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Andy Shauf: Norm

February 14, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Andy Shauf: Norm

New album: Following 2020’s The Neon Skyline, the Canadian singer-songwriter returns with beautiful, crisp, meticulous folk-pop, filled with narrative, clever philosophy and his delicate, engaging, falsetto voice

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In albums, Americana, folk, pop Tags Andy Shauf, ANTI Records, albums, new releases
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Emily Breeze: Rapture

February 14, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Emily Breeze’s Rapture

New album: Wonderfully engaging, darkly humorous, catchy, clever noir pop by the self-deprecatory but talented Bristol artist presenting “a collection of coming-of (middle) age stories which celebrate flamboyant failure, excess and acceptance.”

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In albums, pop, rock, country Tags Emily Breeze, albums, new releases, Sugar Shack Records
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Paramore: This Is Why

February 14, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Paramore: This Is Why

New album: The Tennessee rock band fronted by Hayley Williams return with their sixth album, a more angular guitar affair influenced by Bloc Party and Foals, marrying post-punk with edgy, angry restless indie pop

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In albums, indie, pop, post-punk Tags albums, new releases, Paramore, Atlantic Records
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Liv.e: Girl In The Half Pearl

February 14, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Liv.e: Girl In The Half Pearl

New album: A dizzyingly indefinable and innovative debut by the Dallas-born singer-songwriter Olivia Williams, mixing experimental R&B, gospel, neo-soul, spoken word, electronica, cosmic jazz, and pop

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In albums, alternative, ambient, avant garde, dance music, electronica, experimental, fusion, jazz, pop, R&B, trip-hop, spoken word Tags Liv.e, Real Life Music, Olivia Williams, albums, new releases
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Quasi: Breaking the Balls of History

February 13, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Quasi return, with Breaking the Balls of History

New album: A welcome return with clever, punchy, alternative indie and a wry look at the world, from the Portland, Oregon indie duo of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, in their 10th album, and first for a decade

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In albums, alternative, experimental, indie, rock Tags Quasi, Sub Pop, albums, new releases
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Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World

February 11, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Yo La Tengo: This Stupid World

New album: Nearly four decades into the New Jersey trio’s prolific career, Ira Kaplan Georgia Hubley and James McNew’s 17th studio LP one of their best, mesmeric, krautrock-inspired, semi-improvisational, shoegaze indie

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In albums, alternative, indie, rock Tags Yo La Tengo, Matador Records, albums, new releases
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Hifi Sean and David McAlmont: Happy Ending

February 11, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Hifi Sean & David McAlmont: Happy Ending

New album: Crisp, soulful, lush, soaring pop, with a Bollywood flavour, as one of the finest ever British vocalists releases a first collaborative full LP with producer and musician Sean Dickson

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In albums, disco, electronica, experimental, pop, soul Tags albums, new releases, David McAlmont, Hifi Sean, Sean Dickson, Plastique Recordings
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Robert Forster: The Candle and the Flame

February 8, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Robert Forster: The Candle and the Flame

New album: This eighth solo LP by the former Go-Betweens man brings powerful, intelligent, emotional bittersweet songwriting in a largely acoustic home setup involving his family members, and foreshadows his partner’s diagnosis with cancer

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In albums, country, folk, pop Tags Robert Forster, Go-Betweens, Tapete, albums, new releases
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M(h)aol: Attachment Styles

February 8, 2023 Peter Kimpton

M(h)aol: Attachment Styles

Debut album: They’ve been pacing around with singles for several years, but this debut by the Dublin post-punks (pronounced male) is powerful, funny, dark, feminist, funny and dirty, filled with fabulous thumps, bangs, crashes, guitar clangs and killer lyrics

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In albums, alternative, post-punk, punk, spoken word Tags M(h)aol, albums, new releases, Tulle Collective
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The Go! Team: Get Up Sequences Part Two

February 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The Go! Team: Get Up Sequences Part Two

New album: Ian Parton’s Brighton band return, in their follow-up to 2021’s Part One, with a truly joyous, upbeat and vibrantly colourful, wham-bam wonder tour of worldwide cultural vocals and samples ranging from Benin to Japan, France, India, Texas and Detroit

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In albums, African, alternative, dance music, disco, hip hop, indie, psychedelia, soul Tags The Go! Team, Memphis Industries, albums, new releases, Ian Parton, Star Feminine Band, Neha Hatwar, IndigoYaj, Nitty Scott, Man Mountain Music
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Hamish Hawk: Angel Numbers

February 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Hamish Hawk: Angel Numbers

New album: After the lauded Heavy Elevator LP, further fabulously crafted, numbers by the witty, articulate, smooth-voiced Edinburgh singer-songwriter, with a set of sensitive, moving and gently humorous songs about patterns of destiny and the future

