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Dry Cleaning: Stumpwork

October 24, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Perfect marriage of the banal and the inspiring: Stumpwork by Dry Cleaning

New album: The London post-punk band continue where they left off from last year’s debut, New Long Leg, with Florence Shaw’s beguiling, droll, laconic, surreal, stream-of-consciousness, darkly humorous spoken delivery over clever, off-kilter music.

Read more
In albums, experimental, post-punk, spoken word, indie Tags Dry Cleaning, 4AD, Florence Shaw, albums, new releases
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Goat: Oh Death

October 24, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Goat are back, giving birth to their latest LP, Oh Death

New album: The masked and mysterious Swedish collective return with their fourth studio LP, (not counting 2021’s Headsoup compilation) with a gloriously unholy fusion of psychedelic, prog and heavy rock, African and Indian influences centred around life’s ultimate end-meaning

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In albums, African, experimental, psychedelia, prog-rock, rock Tags Goat, Rocket Recordings, albums, new releases
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Arctic Monkeys: The Car

October 24, 2022 Peter Kimpton

The Car - Arctic Monkeys’ seventh studio album

New album: With lavish orchestration, grandiose dynamics and a crooning falsetto, echoes of Scott Walker and early 80s David Bowie, Alex Turner’s writing and delivery enters a new and fascinating phase of enigmatic, melancholy maturity

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In albums, experimental, pop, rock, indie Tags Arctic Monkeys, albums, new releases, Alex Turner
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Plains: I Walked With You A Ways

October 19, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Plains on the roadside: Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson

New album: A high-quality classic country duet album with beautifully interweaving vocals by Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) and Texas songwriter Jess Williamson embellished with soft-brushed drums, banjo, steel guitar, road and porch scenes, and heartbreak

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In albums, Americana, country Tags Plains, Katie Crutchfield, Waxahatchee, Jess Williamson, albums, new releases, ANTI Records
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Louis Cole: Quality Over Opinion

October 19, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Louis Cole’s sixth album always has priorities …

New album: Brilliantly clever, agile and innovative sixth new solo funk album by the American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and Knower co-founder, mixing fast, perky beats and falsetto with the slower, more tender love songs, often with a twist

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In albums, electronica, dance, funk, jazz, pop Tags Louis Cole, Knower, Brainfeeder
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Alvvays: Blue Rev

October 18, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Alvvays return with their third album, and first since 2017

New album: Delayed by floods, theft, and the pandemic, the Toronto band fronted by singer-songwriter Molly Rankin and guitarist Alec O’Hanley make a triumphant third album return with uplifting and melancholy dream-pop indie filled with jangly inflections of The Smiths, shoegazey MBV, loud-quiet Sonic Youth and romantic Belinda Carlisle synth pop

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In albums, indie, pop, rock Tags Alvvays, Transgressive, Celsius GIrls, albums, new releases
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Gilla Band: Most Normal

October 18, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Gilla Band’s (former Girl Band) ironically titled extraordinary new album

New album: Groundbreaking, and at times ear-splitting noise experimentation by the Dublin band formerly known as Girl Band with a new album with a deeply ironic title and work that truly challenges the senses via a post-punk, distorted guitar and electronic platform

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In albums, indie, post-punk, punk, avant garde, experimental Tags Gilla Band, Girl Band, Rough Trade, albums, new releases
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The Unthanks: Sorrows Away

October 17, 2022 Peter Kimpton

The Unthanks return in full force with their first album in seven years

New album: After a variety of other projects, the Tyneside folk sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank and co make a welcome return in their usual collective with a hearty and harmonious mix of the traditional and the new with songs on heartbreaks and collieries, rivers and rebellions

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In albums, folk, traditional Tags The Unthanks, Rabble Rouser, albums, new releases
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The Big Moon: Here Is Everything

October 17, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Here Is Everything, the third album by The Big Moon

New album: An emotive, hooky, candid third album by the London indie-rockers fronted by Juliette Jackson, with a running theme around her experience of pregnancy and its life-changing consequences

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In albums, indie, pop, rock Tags The Big Moon, Fiction Records, Universal Music, albums, new releases
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Brian Eno: FOREVERANDEVERMORE

October 16, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Brian Eno’s 22nd solo album

New album: An unusual vocal 22nd LP by the acclaimed producer marries his ambient, evocative, sonic landscapes and his full, rounded rather beautiful delivery - slow, chant-like but filled with profundity, emotion and dark humour about our ultimate, apocalyptic fate

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In albums, ambient, electronica, experimental Tags albums, new releases, Brian Eno, Opal Music, Universal Music
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Bill Callahan: YTI⅃AƎЯ

October 15, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Bill Callahan’s new album’s YTILAER plays mischief with search engines

New album: Dreams, horses, darkness and uplifting otherworldliness feature in this wonderful, mischievously mirror-titled ninth LP under the Smog artists’s own name, pouring out velvet voiced beauty, vivid lines, deadpan humour, acoustic intimacy and full band momentum

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In albums, Americana, country, folk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Bill Callahan, Smog, Drag City
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Sorry: Anywhere But Here

October 12, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Sorry’s second LP

