Well everyone must be mightily relieved all that hot weather everyone wanted but has been complaining about has gone for a bit. Even though it wasn’t really all that hot. Does no one remember when it was 40C a few years ago?!?!
Anyway, here’s a few scorchers for you. Genuine contenders for tracks of the year here, if I do say so myself. Melt into this schizz.
CMAT – The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station
Why we love it: because she is the greatest pop star on the planet right now. And this is the best single of the week. Sorry, Sorry your single is great too, but this, this is fucking brilliant. (I’m sure you expect more from your reviews but that is where I am with this song).
This woman should be the biggest pop star on the planet. Move over Chappell, you’re done Taylor and thanks but no thanks Sabrina, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson is the new Queen of Pop.
This has all the best bits of a CMAT song. Witty, tongue in cheek, non sequiturs, clever lyrics. Ridiculously good melodies and huge production values. Plus, hilarious song titles. Who calls a single ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ about hating the deli’s found at Shell garages, therefore hating his face on the posters, but actually “The whole point of the song is actually my annoyance and intolerance and hatred of other people serves absolutely no purpose in my life and is a really bad instinct that I have. So it’s actually a love song for Jamie Oliver, if you think about it. It’s me being like ‘don’t be a bitch and stop judging people for annoyances…“
In case it is concerning anyone, she had to graft to get to this position, she hasn’t been parachuted in or an “industry plant” as is a very popular excuse for popular artists by bitter and twisted people.
It probably helps being Irish. They can’t do anything wrong them pesky talented bastards over on the Emerald Isle. Perhaps it’s still being in the EU?!?!
Her third LP Euro Country will be out at the end of August. You might be able to catch her at a festival because you’re bang out of luck if you want to see one of her gigs. Sold out in milliseconds. You’ll have to be quick next time. (Jim Auton)
Sorry – Jive
Why we love it: because it’s the second best single of the week. It’s also the third brilliant single in the past six or so months from the South London band who continuously twist and turn like a twisty turny thing, making brilliant, wonky, angular, dark pop.
This is all shaping up to be an excellent third LP from them, in the wake of debut 925, COVID bedroom pop EP Twixtustwain, and second LP, Anywhere But Here.
They’ve been taking the early singles, post Home Demos but pre debut LP and adding the Twixtustwain glitchy, grimey wonk. It is a step away from what could be described as a more radio friendly second album that did move away from their more interesting, jittery, noir pop. There’s a section where there’s just a loud, heavy bone shaking bass note and Asha does her unmistakable drawl. The whole song is incongruous with it’s main tag line “I wanna jive tonight/I wanna shake my hips“. Quintessential Sorry.
Is it the best thing they’ve done as yet? I can’t answer. I can’t answer that. But maybe. Definitely, maybe. (Jim Auton)
Nxdia – Body On Me
Why we love it: Nxdia recently released her debut mixtape I Promise No One’s Watching. A raw and riotous self-portrait, Nxdia captures the chaos, beauty and intensity of discovering their identity and sexuality amidst watchful eyes.
‘Body On Me’, is a scampering and alluring anthem, invested with the sheer intensity of love, longing and emotional intimacy. Neatly balancing light-hearted moments with deeper reflections on self-identity and love, Nxdia layers playful flirtation with a deep desire for connection, musing – “Not just a body, what a body, but somebody to me” amidst bounding basslines, twitchy riffing and exploding into hook laden choruses, it’s alt-pop that really digs its nails in with real charisma.
‘Body on Me’ is a joyous declaration of love that transcends just physical attraction, whilst never really caring about what others think. Incorporating Arabic lyrics, Nxdia creates a secretive world, a bubble of love where nothing else matters – on one’s watching, all that matters is the connection between the two.
Speaking of the track, Nxdia says: “’Body On Me’ is my favourite track on the mixtape. It’s shameless, cheeky and flirty on the surface, but underneath it’s about being intensely obsessed with someone. When you want someone so much, it’s almost ridiculous, but also so real! A love when you can be truly yourself – your weirdest self – and you don’t give a f**k who’s watching”. (Bill Cummings)
Just Mustard – POLLYANNA
Dundalk five-piece Just Mustard return with ‘POLLYANNA’ their first new music in three years, The band have also announced a select run of shows in intimate venues. The warning siren intro, the static of gazy, warped guitars as skittering beats swim through, there is a ghost in the machine it’s the excellent vocals of Katie Ball, hypnotic and enveloping, pirouetting with ethereal emotive power, beckoning you further in, reminding one of Cranes or early My Bloody Valentine. It scorches into a primal scream amidst the maelstrom of fuzz pedal guitars. The track was part-inspired by a sense of “toxic happiness”, with the titular Pollyanna meaning an excessively positive or optimistic person. The track comes paired with a CCTV styled video directed by Katie Ball.
Katie Ball says, “’We shot the video using different CCTV and vhs cameras around our hometown Dundalk trying to have as much fun as possible, the kind of fun that makes you feel sick almost instantly which suits the themes of the song”.
‘POLLYANNA’ is the first original music from Just Mustard since their 2022 album Heart Under. (Bill Cummings)
Casual Smart – cranes
Why we love it: Rich, soaring and a bit rough around the edges, Casual Smart’s new single is a yearning declaration of adolescent love. Ripe with swelling instrumentation, the vocals of Peter Martin tumble forth with vivid glowing stream of consciousness like someone staggering down the street drunk on love with affection bursting out of their chest. It grows and grows with delicate pianos and sighing horns, with hints of anti-folk or the alt-folk bands of the mid-noughties, there is even touch of Jeffrey Lewis or Bob Dylan about the ragged glory of these vocals,. Overflowing into a freak-out, that reminds one of Broken Social Scene or more recently Black Country New Road. It’s an intoxicating and heart-warming brew. It’s the sound of a burgeoning outfit with a sound way beyond their young years.
Speaking more about the track, Pianist/vocalist Peter Martin says: “Cranes is one of our most precious songs, it’s about how the love for a person can help mend a relationship with a place, and vice versa. It’s also musically our most ambitious song yet; the outro, especially, is something we’re very proud of. It is a good statement of how the band will sonically sound moving forward, marrying together the softer elements of our first two songs, with a stronger and grander tone.”
A bunch of Cardiff school friends firmly in their teens, Casual Smart’s delicate blend of endearing anti-folk and impassioned bedroom-rock has already won them tour-dates with Porridge Radio, shows with Man/Woman/Chainsaw and Flip Top Head, and a sell-out at iconic Cardiff venue Clwb Ifor Bach earlier this year. (Bill Cummings)
Gemma Laurence – Hedonist
Why we love it: Brooklyn-based artist ‘Gemma Laurence shared ‘Hedonist’ the second single off her forthcoming album We Were Bodies Underwater: Excellently insidious vocals decorate this richly emotive track that examines peaks and valleys, with muscular guitar licks, plucked banjo notes, sea sawing percussion and a piercing crescendo that is tantalisingly bittersweet and alluring. Embodying the sharp realisation of how to love yourself, it also represents a gear shift from spectral folk to rock n roll seduction, and shows off Laurence as a force to be reckoned with.
On the song, Laurence shares: “I wanted to write a song about being completely self-indulgent. It’s about giving myself the love and attention that I usually give to others, channeling it all back in towards myself and really enjoying it. I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to make myself smaller for other people and worrying about being ‘too much.’ This song really throws that in the garbage and lights it on fire. I wrote it in the aftermath of a breakup, but it’s not really about the person who broke my heart at all — it’s about me; it’s about falling in love with myself again.” (Bill Cummings)
