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GoGo Penguin: Everything Is Going To Be OK

May 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

GoGo Penguin: Everything Is Going To Be OK

New album: An evocative, imaginative, cinematic ninth LP by the inventive Manchester experimental jazz trio this time with track ideas first utilising electronica turned into their vibrant acoustic playing of interweaving piano, drums and bass

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In albums, alternative, experimental, jazz Tags albums, new releases, GoGo Penguin, XXIM Records, Sony Records
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Tiny Ruins: Ceremony

May 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Tiny Ruins: Ceremony

New album: Gorgeously intricate, beautifully paced experimental folk comes in this fourth LP by the band of New Zealand’s Hollie Fullbrook, with songs that are poignant, melancholy, but also intelligently uplifting

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In albums, alternative, experimental, folk Tags Tiny Ruins, Hollie Fullbrook, Milk! Records, albums, new releases
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Avalon Emerson: & The Charm

May 2, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Avalon Emerson’s new LP: & The Charm

New album: The San Francisco-born, Arizona-raised DJ and producer’s debut LP, after 2020’s Rotting Hills EP, is indeed a charm, one of dreamy electro-pop, not the first or last to be influenced by Cocteau Twins, but one also with lots of oddball originality and vivid, photography-like lyrics

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In albums, alternative, electronica, experimental, pop Tags Avalon Emerson, Another Dove Records, One House Records, albums, new releases
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Nabihah Iqbal: Dreamer

May 2, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Nabihah Iqbal: Dreamer

New album: The London electronica artists and DJ, formerly known as Throwing Shade, brings a mix of dancefloor with the dream-like, sensual, breathy and ethereal, with echoes sometimes of Cocteau Twins, but also of New Order

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In albums, alternative, ambient, dance, dance music, electronica, experimental Tags Nabihah Iqbal, Ninja Tune, albums, new releases
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The National: First Two Pages of Frankenstein

May 1, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The National’s ninth LP: First Two Pages of Frankenstein

New album: The ninth studio LP by the Brooklyn-based Ohio five-piece of the Dessner brothers co, is slow, reflective and beautifully poetic, capturing singer Matt Berninger’s hopefully winning battle with depression, and includes includes guest Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens

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In albums, alternative, indie, rock Tags The National, 4AD, albums, new releases, Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Sufjan Stevens, Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers
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Alfa Mist: Variables

April 26, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Alfa Mist’s fifth album, Variables

New album: A brilliantly inventive mix of dynamic, textured, vibrant jazz, funk, prog, African, and hip hop, from big band swing, boom-bap rhythms smooth, soulful vocals, all in a fifth LP the London keyboardist and producer

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In African, alternative, albums, experimental, funk, fusion, hip hop, jazz, trip-hop Tags Alfa Mist, ANTI Records, albums, new releases, Bongeziwe Mabandla, Kaya Thomas-Dyke
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Lael Neale: Star Eaters Delight

April 24, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Lael Neale: Star Eaters Delight

New album: The American singer-songwriter returns with a third album of ethereal alternative folk-pop, inspired by moving from the bright lights of LA to the calm of the family Virginia farm and polarities of country-city, humanity-technology, solitude- relationship

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In alternative, experimental, folk, pop Tags Lael Neale, Sub Pop, albums, new releases
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The Bloodstreams: How To Be A God

April 24, 2023 Peter Kimpton

The Bloodstreams: How To Be A God

New album: With oodles of swagger, theatricality and panache, a wonderful debut by the seasoned Deptford quartet, with witty, black-humoured 60s garage rock and stylish echoes of Siouxsie, Birthday Party-era Nick Cave, Stones, the Doors and the Kramps

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In albums, alternative, post-punk, rock, theatrical Tags The Bloodstreams, albums, new releases
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Oracle Sisters: Hydranism

April 20, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Oracle Sisters: Hydranism

Debut album: Classy, and timelessly classic piano pop and more debut by the Paris-based trio of Lewis Lazar, Christopher Willatt and Finnish musician Julia Johansen filled with melting, moving ballads, intimate folk songs, catchy bangers and generally vision of the world suspended in a timeless place

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In albums, alternative, pop, folk Tags Oracle Sisters, 22TWENTY, albums, new releases
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Fire-Toolz: I am upset because I see something that is not there

April 20, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Fire-Toolz: I am upset because I see something that is not there

New album: Like a bizarre recipe filled with flavours that should not mix, but by some strange alchemy really work, an extraordinary fusion of electronica, ambient, drum’n’bass, jazz, prog, pop, and blasts of dark metal by the Chicago producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Angel Marcloid, a heady fusion that must been heard to be believed

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In albums, ambient, alternative, avant garde, dance, electronica, experimental, jazz, metal, psychedelia, punk, rock Tags Fire-Toolz, Angel Marcloid, albums, new releases, Hausu Mountain
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Spencer Cullum: Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection 2

