Photo: Ewan Ogden

As The Lathums reflect on a huge summer with arena tour dates supporting Keane and a 12,000 strong sell out homecoming show at Wigan’s Robin Park, the band have today returned with their brilliant new single Stellar Cast, bringing further speculation on what might lay ahead on album number 3. Written following one of singer and lyricist, Alex Moore’s unexplained dreams, the track's ska-inspired sound is brought to dazzling life with its catchy guitar riffs and infectious vocals. Sharing more details about the single's inspiration he goes on to say: “I got the inspiration for this song after one of our early gigs at the Brudenell in Leeds. We were joined by a stellar lineup. It was one of the rare times I’d had a bit too much to drink before going on stage. That night on the bus back, I had a crazy dream, probably fuelled by all the Jamaican ale I refer to in the song. In the dream, there was a strange figure at the end of my bed that I couldn’t get out of my head for a long time after. When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time writing my own comics and stories, and that’s probably where my love for songwriting really started. This song is about someone who gets completely drawn in by this mysterious, almost otherworldly figure. They leave the person with more questions than answers, but it’s the kind of obsession they can’t shake, even if they tried. The figure feels like a mix of everything. Part-friend, part-foe, maybe even a lover. There’s something intoxicating about them, like the Jamaican ale, burning bright but disappearing just as quickly. Even with all the confusion, the character can’t help but hold on to the obsession, not wanting to let go.” Take a listen for yourselves below. 

The Lathums continue to raise funds and awareness of their own Chance To See Fund, a charitable venture to bring creative opportunity to young people in and around Wigan. Donations from fans, the band and through special projects arranged with participatory arts charity, Curious Minds, saw the total available to local individuals, groups and projects hit £25,000earlier this year. The band and Curious Minds joined together with the shared aim of bringing music, theatre and other artistic projects into the lives of people with no other way of accessing them. Individual donations to the Chance To See Fund are welcome via the Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/chancetosee.

i: https://www.instagram.com/thelathums

Photo credit / Alex Lake

Friday saw Welsh outfit Manic Street Preachers announce details of their fifteenth studio album alongside news of a UK tour to accompany it. Coinciding with the album, entitled 'Critical Thinking', released on Columbia on 31st January 2025, the band have shared the record's latest single Hiding in Plain Sight. Manic Street Preachers’ Nicky Wire on Critical Thinking: “This is a record of opposites colliding - of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution. While the music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, most of the words deal with the cold analysis of the self, the exception being the three lyrics by James (Dean Bradfield) which look for and hopefully find answers in people, their memories, language and beliefs.The music is energised and at times euphoric. Recording could sometimes be sporadic and isolated, at other times we played live in a band setting, again the opposites making sense with each other. There are crises at the heart of these songs. They are microcosms of skepticism and suspicion, the drive to the internal seems inevitable - start with yourself, maybe the rest will follow.” Take a listen to the new single below.

UK Tour Dates
April 11th - Glasgow Barrowland
April 12th - Glasgow Barrowland
April 18th - London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
April 19th - London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
April 25th - Wolverhampton The Civic at the Halls
April 26th - Bristol Beacon
May 2nd - Manchester O2 Apollo
May 3rd - Manchester O2 Apollo
May 9th - Swansea Arena
May 10th - Swansea Arena

Tickets will be available at 9.30am Friday 1st November: https://ManicStreetPreachers.lnk.to/tickets

 f: https://www.facebook.com/manicstreetpreachers

[Photo credit: Cara Kealy]

Pop extravaganza SOFY recently released her latest single mine, paving the way to her next full body of work, “another day in paradise”, due out on March 7th, via Chess Club. Filled with huge pop sensibilities and towering choruses, the track's charging energy envelopes its emotive drive in infinite detail, showcasing another sublime piece of work. When asked about the single, SOFY commented, “‘mine’ is a confession, the first time that the feelings hinted at in the first three songs of the project are tentatively admitted - ‘kinda think it’d be better, if you were mine’. It's about facing all the ‘what ifs’ and confronting your emotions because that’s less scary than keeping those feelings to yourself and wondering what would have happened if you’d done things dif erently. Musically it feels kind of desperate and frantic but lyrically it remains quite tentative, which I think matches the enormous emotions (anxiety, fear, excitement) that go into admitting your feelings for someone for the first time - ‘if stars ever aligned then maybe you’d be mine?’” Take a listen/watch below. 

