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Girl In Red: If I Could Make It Go Quiet

May 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Girl In Red

Girl In Red

Album review: “Honey, I’m not doing so well". Impressively candid, clever pop debut capturing a variety of emotional, relationship and sexuality traumas through catchy songwriting by Norway’s Marie Ulven who has already become a bedroom-produced YouTube star

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In albums, pop Tags albums, new releases, Girl In Red, Marie Ulven, World In Red, AWAL
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Teenage Fanclub: Endless Arcade

May 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Teenage Fanclub’s Endless Arcade

Teenage Fanclub’s Endless Arcade

Album review: This first album for five years by Scotland’s indie veterans as ever is wonderfully consistent, here marrying the musically sunny and uplifting with dark, tragic subject matter to reflect recent times

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In albums, indie, pop Tags albums, new releases, Teenage Fanclub, PeMa
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The Coral: Coral Island

April 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton
The Coral’s new double album

The Coral’s new double album

Album review: Themed loosely in setting, characters and narrative around a British seaside resort, this new double album by the Liverpool band glitters with beautifully relaxed, timeless tunes that shimmer with a late-60s psychedelia

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In albums, pop, indie, psychedelia Tags albums, new releases, The Coral, Run On Records
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Art D'Ecco: In Standard Definition

April 28, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Art D’Ecco’s In Standard Definition

Art D’Ecco’s In Standard Definition

Album review: A stylish and charismatic glam-rock electro-funk-disco pop second album, echoing everything from early 70s Bowie or Bolan’s T-Rex to 80s synth New Romantics, by the wonderful Canadian androgynous singer

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In albums, pop, rock, electronica, dance music Tags albums, new releases, Art D'Ecco, Paper Bag Records
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Wasuremono: Let's Talk, Pt. 1

April 28, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Wasuremono-Lets-Talk-Pt-1.jpeg

Album review: Refreshing, full-bodied vocal harmonies and almost messianic, upbeat lyrics make this new indie pop album by the West Country quartet a breath of positivity that also echoes the energy of Arcade Fire and The Polyphonic Spree

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In albums, indie, pop Tags albums, new releases, Wasuremono, Arcade Fire, The Polyphonic Spree, William Benjamin Southward
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Field Music: Flat White Moon

April 26, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Flat White Moon

Flat White Moon

Album review: The eighth LP from Sunderland brothers Peter and David Brewis brings together a wealth influences and accessibility, cleverly marrying pop, funk and postpunk with echoes of the Beatles, XTC and Todd Rundgren

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In albums, funk, indie, pop, post-punk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Field Music, The Beatles, Todd Rundgren, XTC, Memphis Industries
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Sharon Van Etten: epic Ten

April 25, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Sharon Van Etten is joined by guests’ new cover version on this special 10-year anniversary double album edition

Sharon Van Etten is joined by guests’ new cover version on this special 10-year anniversary double album edition

Album review: A decade after the American singer-songwriter’s acclaimed second album, seven wonderfully written songs are reissued alongside versions by contrasting guests including Fiona Apple, IDLES, and Lucinda Williams

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In albums, indie, pop Tags albums, new releases, Sharon Van Etten, Fiona Apple, IDLES, Big Red Machine, Justin Vernon, Bon Iver, Aaron Dessner, The National, Shamir, Courtney Barnett, Lucinda Williams, St Panther, Ba Da Bing! Records
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La Femme: Paradigmes

April 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
La Femme’s third LP

La Femme’s third LP

Album review: The French band’s third album is an attractive, energetic mix of classic vintage sounds from 60s candy floss pop to 80s synth new wave, instrumentals that could TV themes, whispery and sensual hip hop, disco and dash of rave

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In albums, dance music, disco, electronica, hip hop, pop, psychedelia Tags albums, new releases, La Femme, France
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Du Blonde: Homecoming

April 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Du Blonde’s Homecoming

Du Blonde’s Homecoming

Album review: Beth Jeans Houghton returns, now under her label, continuing her more recent stripped back formula of great songwriting wrapped in fuzzbox guitar glam rock, this time with guests including Shirley Manson, Ezra Furman, and of Andy Bell of Ride

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In albums, indie, rock, pop Tags albums, new releases, Du Blonde, Beth Jeans Houghton, Shirley Manson, Andy Bell, Ezra Furman, Daemon T.V.
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Xiu Xiu: OH NO

March 31, 2021 Peter Kimpton
OH NO …

OH NO …

Album review: This 12th album by the Californian experimental electro-pop, postpunk band led by Jaime Stewart may be the most unusual of year, an oddball set of diverse duets with many guests that sometimes has the melodramatic quality of later Scott Walker

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In albums, experimental, electronica, post-punk, pop Tags albums, new releases, Xiu Xiu, Sharon Van Etten, Liars, Susanne Sachsee, Greg Saunier, Shearwater, Twin Shadow, Owen Pallett, Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo, Jaime Stewart, Chelsea Wolfe, Alice Bag
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Black Honey: Written and Directed

