Here are ten great singles released today.
1. Jake Bugg releases new track ‘Downtown’
Jake Bugg today shows yet another dimension to his songwriting with the stunning new single ‘Downtown’, taken from his eagerly anticipated new album Saturday Night, Sunday Morning – out 20th August on RCA Records.
Dropping ahead of his long-awaited live return at Tramlines & Standon Calling Festivals, ‘Downtown’, the biggest example of Jake Bugg’s newfound ego-less approach to writing, grew from an idea by Jamie Hartman (Celeste, Lewis Capaldi, Rag’n’Bone Man), and sees him deploy the higher range of his voice to ethereal, ’60s Bee Gees effect.
“Usually, the initial spark of an idea comes from me. And when it doesn’t, it sometimes loses my attention,” Bugg admits. On ‘Downtown’, however, he relished his role as arranger: “Because there were a lot of moving parts and chords, it was almost like a puzzle,” he says. “I’d never approached a song like that before.”
2. Moy share new single ‘IDFR’
Set to grow in stature as their excitement builds for their return to the live arena, MOY today share the brand new single ‘IDFR’, written and produced by MOY. Listen HERE.
Supported by grooving punk-funk rhythms inspired by electronica, ‘IDFR’ contrasts the escalating tension of its verses with the liberating release of its explosive hook. Meanwhile, the relatively lo-fi production is nonetheless full of intricacies, with chiming, spiralling guitar, layers of acoustics and energising backing vocals adding to its off-kilter yet familiar vibe. The song’s strongest asset is the band’s New Zealand-born, Glasgow-based frontman MOY, whose personality rich voice, enigmatic lyricism and mysterious air makes him a star in waiting.
MOY commented, “‘IDFR’ is a collision of two worlds, with the first instrumental demo being created through late night jam sessions in Glasgow, and the lyrics being written in New Zealand before the band met in 2018. Re-recording the song fresh in 2021 was a trip through time. We recently acquired a rare Japanese distortion box from the ‘80s, which sparked the inspiration to make it the way it sounds today.”
3. Sophie and the Giants release ‘If I Don’t Break Your Heart I’ll Break Mine’
Sophie and the Giants return with their powerful new song ‘If I Don’t Break Your Heart I’ll Break Mine’, out now on EMI.
Built on taut percussion, staccato guitar and melodic synth flourishes, the track finds the band at their most immediate. Sophie’s unmistakable voice weaves a tale of painful self-discovery in the hope of showing others the way, and the driving, evocative song seems destined to become an anthem.
“If I Don’t Break Your Heart I’ll Break Mine” is about knowing when you need to be by yourself” Sophie explains. “I wrote it when I was 19 and overwhelmed with anxiety and low self-esteem. I was still relying on others to make me happy and I had no idea who I wanted to be. The only way I could find out was if I took myself away from others to get to know myself better. So I did that, hoping the people who loved me would understand. It’s crazy to finally release it and be able to see where it’s taken me.”
4. Jvck James releases live performance of ‘Basement’
Following the release of his recent acclaimed EP JOYRIDE via RCA Records earlier this year, East London R&B artist JVCK JAMES has shared a brand-new live video for one of his favourite tracks from the EP with Basement (Live Performance).
Basement is a song which merges JVCK’s fresh and experimental sound with his appreciation of 90s R&B to create a slick track that is laid back yet overflowing with rhythm. The live performance video filmed at Holborn Studios sees him bathed in a rich blue glow and brings the track to life through a passionate and stylistic performance translating exactly what a unique and impressive talent JVCK JAMES really is.
He says; “live performance allows everyone to experience music from a different dimension. Over this last year, I think we have all realised that it is something we should never take for granted. I wanted to bring the Joyride experience directly to the fans and felt it was only right to start with one of my favourite tracks from the EP “Basement” for the live series. I think we have been able to capture something special in the visuals, giving everyone a taste of what “Joyride Live” will become.”
5. Lexi Berg releases ‘Midnight Sun’
After her powerful and ethereal debut single, ‘Into the Sea’, Lexi Berg, the Swedish-American
Now, with her exciting new single, ‘Midnight Sun,’ Lexi once again turns to her powerful Nordic roots for inspiration, setting the song in her native Sweden, where eternal summer nights provide a luscious landscape for love and enchantment. Set to a backdrop of silky ‘70s-tinged acoustic pop with a dynamic contemporary production, Lexi’s vocals in the song, simmer with passion but also the melancholy that comes with knowing that the moment is fleeting. Unlike ‘Into the Sea’, which celebrated the power of the sea to heal our bruised emotions, ‘Midnight Sun’ revels in another natural force: the sun.
