Happy New Year!! And what a wonderful new year it’s been so far. Twelve days old and nothing shit to report whatsoever. So much love and kindness and peace. It’s like Christmas actually worked. Praise the lord. (Please add your particular brand of made up invisible sky wizard, just don’t tell Stephen Yaxley-Lennon)
But never fear, Tracks of the Week is back to sooth any worries a fat, bulbous orange spunk bubble might want to invade your country or a close neighbour. Forget your concerns and sink into this aural bubble bath. A god like genius is back. WE’RE NOT WORTHY. WE’RE NOT WORTHY. Enjoy!!
Father John Misty – The Old Law
Why we love it: because Father John Misty continues in his efforts to completely dominate my musical world. In 2024 he created Mahashmashana, a masterpiece that would quickly become my album of the year. The following year he produced what would turn out to be my two best gig experiences of 2025. Now he is at it again. 2026 is only a few days old but the hugely talented American has already come up with what could easily end up being the single of the year.
Here Father John Misty reinvents the ‘God’s Trash’ wheel – a song that had debuted under that name as part of his live set in late 2024 – and releases it as ‘The Old Law.’ Produced by Drew Erickson and Josh Tillman (FJM himself, no less), mixed by Michael Harris and Jonathan Wilson at Fivestar Studios in Los Angeles, and mastered by Adam Amyan at Ayan Mastering, ‘The Old Law’ sees the one-time Fleet Foxes’ drummer drawing upon a Beatles c. ’67 vibe and shaping it into yet another timeless classic.
It is all looking very good for Father John Misty’s UK and European live dates later this year. That run of shows starts on June 1st in Lisbon, Portugal at Sagres Campo Pequeno and ends 13 days later in Wicklow, Ireland with a headlining set at Beyond The Pale Festival. Highlights for this series of dates include appearances at Primavera Festival in Barcelona, Spain on 4th June and Northside Festival in Aarhus, Denmark a couple of days afterwards before a UK performance at the Lido festival in London on June 12th alongside CMAT and Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory. (Simon Godley)
LuxJury – Snacks (I Could Love you)
Why we love it: Because it is sleek, smart, funky, raw, honest, and a shimmering reflection of their sonic prowess. Laced with a smoky kaleidoscope of polyphonic treasures it’s an enticing glimpse of tracks to come. Ahead of their debut album Giving Up due out 27th March via Bella Union, LuxJury have shared n addictively soulful groove-based number about rebound relationships that channels the sass of Cibo Matto and Bran Van 3000. Fronted by singer/guitarist Nicole ‘Lux’ Fermie alongside drummer Howey Gill, LuxJury’s debut is a riveting work of soulful indie-rock charting Nicole’s experiences in the years since the dissolution of her previous band and coming out as a queer woman. “I had lived the life of a musician on the breadline,” Nicole explains emphatically. “I was dating the drummer in the band. We broke up. I realized I was queer, fell in love with a woman, and took a break from music for years because I felt like everything I’d written thus far had been completely disingenuous, because I had this whole other side of my life that I hadn’t lived. I came back to music with something to say.” It’s a hypnotic sonic gem. (Carmel Walsh)
The Reds, Pinks & Purples – New Leaf
Why we love it: because it is a New Year and a ‘New Leaf’ has been turned over. In truth, though, nothing much has changed in the world of The Reds, Pinks & Purples. As their latest single affirms, the San Franciscan agonised pop project of Glenn Donaldson remains as one of the masters of melancholic modern music.
‘New Leaf’ gives us a first taste of a new album that will arrive later on this year. Accompanied by a video featuring several glimpses of an automobile breakers yard where countless trashed vehicles have gone to die, the visuals act as a perfect metaphor for the introspection lying at the song’s heart.
The song is not without its lighter moments, though, as Donaldson explains. “People read some of the more humorous lines in my songs as irony, but honesty is funnier. These songs are just me, even if the sentiments seem exaggerated. There’s enough abstraction in the images on this one that the listener can find their own messages.” (Simon Godley)
Celine Cairo – Panacea
Why we love it: because it is a pleasure to welcome Dutch artist Celine Cairo to her first appearance on Tracks of the Week with her new single ‘Panacea.’ The title track from her third album (out in June) is described as “a spine-tingling meditation on coming home to oneself, born from a solo journey Celine once made to Asia. With cello played by India Bourne of Ben Howard‘s band, synths, and 12-string guitar – it captures the sensation of life snapping back into focus.”
‘Panacea’ arrives with a delightful video shot in Norway by visual artist Hessel Stuut that captures all the warmth, emotional expression, and natural beauty of the song. (Simon Godley)
Tenderness – The Salt Flats
Why we love it: because no one less than the late, great soul singer Otis Redding advised us to ‘Try a Little Tenderness.’ Wise words, as fifty years on and Tenderness – the solo project of Katy Beth Young (Peggy Sue, Deep Throat Choir) – is most certainly worth checking out. She starts 2026 with her beguiling new single ‘The Salt Flats,’ a delightful slice of expressive indie-folk. The new single heralds the arrival of debut album True out March 13th via Amorphous Sounds.
‘The Salt Flats’ also prefaces a run of five live dates in the UK where Tenderness will be opening for the excellent American singer-songwriter Jeffrey Martin. (Simon Godley)
My Best Unbeaten Brother – Sometimes Life’s Too Short For Jazz
Why we love it: My Best Unbeaten Brother are a three-piece from Croydon made up of ex-members of Nosferatu D2 and Superman Revenge Squad. ‘Sometimes Life’s Too Short For Jazz’ finds them brandishing a sound that’s more stripped back and deconstructed than their previous outfits sea-sawing with drum rolls and bass, glimmering riffing and push and pull of this deft live-sounding instrumentation that’s stretched and pulled into shape by the polemic of Ben Parker. Down to earth, self-referential and holding frustration and hope in its hands at once, and in many ways, his is a voice that is and was way ahead of its time his resigned stream of consciousness spoken vocal style that’s imbued with molten melancholia, wistfulness and dark wit. An unlikely anthem for the end times, not having time to sit through jazz but wanting simple sons, its also about retromania, falling apart and holding on “And we tell ourselves if this is all there is/ We can convince ourselves, we don’t really care that this is all there is/As long as the soundtrack/ Is stupid and cheesy/ And littered with flashbacks, that make us feel queasy.” (Bill Cummings)
Kate de Rosset – In The New
‘It Will Burn’, is the new album by North Carolina-based artist Kate de Rosset out onn the 9th of January 2026 via La Double Vie. Bathed in gorgeous celestial textures of lush synths, the last track ‘In The New’ is soothing, haunting and graceful. Offering a sensitive massage of the soul amidst a cruel world. De Rosset’s ethereal and sensitive vocals are evocative and tumbling, reminding one of everything from Enya to Weyes Blood, but possessed of a heartwarming intimacy that captures a mood of hope amidst tragedy and let’s face it we need this balm for the soul in a world on fire with tragedy. She says it’s about “yearning for a new world”. Truly moving.
“As my fifth album, this work initiated long-awaited change. It reminded me of what I love about making music. It’s about creating a room where I can disappear, play and follow my curiosity, and to trust it.
The opening song and closing song (featuring vocals from Kyle J. Reigle of Cemeteries) were the last to be written, in January and March of 2025.”
“When I moved from Austin to North Carolina, I left all of my keyboards behind, intending to write the next one on an upright piano and going back into the studio. I never expected that shortly after I’d be recording at home again.” (Bill Cummings)