i: https://www.instagram.com/sofysounds

Fun pop purveyors Dirty Nice have this week unveiled their double single release 'When She Starts It Up'/'There's A Ghost In My Home'. The Track's follow on from the pair's acclaimed second album Surrenderland which came out late last year and showcase their dynamic sounds through a scuzzy hook laden effort backed with a soft lullaby that sees plinky guitar notes and calming vocals tell a tale of wistful ghost that looks over his life and regrets. Take a listen to both track's below.

i: https://www.instagram.com/dirtynice_exe/

Ahead of its release on 13 December, The National have unveiled a further 4 new tracks from Rome, a 21-track digital and two-LP and CD set recorded live on 3 June 2024 at Cavea of the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone. The band previously shared a four-song EP titled NTL RM EP I that included ‘I Need My Girl’, ‘Lemonworld’, ‘The Geese of Beverly Road’ and ‘Lit Up’. Now fans can revel in the record's latest offering with ‘Smoke Detector’, ‘Fake Empire’, ‘Mr. November’, and ‘Terrible Love’. To celebrate the release of Rome, 4AD are collating videos, photos and written memories from fans – celebrating twenty-five years of live shows by The National. All submissions will be collected into a special shared watchalong experience of the new album on YouTube, with highlights also shared on social media; celebrating the incredible community around the band. All terms are available at 4AD.com, and submissions can be made before November 22nd – head HERE for submissions.

Take a listen to the latest EP here. 

Side A
1. Runaway
2. Eucalyptus
3. Tropic Morning News
4. New Order T-Shirt
5. Don't Swallow The Cap

Side B
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness
8. I Need My Girl
9. Lemonworld
10. The Geese of Beverly Road
11. Lit Up

Side C
12. Alien
13. Humiliation
14. Murder Me Rachael
15. England
16. Graceless

Side D
17. Fake Empire
18. Smoke Detector
19. Mr November
20. Terrible Love
21. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks

Photo credit: Kate Lawlor

Dublin’s technicolour pop wunderkind EFÉ returns today with their dreamy new single you say that i'm crazy. Built around its cutely-sweet melodies and soft vocals comes another pristine pop effort that tells the tale of how sometimes we're all a little bit crazy in love. Speaking on the single, EFÉ shares: “‘you say that i’m crazy’ is about kinda being a crazy gf! I think my love language is quality time and it shows cause I can sometimes get clingy! This song was about when I travelled and got back home and my bf was super busy and I was like damn! And not actually communicating that but hoping he could read my mind but then me getting annoyed that he actually read my mind bar for bar word for word!” Take a listen for yourselves below.

i: https://www.instagram.com/kawaii.mom/

Photo: Omero Mumba

Coinciding with the announcement of a second EP, set for release February 27th 2025 via Dance To The Radio (Ellur, Far Caspian, Terra Twin), Annie-Dog has this week returned with the brilliant new single, Little Italy. The Dublin newcomer has quickly imprinted her name on the experimental pop scene and this latest effort picks up where she left off with catchy melodies, choppy samples and towering sensibilities. Speaking ahead of her EP announcement,Annie-Dog explained: “‘15’ is a collection of five songs that are near and dear to me. Each of the songs are, to me anyways, quite different from one another. There are different production styles and varying meanings throughout. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I’m talking about in each song, and I usually much rather let the song do the talking. But the theme of love / loss of love is an ongoing one throughout all of my songs, and how I am affected bythat seems to be what I naturally gravitate towards when writing. I’m not too driven to talk about my country, or anything like that. The title of the EP is somewhat inspired by my love of numerology. I often encounter the number “15”. A photographic oddity, featured on the artwork of the EP, then solidified its name.” Take a listen below. 

Live Dates
31st Oct -Whelans, Dublin (w/ modernlove.)
8th Nov -The Lower Third, London (Pitchfork Music Festival)
16th Nov -Live At Leeds In The City

i: https://www.instagram.com/anniedogmusic/

credit Daniel Topete

Following the release of their debut album 'Where we've been, Where we go from here', Chicago’s Friko — led by vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — announce an expanded edition, due out November 22nd on ATO Records. The new release will see a monstrous collection of demos from the Where we've been, Where we go from here sessions, eleven bonus tracks including today’s new single, 'If I Am', live tracks from a sold-out hometown Metro show, and a cover of My Bloody Valentine’s 'When You Sleep'. “‘If I Am,’ along with the rest of the other new songs on this expanded edition, go back as far as 2019,” Friko explain. “They were some of the first songs we played at DIY and small club shows in Chicago. They kind of got left behind after we had written the songs for the record but we’re so glad they're getting to see the light of day because they were some of the first songs we wrote as a band.” Coinciding with the news the band will also embark on a huge 2025 North American headline tour. Full tour dates and their new single can be found below. Pre-Order Where we've been, Where we go from here (Expanded Edition).