March 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Nicely worn: Black Honey’s album

Nicely worn: Black Honey’s album

Album review: Refreshing, energetic, upbeat big-chorus fuzzbox indie-pop by the four-piece from Brighton with echoes of big-sound styles ranging from Primal Scream to Girls Aloud to Garbage to Sigue Sigue Sputnik

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In albums, indie, pop, post-punk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Black Honey, Foxfive Records
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Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over The Country Club

March 20, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Ladies of the canyon … the cover of Lana Del Rey’s eighth album

Ladies of the canyon … the cover of Lana Del Rey’s eighth album

Album review: Evoking big, wide landscapes with a slow, melancholic, wistful, nostalgic and semi-fictional narratives, the New York singer-songwriter’s eighth album is of uniform style and slow pace, but rich in powerfully strong melodies and memorable lines

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In albums, country, folk, pop Tags Songs, albums, new releases, Lana Del Rey, Weyes Blood, Joni Mitchell, Zella Day, Polydor
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Tiggs Da Author: Blame It On The Youts

March 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Tiggs Da Author’s album covers almost every style under the sun

Tiggs Da Author’s album covers almost every style under the sun

Album review: Sprightly, catchy and filled with hooks, the Tanzania-born London singer, producer and musicians full debut has something from many genres, from funk to African, jazz, pop, hip hop, reggae, gospel and soul

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In albums, dub, grime, hip hop, pop, funk, reggae, African Tags albums, new releases, Alacran Records
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The Anchoress: The Art of Losing

March 12, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Catherine Anne Davis aka The Anchoress

Catherine Anne Davis aka The Anchoress

Album review: This emotional release by Welsh singer-songwriter Catherine Anne Davis, her first since 2016’s Confessions Of A Romance Novelist, brings piano-based songs with echoes of Tori Amos mixed with soaring guitar indie pop intensity

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In indie, pop Tags albums, new releases, The Anchoress, Catherine Anne Davis, Snapper Music, KScope
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Jane Weaver: Flock

March 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Jane Weaver’s 11th album, Flock

Jane Weaver’s 11th album, Flock

Album review: The Liverpool and Widnes-raised artist returns with a mesmeric and uplifting 11th album that takes a variety of elements - electronica, psychedelia and acid folk morphing into fabulous alternative pop record that really takes flight

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In albums, electronica, experimental, folk, funk, pop, psychedelia Tags albums, new releases, Jane Weaver, Fire Records
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Arab Strap: As Days Get Dark

March 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
As Days Get Dark, Arab Strap’s seventh album, and their first for 16 years

As Days Get Dark, Arab Strap’s seventh album, and their first for 16 years

Album review: Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton’s first album together since 2005 is as brilliant as ever – a mischievous, brooding, blackly humorous, whisperingly sinister and sweary exploration of love, sex, addiction, exploitation and death wrapped in beautiful, poetic music

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In albums, indie, poetry, pop Tags albums, new releases, Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat, Malcolm Middleton, Rock Action Records
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Altin Gün: Yol

March 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Yol, meaning road, is Altin Gün’s third album

Yol, meaning road, is Altin Gün’s third album

Album review: Wonderful third album by the Amsterdam-based Turkish, Dutch, Indonesian and British band who infuse traditional Turkish songbook material with elecro-pop, funk and disco sounds in a way that feels authentic and uplifting

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In albums, disco, funk, pop, psychedelia, traditional Tags albums, new releases, Altin Gün, Turkey, Netherlands, ATO Records, Glitterbeat Records
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Katy Kirby: Cool Dry Place

March 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Katy Kirby’s Cool Dry Place

Katy Kirby’s Cool Dry Place

Album review: Beautiful debut of low-key acoustic simplicity by the singer-songwriter from Texas who is now based in Nashville, with a soft, quiet voice that resonates with understated profundity

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In albums, folk, pop Tags albums, new releases, Katy Kirby, Keeled Scales
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Lael Neale: Acquainted With Night

February 22, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Lael Neale’s Acquainted With Night

Lael Neale’s Acquainted With Night

Album review: The folk-pop singer’s charming, melancholy LP has a rather beautiful ghostly, disembodied quality, lacking only old ‘78 vinyl crackles, but delicately gorgeous with her clear, distinctive voice, guitar and Omnichord accompaniment

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In folk, pop Tags Lael Neale, Sub Pop, albums, new releases
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SG Lewis: Times

February 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton
High time for some the days of disco … SG Lewis

High time for some the days of disco … SG Lewis

Album review: Aiming to capture a full-on mainstream club and disco feel, the British producer’s new LP mixes light funk and soul flavours that very much borrow from the Daft Punk and Chic cookbook

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In albums, dance music, funk, pop, disco Tags SG Lewis, Nile Rodgers, Robyn, albums, new releases, PMR, EMI
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

Napue dark gin


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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