heaven: Modest Mouse’s The Golden Casket

Seventh heaven: Modest Mouse’s The Golden Casket

New album: Sharp, witty, and highly entertaining, this dynamic new LP American indie rockers Isaac Brock and co with post-punk, psychedelia and pop on subjects from degradation of our psychic landscapes and invisible technology and fatherhood

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In albums, indie, psychedelia, rock Tags albums, new releases, Modest Mouse, Isaac Brock, Epic
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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New Albums …

Featured
Favourite Albums of 2025 - Part 3.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Three
Dec 18, 2025

Welcome to the third and final part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also Part One, and Part Two. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 18, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two.jpeg
Dec 17, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two
Dec 17, 2025

Welcome to the second part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also a first part and a third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 17, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part 1 updated.jpg
Dec 16, 2025
Favourite albums of 2025 - Part One
Dec 16, 2025

Welcome to the first part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There will also be a second and third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 16, 2025
Juliana Hatfield.jpeg
Dec 16, 2025
Juliana Hatfield: Lightning Might Strike
Dec 16, 2025

New album: Personal upheaval, grief, powerlessness, trauma, sudden change inform the title and colour the lyrics of this latest LP by the seasoned Boston indie artist but her songs are packed with brutally honest, candid, concise reflections and warm, catchy, stirring riffs and melodies

Dec 16, 2025
Dove Ellis - Blizzard.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Dove Ellis: Blizzard
Dec 9, 2025

New album: An extraordinarily mature, passionate, poetic, and outstandingly powerful debut by the Manchester-based Galway-born singer-songwriter, whose soaring delivery has instant echoes of Jeff Buckley and lyrics that go above and beyond

Dec 9, 2025
Spíra by Ólöf Arnalds.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Ólöf Arnalds: Spíra
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A gorgeous, delicate, ethereal first release in a decade by the Icelandic singer-songwriter, acoustic instruments and her gentle, high, pure voice, all in her native language, caressing this listening experience like pure waters of some slowly trickling glacial stream

Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber - Unclouded.jpeg
Dec 5, 2025
Melody's Echo Chamber: Unclouded
Dec 5, 2025

New album: A fourth album, here full of delicious uplifting, dreamily chic, psychedelic soul pop by the French musician Melody Prochet, with bright, upbeat, optimistic numbers and a title lifted from a quote by the acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, about achieving equilibrium

Dec 5, 2025
Devotion & The Black Divine by anaiis.jpeg
Dec 2, 2025
anaiis: Devotion & The Black Divine
Dec 2, 2025

New album: Following a summer Song of the Day - Deus Deus, a review of the autumn release and third LP by the London-based French-Senegalese singer-songwriter of resonantly beautiful, dynamic, sensual soul, gospel, R&B and experimental and chamber pop, with themes of new motherhood, uncertainty, religion, self-love and acceptance

Dec 2, 2025
De La Soul - Cabin In The Sky.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
De La Soul: Cabin In The Sky
Nov 26, 2025

New album: The hip-hop veterans return with their first without, yet including the voice of, and a tribute to, founding member Trugoy the Dove, AKA Dave Jolicoeur who passed away in 2023, alongside many hip-hop luminary guests, with trademark playful skits, and all themed around the afterlife

Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats- Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan
Nov 26, 2025

New album: An evocative musical journey of a concept album by the indie-folk band from Claremont, California, fronted by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, based on a dream of his in 2023 about a voyage to a fictional island by the titular captain, charting adventure, wonder and tragedy

Nov 26, 2025
Allie X - Happiness Is Going To Get You.jpeg
Nov 26, 2025
Allie X: Happiness Is Going To Get You
Nov 26, 2025

New album: A hugely entertaining, witty, droll, inventive, chamber and synth-pop fourth LP with a goth twist by the charismatic and theatrical Canadian artist Alexandra Hughes, who brings paradox and dark themes through sounds that include string quartet, harpsichord, classical and pure pop piano with killer lyrics

Nov 26, 2025
Tortoise - Touch.jpeg
Nov 25, 2025
Tortoise: Touch
Nov 25, 2025

New album: A welcome return with a cinematic and mesmeric groove-filled first studio LP in nine years, and the eighth over all by the eclectic Chicago post-rock/jazz/krautrock multi-instrumentalists Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire and Jeff Parker

Nov 25, 2025
What of Our Nature by Haley Heynderickx, Max García Conover.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover: What of Our Nature
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Beautiful, precise, poignant and poetic new folk numbers inspired by the life and music style of Woody Guthrie as the Portland, Oregon and New Yorker, now Portland, Maine-based singer-songwriters bring a delicious duet album, alternating and sharing songs covering a variety of forever topical social issues

Nov 24, 2025
Tranquilizer by Oneohtrix Point Never.jpeg
Nov 24, 2025
Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer
Nov 24, 2025

New album: Ambient, otherworldly, cinematic, mesmeric, and at times very odd, the Brooklyn-based electronic artist and producer Daniel Lopatin returns with a new nostalgia-based concept – constructing tracks from lost-then-refound Y2K CDs of 1990s and early 2000s royalty-free sample electronic sounds

Nov 24, 2025

new songs …

Featured
King Hüsky - December95.jpeg
Dec 23, 2025
Song of the Day: King Hüsky - December95
Dec 23, 2025

Song of the Day: Poignant, evocative, beautiful, vivid, alternative mandolin folk-pop about a severe winter at Christmas by Oslo’s Vidar Landa, who in this guise departs from his his usual role as as guitarist of Norwegian heavy metal band Kvelertak and indierock/powerpop band Beachheads, out on Hype City Music