Live Dates
Nov 2nd | Amsterdam, NL - Bitterzoet
Nov 3rd | Brussels, BE - Les Nuits Weekender
Nov 5th | Rennes, FR - L'Antipode
Nov 7th | Paris, FR - Pitchfork Avant Garde
Nov 8th | Brighton, UK - Mutations Festival
Nov 9th | London, UK - Pitchfork Festival London
Nov 10th | Bristol, UK - Louisiana
Nov 12th | Manchester, UK - YES
Nov 13th | Glasgow, UK - King Tuts
Nov 14th | Dublin, IE - Workman's Club
Nov 16th | Weissenhäuser Strand, DE - Rolling Stone Weekender
Nov 19th | Osaka, JP - Umeda Club Quattro
Nov 21st | Tokyo, JP - Tokyo Kanda Square Hall
Dec 27th | Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Feb 25th | St. Louis, MO - Atomic
Feb 26th | Louisville, KY - Zanzabar
Feb 27th | Nashville, TN - The Basement East
Feb 28th | Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar
Mar 1st | Raleigh, NC - Kings
Mar 3rd | Washington, DC - Union Stage
Mar 4th | Philadelphia, PA - The Foundry
Mar 7th | Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Mar 8th | Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
Mar 10th | Montreal, QC - Bar Le Ritz
Mar 11th | Toronto, ON - The Great Hall
Mar 13th | Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch
Mar 14th | Columbus, OH - A&R Music Bar
Mar 15th | Indianapolis, IN - Turntable
Apr 30th | Boise, ID - Neurolux
May 2nd | Vancouver, BC - The Pearl
May 3rd | Seattle, WA - Madame Lou's
May 4th | Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
May 7th | San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop
May 9th | Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room HLP
May 10th | San Diego, CA - Soda Bar
May 14th | Las Vegas, NV - Swan Dive
May 18th | Denver, CO - Marquis
May 20th | Omaha, NE - Reverb Lounge
May 21st | Des Moines, IA - xBk
May 22nd | Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line

f: https://www.facebook.com/frikochicago/

Taken from her anticipated debut album, bruises, set for release November 29th on [PIAS] Recordings, total tommy has today unveiled the gritty new single, SPIDER. Filled with grungey guitar fills and angsty vocals the track follows on from last month's single Plus One with plenty more expulsive melody hooks and towering instrumentation. “I was writing one day and noticed a massive spider on the wall. It became the perfect metaphor for a clingy friend I needed space from,” she explains. “I’ve been obsessively listening to this track ever since, pushing the production heavier and heavier with each iteration.” Take a listen for yourselves below.

i: https://www.instagram.com/total_tommy/

Emily Hope

Today sees Joshua Scarratt launch his debut single ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Mind’ as we get a first lavish taste of what lays ahead. With primarily collaborator Nick Hinman (Fast Money Music), as well as musicians Gamaliel Rendle Traynoron cello (Fat Dog, Fat White Family, Crack Cloud) and Callum Brownon drums (Ulrika Spacek) the track's suave deliverence sees him tackle unchecked thinking and fantasy, all neatly bundled up in to a love song. Speaking ahead of its release, Joshua explained: “An infatuation with someone during a journey of self-discovery -learning to find clarity around myself and the world -as well as figuring what an honest existence could look like, threw up a lot for me. I couldn’t seem to get her out of my head, but I started to realise how this did not serve me. The low level addiction to social media we all seem to have was unnecessarily leading to narratives based on thoughts, others performance, rather than truths. I wanted to exist in reality, whilst also accepting my desires and human connection exist within this too. Having written the song exactly a year ago, I don’t think anyone did anything wrong, but I wanted to know what my part in it all was.”. Take a listen below.

Live Dates
18th November -Amazing Grace, London

i: https://www.instagram.com/joshuascarrattmusic/