New Music Friday!

Pizzagirl releases new music today! [Photo Credit: Ellen Offredy]

Every Friday, a load of new music is released into the world and this week is no different. Below is a round-up of the best new releases, and information on where you can see these acts live very, very soon!

pizzagirl – softcore mourn

Described as “at once upbeat and melancholy, the kind of music you listen to while you pensively watch rain lashing your bedroom window” by NME and “bleeding AM-radio aesthetic with FM-fidelity pop” by The Guardian, pizzagirl’s new album, softcore mourn follows acclaimed 2019 debut first timer and continues his propensity for off-kilter, emotive world-building.

Perpetually ensconced in the fault-lines between effervescent humanity and binary technology, pitting maximalist-popsounds against claustrophobic production, Pizzagirl (AKA Liam Brown) delves deeper into the emotional hard-drive on his latest project. The result is reminiscent both sonically and thematically of The Postal Service and LCD Soundsystem in their recourse to a post-Y2K release of aching pressure, but retains the unique glint he has cultivated over 3 years of honing his craft.

More and more organic instrumentation finds its way into his sound, with the album tracks flitting back and forth, and blurring the lines between bristling electronic jams and country-tinged alt-pop tunes.

Stream the album HERE.

The Academic – Community Spirit

Community Spirit sees the Mullinger 4-piece honing their knack for epitomising the excitement and apprehension that one meets at the intersect between youth and adulthood, without a hint of cynicism or pretence. These are sky-scraping, heart-on-the sleeve anthems, accented with guitar hooks which immediately take up residency in the head of anyone who listens.

‘Kids (Don’t End Up Like Me)’ – the only cut from Community Spirit to have been shared thus far – marked an unflinching return from The Academic. Written by Craig as a teenager, the song documents his fears of never leaving his hometown or amounting to anything. “I started looking through all my old notebooks and found this song fully written,” he says, retrospectively. “I had a gut feeling that it might come to life now with a few more years of living behind me since it was originally written.”

Stream the album HERE.

James Vickery

“Over the years we have seen the likes of Paolo Nutini, Maverick Sabre, Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Estelle being the face of the last generation of British soul, but James Vickery has brought to this album a new wave of British soul that combines modern bedroom ‘jamz’ with soulful vocal riffs and melodies to create both a distinctive sound and style.” – Gigwise

Stream the album HERE.

Stephen Fretwell – Busy Guy

Busy Guy was produced by Fretwell’s close friend and Speedy Wunderground label boss, Dan Carey. They recorded the whole thing one hot July afternoon in just two hours at Dean Street Studios in Soho, not far from where Fretwell now lives. London looms large on the record, in titles like ‘Oval’ and ‘Embankment’: stops on the Tube, and urban images shimmer as Fretwell captures a city full of pride and secrets. He wrote most of the lyrics for Busy Guy sitting in the British Library, “taking the songs to pieces and reassembling them, refining the words, thinking about the stories.”

From the album’s opener, ‘The Goshawk and the Gull’, a wintery lament shot through with foreboding, the album moves through characters and scenes, from shorelines to collapsing buildings, looping in its callbacks with panache.

Fretwell is a seasoned craftsman, and this is an album that sneaks up on you; that hunts you in the listen. The themes of the record are heavyweight – the breakdown of a relationship, lost love, lost family, guilt, yearning – but there is boldness in the delivery that provides uplift to the emotional heft. Several of the songs have colours for their titles: ‘Orange’, ‘Green’, ‘Pink’, ‘Copper’. They hit like a series of fever dreams.

Stream the album HERE.

Pixey – Sunshine State

Emerging Liverpool based performer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Pixey has today shared her brand new single and video ‘Sunshine State’ on Chess Club Records. ‘Sunshine State’ is the first taste of new music from Pixey since the wildly acclaimed Free To Live In Colour EP was released earlier this year.

Co-produced by Pixey herself and former Vaccines member Pete Robertson (who’s also worked with the likes of Beabadoobee), ‘Sunshine State’ is about “people coming together through music and being free to start whatever revolution they want, big or small. It’s also about that power and mood that music can give you” according to Pixey. She continues: “I recorded the instrumental in the morning and finished the lyrics driving along the Liverpool docks by the afternoon. The whole song was finished in a day – it was a tune that came so naturally to me”. ‘Sunshine State’ also comes complete with a carefree and jubilant Vasilisa Forbes-directed video that amplifies the track’s summery disposition.

Stream the song HERE.

Barenaked Ladies – Detour De Force

33 years on from their first release, Barenaked Ladies are back with a new, lockdown-inspired album, Detour De Force. Containing the classic trademarks of any Barenaked Ladies’ album, the band nevertheless continue to evolve, remaining relevant in these modern times.

Stream the album HERE.

Liz Lawrence – Babies

Compared to her previous record Pity Party, which saw Lawrence look inward for inspiration, the wild, vibrant ‘Babies’ is on the less autobiographical side. The third track to be released from her upcoming album, The Avalanche, it was initially inspired by “videos of babies laughing on the internet, which is a panacea for all ills.” 

The song sees Lawrence inhabiting a character desperately trying to drag themselves out of drudgery. “I thought of a man who’s driving to work every morning and saying goodbye to his wife, kissing her on the cheek and then going to sit in his car, even though he lost his job months ago.” It’s a joyful ride that parodies self-help tutorials and sees Lawrence flexing her voice in brand new ways. “I’ve been singing pretty for a long time, and I wanted to try new things. So I’ve machoed it up. ‘Babies’ is one of my favourite tracks on the record. I felt like I was exorcising some demons with it, just for fun.”

Stream the song HERE.

David Keenan – Sentimental Dole

“David Keenan gives us a further glimpse into his forthcoming sophomore What Then?, with the biting political jolt of ‘Sentimental Dole’, a track that weaves words around the musical meaning.” – The Last Mixed Tape

Stream the new song HERE.