Dec 23, 2025
Yumi Zouma - No Love Lost.jpeg
Dec 22, 2025
Song of the Day: Yumi Zouma - 95
Dec 22, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, gentle, reflective new single by the New Zealand experimental indie-pop band referencing the US east coast Maine to Miami interstate road about homesickness and more, heralding the new album No Love Lost to Kindness, out on 30 January, out on Nettwerk Music

Dec 22, 2025
Deadletter - To The Brim.jpeg
Dec 19, 2025
Song of the Day: DEADLETTER - To The Brim
Dec 19, 2025

Song of the Day: A moody, mysterious minute-long intro with gentle bursts of brass and woodwind veils what becomes a punchy new lead single by the Leeds post-punk band heralding their second LP - Existence is Bliss out on 27 February via SO Recordings

Dec 19, 2025
Greentea Peng - Prisoners Round.jpeg
Dec 18, 2025
Song of the Day: Greentea Peng - Prisoners Round
Dec 18, 2025

Song of the Day: Following March 2025’s acclaimed album, Tell Dem It’s Sunny, the south-east London artist (aka Aria Wells) returns with another smoky, dark, track with hues of blues, dub and soul and Portishead-esque trip-hop, focusing on the trappings and challenges of modern life

Dec 18, 2025
Kaitlyn Aurela Smith - I Miss The Way You Swim.jpg
Dec 17, 2025
Song of the Day: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - I Miss the Way You Swim
Dec 17, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful modular synths and intermingling orchestral sounds ripple in this work by the American composer, performer and producer in a piece shaped by loss of someone loved, taken from an upcoming instrumental album Thoughts On The Future, out on Nettwerk Music

Dec 17, 2025
The Paper Kites - If You Go There.jpeg
Dec 16, 2025
Song of the Day: The Paper Kites - Change Of The Wind
Dec 16, 2025

Song of the Day: A beautiful, reflective number by the alternative folk-rock band from Melbourne fronted by Sam Bentley, heralding their seventh studio album If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, out on 23 January via Nettwerk Music Group

Dec 16, 2025
Courtney Marie Andrews - Valentine.jpeg
Dec 15, 2025
Song of the Day: Courtney Marie Andrews - Little Picture Of A Butterfly
Dec 15, 2025

Song of the Day: Beautiful, delicate, fluttering, eclectic, heartbreak folk and Americana by the singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, heralding her forthcoming new album, Valentine, out on 16 January via Loose Future

Dec 15, 2025
Peter Perrett - Proud To Be Self-Hating.jpeg
Dec 12, 2025
Song of the Day: Peter Perrett - PROUD TO BE SELF-HATING (irony and provocation)
Dec 12, 2025

Song of the Day: The veteran British artist, originally frontman of The Only Ones, and now with three solo albums, who actually has Jewish heritage, releases a gently powerful, nuanced, pro-Palestine acoustic number as a response to ongoing genocide by the Israeli government, out on Domino Records

Dec 12, 2025
Maddie Ashman - Jaded.jpeg
Dec 11, 2025
Song of the Day: Maddie Ashman - Jaded
Dec 11, 2025

Song of the Day: Magical, delicate, eclectic, intricate, experimental microtonal music by the London musician and singer, released alongside a longer track, In Autumn My Heart Breaks

Dec 11, 2025
Ye Vagabonds.jpeg
Dec 10, 2025
Song of the Day: Ye Vagabonds - The Flood
Dec 10, 2025

Song of the Day: Wonderfully warm, rich, lively fiddle-driven Irish folk by the award-winning band fronted by Carlow brothers Brían and Diarmuid Mac Gloinn with a heartbreaking number about the housing crisis, heralding their upcoming new album, All Tied Together, out on Rough Trade’s River Lea Recordings on 30 January

Dec 10, 2025
DBA! band.jpeg
Dec 9, 2025
Song of the Day: DBA! A Poet And A Clown
Dec 9, 2025

Song of the Day: Catchy fuzz-guitar indie rock with a swagger by the Liverpool-formed trio of Sam Warren, James Lindberg and Joshua Grant in a song described as “a confessional story of desire tangled with religious guilt”

Dec 9, 2025
Puma Blue - Croak Dream.jpeg
Dec 8, 2025
Song of the Day: Puma Blue - Croak Dream
Dec 8, 2025

Song of the Day: A dark, esoteric, mysterious and stylish title track with a hint of Radiohead and playing with the idea of knowing your future death, from the experimental indie/goth/ambient London artist Jacob Allen’s forthcoming album out on 6 February via Play It Again Sam

Dec 8, 2025

Word of the week

Featured
Hangover.jpeg
Dec 4, 2025
Word of the week: crapulence
Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025
Running shoes and barefoot.jpeg
Nov 20, 2025
Word of the week: discalceate
Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025
autumn-red-leaves.jpeg
Nov 6, 2025
Word of the week: erythrophyll
Nov 6, 2025

Word of the week: A seasonally topical word relating to the the red pigment of tree leaves, fruits and flowers, that appears particularly when changing in autumn, as opposed to the green effect of chlorophyll, from the Greek erythros for red, and phyll for leaves. But what of songs about this?

Nov 6, 2025
Fennec fox 2.jpeg
Oct 22, 2025
Word of the week: fennec
Oct 22, 2025

Word of the week: It’s a small pale-fawn nocturnal fox with unusually large, highly sensitive ears, that inhabits from African and Arab deserts areas from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula. But has it ever been seen in a song?

Oct 22, 2025
Narrowboat.jpeg
Oct 9, 2025
Word of the week: gongoozler
Oct 9, 2025

Word of the week: A fabulous old English slang term for someone who tends to stand or sit for long periods staring at the passing of boats on canals, sometimes with a derogatory or at least ironic use for someone who is useless or lazy. But what of songs about this activity and culture?

Oct 9, 2025

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