New album: This second LP by the London indie band is again inventively inspired by city life, but feels edgier, more melancholy and mercurial, dotted with great melodies, but also lyrics from snatched speech, texts, capturing fragmented thoughts of an underground, young, seething, frustrated, isolated generation

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In albums, experimental, indie, post-punk Tags Sorry, Domino Records, albums, new releases
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Mamalarky: Pocket Fantasy

October 12, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Mamalarky’s full debut LP Pocket Fantasy

New album: Their recent single Shining Armor was recently a Song of The Day, but the new LP by the Atlanta and LA indie band is rich in inventive, playful, post-punk, psych-rock and shoegaze, with parallels at times to the excellent Deerhoof

Read more
In albums, experimental, indie, post-punk, psychedelia, rock, prog-rock Tags albums, new releases, Mamalarky, Fire Talk
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Broken Bells: Into The Blue

October 11, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Broken Bells: Into The Blue, their third album since eponymous debut in 2010

New album: Acclaimed producer Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse and James Mercer of the The Shins reconvene for their third duo BB album in 12 years, and first since 2014, with strong, slow, unhurried, smoky numbers of thrumming indie reverberation

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In albums, pop, indie, psychedelia, rock Tags Brian Burton, Danger Mouse, James Mercer, The Shins, albums, new releases, 30th Century Recordings, Aural Apothecary, AWAL
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TSHA: Capricorn Sun

October 10, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Goats and glory: TSHA’s debut album Capricorn Sun

Debut album: After a series of strong singles and her EP, Dawn, a cleverly crafted, and at times elegant dance music debut by the Tottenham-based DJ and producer Teisha Matthews, fusing 80s and 90s era styles with soul, steel band, orchestral and much more

Read more
In albums, dance, dance music, electronica, experimental, fusion, soul Tags albums, new releases, TSHA, Teisha Matthews, Ninja Tune
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The Orielles: Tableau

October 10, 2022 Peter Kimpton

The Orielles’ fourth LP, Tableau

New album: This fourth, sprawling, ambitious, cinematic, genre-spanning double LP by the Halifax trio of singer/bassist Esmé Hand-Halford and co is an enthralling, constantly morphing mix of psychedelia, prog, jazz, funk, R&B, indie, space pop, electronica, house and disco

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In albums, electronica, experimental, funk, fusion, indie, jazz, psychedelia, rock, spoken word Tags albums, new releases, The Orielles, Heavenly Recordings
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Lambchop: The Bible

October 5, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Lambchop’s 16th studio album, The Bible

New album: Tender, strange, eclectic, Kurt Wagner returns with a 16th album a long way from those earlier heady day releases of of Americana and alt-country, but one filled with fascinating oddities, reflections on mortality, with fusions of jazz, electronica, soul, classical and modulated sounds and voices

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In albums, electronica, experimental, funk, fusion, jazz, avant garde Tags Lambchop, Kurt Wagner, City Slang, Merge Records, albums, new releases
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Pixies: Doggerel

October 4, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Pixies’s eighth album

New album: Meaty, strong new LP by the legendary Black Francis and co, a mischievous, punchy ode to absurdism, with a sound that harks to earlier material than the more polished more recent LPs, with some tracks sitting more in line with their classic 1987-91 era

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In albums, post-punk, rock Tags Pixies, Black Francis, BMG, albums, new releases
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Gabriels: Angels and Queens - Part 1

October 3, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Gabriels’ debut album, including the extraordinary voice of Jacob Lusk

New album: Since their breakthrough Love and Hate In A Different Time EP in 2020, the trio of Ari Balouzian, Ryan Hope and most especially the voice of Jacob Lusk continue to soar, now with this new, short debut LP of transcendent, timeless soul and gospel

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In albums, gospel, soul, funk Tags Gabriels, Jacob Lusk, Ari Balouzian, Ryan Hope, Sounwave
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Björk: Fossora

October 3, 2022 Peter Kimpton

Björk’s 10th Fossora, inspired by fungi, grows on the listener

New album: The Icelandic iconic pioneer returns with a 10th LP, mesmeric, strange, beautiful, sometimes challenging, but always original, inspired by fungi, the death of her mother, oodles of woodwind, rich vocal harmony and some Dutch techno

Read more
In albums, avant garde, experimental, folk, electronica Tags Björk, One Little Independent, albums, new releases
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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
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
ELIZA - Anyone Else.jpeg
Dec 7, 2025
Song of the Day: ELIZA - Anyone Else
Dec 7, 2025

Song of the Day: Stripped-back, bluesy, fuzzy funk with slight echoes of Prince and alt-R&B are conjured up in this love song by the London-based singer-songwriter Eliza Caird, her first single for two years, now off the mainstream and out on Log Off Records

Dec 7, 2025
SILK SCARF by Tiga & Fcukers.jpg
Dec 6, 2025
Song of the Day: Tiga (featuring Fcukers) - Silk Scarf
Dec 6, 2025

Song of the Day: A fun, sensual, quirkily oddball electronica dance single with a slick, fetish-flirtatious ode to a favourite smooth material by the Montreal musician (Tiga James Sontag) joined here with vocals by the New York band (Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis), and heralding Tiga’s upcoming album Hotlife, out in April on Secret City Records

Dec 6, 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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