6. Michael Afternoon releases ‘Novelty Island’
Normality is elastic and in the world of Novelty Island the twang of the intoxicatingly surreal reverberates around latest single, Michael Afternoon, an electrified, lo-fi chug in and out of the life of a smudged storybook character. Crossing the wires of Revolver-era Beatles and the slacker experimentalism of Blur’s 13, the single is the second to be summoned from Novelty Island’s upcoming, masterpiece debut album, How Are You Coping With This Century?
Birthing a new and vivid character into the pop and rock canon, nestled as a distant relative in a family tree headed by the likes of Ziggy Stardust, Sergeant Pepper and Tracy Jacks, singer-songwriter, Tom McConnell – also known as Novelty Island – has become custodian of a man fighting the fires raging within his troubled mind. The possibility that it may be the artist himself remains. Setting the inner thoughts of the protagonist and a list of fantastical therapies to chunky, barre chords, wiry guitar breaks and an unrelenting backdrop of complimentary and counterpoint vocal harmonies, Michael Afternoon enters listeners’ lives as a drifter on a sea of no hope, yet blessed with a painstakingly-constructed, low-strung psych-pop opus to soundtrack his lowest ebb.
7. Marlow release new single ‘Blame It’
MARLOW have dropped their new single “Blame It” emitting The Vaccines and The Courteeners vibes. With jangly inspired guitars that lace perfectly around the twinkling synth lines and gravelly, raw vocals, the juxtaposed single touches on how poor communication in relationships can have a negative effect.
MARLOW are a five-piece band based in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Comprised of Freddie (Vocals), Joe (Guitar), Seb (Bass), Archie (Synth) and Liam (Drums) the band suck listeners into their world through a dynamic surge and zesty, modern approach. Their music is purely about a feeling, told from the depths of their hearts and delivered with a hint of mystique.
With an amalgamation of influences, their sound breaks down genre norms, creating something that brings to mind the likes of Oasis, Tame Impala and The Strokes, with euphoric, manic energy reminiscent of so many UK bands such as The Vaccines and The Courteeners.
Their latest single “Blame It” narrates the lack of communication in relationships and how people try to avoid responsibility for their issues by shifting the blame onto others and coming up with excuses. This reckless behaviour can quickly become a hard habit to break, especially when you’re too busy having fun and brushing things under the carpet.
8. The Byson Family share the new single ‘Riches’
The Byson Family cultivated a grassroots fanbase with their self-released limited edition debut album ‘Kick The Traces’, which debuted at #1 on Independent Breakers; #3 on Scottish Albums; #5 on Americana Albums; and #9 on Independent Albums. The band are continuing to be discovered ahead of the September 10th release of the album’s Expanded Edition, with praise from Clash, Classic Rock and Rolling Stone, plus a Planet Rock playlist and airplay from Radio 2 and BBC Scotland for their recent single ‘Hope And Pray’. ‘Kick The Traces’ has just been nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.
The Byson Family now up the ante as they share their new single, the album’s opening track ‘Riches’. The song bursts from the starting blocks like a country-rock classic fired down a dragstripe. Former Temperance Movement frontman Phil Campbell shows the remarkable talent with which he first developed his reputation, his voice soaring with a ragged roar and spiky soul that echoes both Paul Rodgers and Phil Lynott.
9. Jessie J & Billy Porter release ‘I Want Love’
GRAMMY Award-nominated multi-platinum pop superstar JESSIE J joins forces with GRAMMY, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning BILLY PORTER to release “I Want Love (twocolors Remix)” via LAVA/Republic Records.
Listen to Jessie J ft. Billy Porter “I Want Love (twocolors Remix)”
“I Want Love” sets the stage for Jessie J’s anxiously awaited fifth full-length album, coming later this year, co-written with and executive produced by GRAMMY® Award-winning mega-producer Ryan Tedder [Beyoncé, Adele].
10. Coldplay release ‘Coloratura’
Coldplay have today released the ten-and-a-half-minute closing track of their forthcoming album Music Of The Spheres (out October 15th).
Described in the band’s recent album announcement as an album track rather than a single, Coloratura is an exhilarating, space-bound epic that includes namechecks for Galileo, Oumuamua and Betelgeuse.
The band have also revealed that their next full single will follow in September.