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In albums, alternative, pop Tags Hamish Hawk, albums, new releases, Post Electric
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Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy

February 5, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Young Fathers’s fourth album, Heavy Heavy

New album: There’s nothing quite like them. Joyous energy and endless invention, the Edinburgh trio’s fourth LP is filled with soulful, emotional vocals, fabulous oddball, dynamic beats and sound textures, and already an album of the year contender

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In albums, alternative, African, dance, dance music, experimental, electronica, hip hop, soul Tags Young Fathers, Ninja Tune, albums, new releases
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The WAEVE: The WAEVE

February 3, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Perfect texture blend: Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall

New album: Fantastically original, eclectic and melodious eponymous debut by the duo of Blur’s Graham Coxon, and ex-Pipettes’ Rose Elinor Dougall, packed with an indefinable mix of indie pop, folk, post-punk and much more in a free-flowing tapestry of sounds and textures

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In albums, alternative, folk, indie, pop, post-punk Tags The WAEVE, Graham Coxon, Blur, Rose Elinor Dougall, Transgressive
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Jadu Heart: Derealised

February 1, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Jadu Heart’s third album Derealised

New album: A third album from the British duo of Diva-Sachy Jeffrey and Alex Headford brings an eclectic, innovative mix of indie and electronic and dream pop, with a strong flavour of shoegazey My Bloody Valentine

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In albums, alternative, indie, pop, shoegaze Tags Jadu Heart, albums, new releases, VLF Records, Diva-Sachy Jeffrey, Alex Headford
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JW Francis: Dream House

February 1, 2023 Peter Kimpton

JW Francis: Dream House

New album: The upbeat, wryly humorous New York singer-songwriter returns with a collection of super-catchy, perky, jangly indie pop songs inspired by a project requesting Valentine’s love song requests from fans on Twitter, resulting in “an album about caring for others, and the way we express it”

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In albums, indie, pop Tags JW Francis, albums, new releases, Sunday Best Recordings, Domino Records
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L.T. Leif: Come Back To Me, But Lightly

February 1, 2023 Peter Kimpton

L.T. Leif: Come Back To Me, But Lightly

New album: Slow, measured, pared-back and beautiful, this creative concoction of cosmic country and folk is a gorgeous gem by the Glasgow-based Canadian artist

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In albums, alternative, country, experimental, folk Tags L.T. Leif, albums, new releases, Lost Map Records
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Complete Mountain Almanac: Complete Mountain Almanac

January 31, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Turning of the seasons: Complete Mountain Almanac

New album: A uniquely beautiful, complex, layered project of 12 monthly releases created by Stockholm-based singer/songwriter Rebekka Karijord and the poet, artist and dancer Jessica Dessner, who also brings her younger brothers Aaron and Bryce of The National

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In albums, alternative, Americana, experimental, folk, poetry Tags albums, new releases, Complete Mountain Almanac, Rebekka Karijord, Jessica Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, The National, Bella Union, climate change
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The Arcs: Electrophonic Chronic

January 31, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The Arcs’ second album is a tribute to the late singer Richard Swift

New album: Classy rockin’ psychedelic soul from the Black Keys man Dan Auerbach’s side project, returning with a stellar supergroup of musicians including co-founder Leon Michels and members of the Dap-Kings, as well as a moving tribute LP to the Arcs’ late singer Richard Swift

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In albums, blues, psychedelia, rock, soul Tags The Arcs, Dan Auerbach, The Black Keys, Leon Michels, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Easy Eye Sound, albums, new releases
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Mozart Estate: Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping

January 29, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Lawrence has rebranded Go-Kart Mozart into Mozart Estate with this shopping list of new numbers

New album: The legendary Lawrence of Felt, Denim, and more recently Go-Kart Mozart, rebrands the latter with a new name and trolley-load of perky, cheeky, catchy sometimes pub-style electro-pop tunes roughly themed around the joys and mini-tragedies of retail therapy

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In albums, alternative, pop Tags Lawrence, Mozart Estate, Go-Kart Mozart, Cherry Red Records, albums, new releases
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Sweet Baboo: The Wreckage

January 28, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Sweet Baboo: The Wreckage

New album: A very welcome return after five years from Wales’s Stephen Black, who having worked with Gruff Rhys, Cate Le Bon and others, releases a selection of beautiful, gentle folk rock songs of delicious melody, creativity and sensitivity

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In albums, folk, indie, rock Tags songs, albums, new releases, Sweet Baboo, Stephen Black, Amazing Tapes From Canton, Cate Le Bon, Gruff Rhys
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

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SNACK 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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