April 20, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Spencer Cullum returns with further treasures

New album: Following 2021’s beautiful first coin collection, another delicious release of gentle 70s-style folk with light touches of country, jazz and pop by the Romford artist who has made his home in Nashville, Tennessee

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In albums, alternative, country, folk, jazz, pop Tags Spencer Cullum, Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection, Full Time Hobby, albums, new releases
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Ligeti Quartet x Anna Meredith: Nuc

April 18, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Ligeti Quartet x Anna Meredith: Nuc

New album: A dynamic, mesmeric collaboration as acclaimed modern classical string ensemble play career works by the Scottish experimental composer in multi-textured, polyrhythmic, interpretations, using arrangements by viola player Richard Jones

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In albums, alternative, experimental, classical Tags Ligeti Quartet, Anna Meredith, Mercury KX
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Fenne Lily: Big Picture

April 17, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Small scenes, Big Picture. Fenne Lily’s perfectly formed bittersweet new album

New album: Crisp, stripped back, gentle, intricate and sensitive singer-songwriter folk by the Bristol artist with third album about the last two years of her life, capturing “worry and doubt and letting go”, treading a beautifully bittersweet line between the melancholic and uplifting

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In albums, alternative, folk, pop Tags Fenne Lily, Dead Oceans, albums, new releases
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Deerhoof: Miracle-Level

April 12, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Deerhoof: Miracle-Level

New album: A 19th studio album by San Francisco the prog-punk-jazz experimentalists drummer Greg Saunier, guitarists Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich, and bassist/singer Satomi Matsuzaki is another blast of brilliant musicianship, but also the first entirely sung in Matsuzaki’s native Japanese

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In albums, alternative, experimental, indie, post-punk, psychedelia, rock, prog-rock Tags albums, new releases, Deerhoof, Joyful Noise Recordings
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HMLTD: The Worm

April 11, 2023 Peter Kimpton

HMLTD …

New album: Apocalypse: The Musical? This highly entertaining second LP by the British art-rockers could be thus described, but the concept is “an anachronistic version of medieval England” and features a 16-piece string orchestra and gospel choir

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In albums, alternative, experimental, jazz, psychedelia, prog-rock, rock, spoken word, gospel, musical theatre Tags HMLTD, Lucky Number, albums, new releases
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London Brew: London Brew

April 9, 2023 Peter Kimpton

London Brew

New album: A wonderfully rich, collaborative release of new music by a 12-piece group of leading UK jazz musicians including Shabaka Hutchings, recorded in 2020 in Paul Epworth’s Church Studios, inspired by and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’s landmark LP Bitches Brew

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In albums, alternative, jazz Tags London Brew, Shabaka Hutchings, Miles Davis, Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Tom Skinner, Benji B, Raven Bush, Dave Okumu, Concord Jazz, Concord Records, Downtown Music, albums, new releases
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Desire Marea: On The Romance of Being

April 9, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Desire Marea: On The Romance of Being

New album: An extraordinary, beautiful, passionate, spiritual and erotic new solo LP by the South African multidisciplinary artist, sangoma (Nguni spiritual healer), and previously part of queer gqom group FAKA, now with a 13-piece orchestral ensemble mixing soul, jazz, rock and Zulu chants

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In albums, alternative, African, jazz, prog-rock, rock, traditional, experimental Tags Desire Marea, Mute Records, albums, new releases
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Altin Gün: Aşk

April 6, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Altin Gün’s fifth album, Aşk

New album: The Amsterdam psychedelic and electro-pop-funk rockers make a fabulous fifth LP with their special interpretations of traditional Turkish and Anatolian folk, echoing the heavier sound of their earlier albums On and Gece

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In albums, alternative, experimental, folk, pop, psychedelia, funk, rock, traditional Tags Altin Gün, Glitterbeat Records, songs, albums, new releases
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Jen Cloher: I Am The River, The River Is Me

April 4, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Fully immersive: Jen Cloher’s fifth album - I Am The River, The River Is Me

New album: Brilliantly passionate and powerful, this fifth LP by the Melbourne indie singer-songwriter celebrates their matrilineal line of wāhine Māori heritage in songs of heartbreak, defiance and joy

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In albums, alternative, indie, pop, rock Tags Jen Cloher, Milk! Records, Marathon Artists, albums, new releases
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Mo'Ju: Oro, Plata, Mata

April 3, 2023 Peter Kimpton

Mo’Ju: sincerely soulful

New album: Passionate, theatrical soul with a serious concept by the Filipino Wiradjuri artist Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga with an LP named after a 1982 film by his late uncle, the director Peque Gallaga, translated as Gold, Silver, Death

Read more
In albums, alternative, soul, pop Tags albums, new releases, Mo'Ju, Virgin
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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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