If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Flannery O'Kafka Faith Eliott was raised in Minneapolis before moving to Scotland when they were thirteen. Their latest single, "there's a cargo ship full of luxury cars on fire in the atlantic ocean," is an amazing five and a half minute anti-folk track. It's a ramblin' kind of track that would make Bob Dylan proud, and discusses the modern world of technology in a biting way. It's funny as long as you don't think about it too deeply, and once you do it becomes sad. (Not the part about the luxury cars burning, but how overwhelming modern life can be.) The line about diagnosing yourself with ADHD with memes hit me a little extra hard. Faith Eliott has something extra special with this one, and I'll definitely be spending the rest of the week diving into their back catalog. Faith Elliot says of their latest single: “This was originally recorded to be on ‘dryas’ but when it came to finalising the track order, Robyn Dawson (who produced dryas...

Photo by Kieran Webber Cornish cosmic folk collective Blind Yeo are back with a new single. "Today / Tomorrow" is a blistering example of modern psychedelia. While most psychedelic music, even new bands, tend to have the roots of their sound in the 60's, Blind Yeo sound completely modern. "Today / Tomorrow" sounds more like modern indie rock than the classic sound from six decades ago while still being wonderfully trippy. This is much more along the lines of the more trippy sides of Sonic Youth or Built to Spill than Iron Butterfly. The song drives forward at a rapid pace with both rock and folk elements. It might take a good minute of its six minute length to truly get going, but once it does you're going to want to hold on and enjoy. Singer/songwriter Will Greenham says of his band's latest single: “Time is hard to hold onto. It fragments, it slows, it quickens. It loops around on itself. Sometimes all you can do is hop between these folds in time.” Yo...

Sulka is the musical project of Glasgow's Lukas Clasen. His latest single, "Halloween," is an oddly spooky DIY singer-songwriter track that shows off the best of what self-produced melodic rock can sound like. It's a lush and fully fleshed out song while still having all of the best DIY qualities as well. It grabs your attention not despite how quiet it is, but instead because of how quiet it is. Plus, "Halloween" isn't a 90's bedroom recording throwback. This sounds purely 2025, and mixes it's beauty and its rough edges together into a perfect little package. Even if the song wasn't perfect for the spooky season, we'd still be enamored with the latest from Sulka. Lukas Clasen says of his latest single: “Halloween is a song I produced last year as part of a new collection that returns to my DIY style of doing things. I tracked all of the parts myself and slowly built up its sonic characteristics over time, with the addition of synths prog...

Photo by Oliver Sundqvist Ishaaq Aarkistra is a Stockholm based ensemble led by Swedish-Indian musician Ishaaq. Their latest single, "De Forest," is this amazing blend of what should be far too many sounds. The song mixes psychedelia with Western jazz and Indian raga into a completely new sound. It's quite dance friendly (despite being relatively chill), but in a completely organic, non-electronic way. Plus, the Pungi flute might be my new favorite instrument. The song will instantly grab your attention, especially if you're a fan of psychedelic music, world music, and/or jazz. Even if you're not typically a fan of any of those genres, "De Forest" could be your gateway to all three. Ishaaq says of the new single: “The sound of the underworld and the destructive forces of deforestation. Niccolo plays the snake charmer flute, the Pungi, on this hypnotic piece. I Iove that it became so deep sonically, like noises from another, darker realm. To me these nois...

Photo by Kieran Webber Cornish cosmic folk collective Blind Yeo are back with a new single. "Love Not Fire" is an intense and upbeat song, with driving drums and a heavy dose of groove that will defy anything you expect from folk music. It's a fun song with an unbeatable rhythm that will keep you returning to the track for multiple listens. "Love Not Fire" is hypnotic and perfect for these last few days of summer. Blind Yeo will have even a Fall person like myself wanting a few more days of warmth, and wishing for a last minute outdoor music festival to see this song performed in the sunshine. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Will Greenham says of their latest single: “This song was written in the time it takes to play it, an intuition that expresses a feeling so intense it transcends. A deep love and connection that blazes through the dark times that comes to every companionship at one time or another. Like all our songs this was recorded live with all of us p...

Photo by Flannery O'Kafka A song called "an ode of unrequited love from a hagfish to a giant isopod" would have to be pretty awful for us not to cover it. Luckily, the latest from Faith Eliott is pretty great. The Minneapolis-born, Scotland-based artist's latest single is a blend of folk and singer-songwriter, but in a much more DIY way. While there are some elements of whimsy and twee in the single, I couldn't truly categorize it as either of those. At times, it's surprisingly straightforward and borders right on the mainstream. At others, it's a much more inventive and alt-folk adjacent song. "an ode of unrequited love from a hagfish to a giant isopod" is the greatest love song about a hagfish ever recorded. Faith Eliott says about their latest single: “A classic case of an anxious/avoidant attachment relationship dynamic. Hagfish are soft and spineless. They have four hearts and exude tremendous amounts of slime when threatened. They burrow in...

Photo by Katie Davies Sara Wolff is originally from Norway but now resides in Liverpool. Her latest single, "Is It True?," is an interesting blend of indie folk, prog rock, and art-pop. It has this light and breezy sound, but in such an intense way that the lightness has almost been negated. It's almost one of the more creative versions of any of those genres, with unexpected instrumentation, and a break of rain right in the middle of the song. This is the type of experimentation that could go woefully bad, but in Wolff's hands we're given a song that is a pure joy to hear. Sit back, and make sure you're giving "Is It True?" your full attention. Sara Wolff says of her new single: “Mike and I recorded and produced the song together when I was down in Margate for a week . It was a bit of an experiment, as it was the first time we had ever worked together, but I found it really easy and inspiring. He has such a good instinct and is also super easy going...