King Hannah - Crème Brûlée

You would think listening to the hazy music of King Hannah that they hail from the American heartlands, but you'd be wrong - the band are based in Liverpool, with their lead singer hailing from "the smallest village in North Wales". The fact that they named their debut song after a dessert that one assumes is not very popular in the States is probably another dead giveaway as well.

Their debut single is "Crème Brûlée", a song that already sees them coming into the world fully formed, and with a good idea of their musical identity. The main touchstones would be Mazzy Star & Lana Del Rey, both vocally and in terms of the dream-pop sensibilities at the heart of the song, as well as a little bit of Portishead and, in the extended outro of the song, The War on Drugs at their most laconic. There is so much to love about the song, and if they've got us reeled in so well on their first recorded single, there is going to be so much joy in finding out what else they're going to unleash on us over the next while.

"Crème Brûlée" is out now.

New Atlas - Dizzi

Oh, we do love a finely formed, unashamedly pop song. New Atlas is the brainchild of Owen McKenna, who is previously from Northern Ireland but is now based in Liverpool. Since the launch of this project in late 2016, he's picked up lots of love from Radio 1 and the music supervisors at Made in Chelsea, as well as seeing one of his recent singles, "Morphine", receiving north of 100k streams on Spotify.

It is his latest single, "Dizzi", where we now join the band, and as far as an introduction to their sound goes, you can't really can't do any better. The song is a dizzy, sugar rush of a song, combining tropical pop with a synth-rock edge, it is a tune that should go down well with fans of Grouplove & The 1975, and is a song that we very much expect to be soundtracking an advert for an iPhone or another hip fruit-based device by the end of 2018.

"Dizzi" is out now.

ETCHES - Ice Cream Dream Machine

Here's some discordant indie for you, courtesy of Liverpool based band ETCHES. Having picked up some attention with their single "The Charm Offensive" earlier in the year, they are following it up with the tongue-twisteringly titled "Ice Cream Dream Machine" (try saying that 10 times in a row). It's an unsettling, yet rather interesting song indeed.

"Ice Cream Dream Machine" will be released on October 13th.

James Canty - Strangers

"For the past year I've been writing, recording and fighting off disillusionment with a sword of fire and after countless set backs, cock ups, let downs, dead ends, blow outs, whiskies, take-aways and existential debates, I am happy to say the north wall has fallen. So here is a song I'm very proud of, consigned to the depths of the abyss, a tear drop in the ocean baby yeah."

After receiving such a powerful email, there was no way that I couldn't listen to "Strangers", the debut single from Essex born, Liverpool based singer-songwriter James Canty, and it's quite lucky I did, for it's a rather interesting listen indeed. It's hard to describe exactly what genre it would be, but odd-folk would probably be the best approximation. It mixes some decidedly un-folky banjo with luscious string arrangements and wraps it up in a tale of heartbreak to create something that is both rather unique, yet also somewhat timeless at the same time. 

Southern - Where The Wild Are (E.P)

To say that this blog has something of a fondness for Southern, the Belfast bred, Liverpool based sibling duo, would be something of an understatement. They were the first local band we re-discovered after returning from a year spent in the Midwestern wilderness, they were the second Northern Irish group this blog wrote about when we started way back on July 2011 (the first being Yes Cadets, who are still going strong), and we have revisited them on several occasions, watching them as they have grown in maturity and in terms of their fanbase.

The past 6 months or so however has seem them take massive leaps and bounds forward, with the band seemingly finding the sound that they're most comfortable - a combination of rock, blues, folk and country, all tied up by the intertwining vocals of the duo. This has seen them rewarded with a record deal which has made them label mates of Jagwar Ma and Childhood, featured on a Kitsuné compilation album, and receive extensive airplay on Radio 1 and XFM among others.

It is off the back of this that the band have released their latest E.P, "Where The Wild Are". If the name sounds familiar to you, there's a reason for that - the song was originally released as a free single back in May 2012, causing a few minor ripples on the blogosphere at the time. If you think this is merely a re-release of that song, then you'd be dead wrong - for this version is a radical re-imagining of the original recording in a style that better suits the band's current musical style. It's no longer a breezy, cute, acoustic number, instead it's a slide guitar led blues rocker which, for lack of a better phrase, has a lot of balls.

When I first heard the new version, it didn't click straight away, as the original version of "Where The Wild Are" had been my favourite Southern tune to date, and I wasn't too impressed that the new version only bore a passing resemblance to the original. However, over the past few days it has completely clicked - this is how the song needs to be presented, and deserves to be presented.

The other two songs on the E.P show different aspects to the band. "Oh Won't You Go" sees Lucy take sole lead vocals, and shows of the band's more tender, Mazzy Star-like side, whilst "Four Days" could perhaps be best described as heavy country. Neither of the two songs are a match for the title track, but still show the band's knack for crafting rather decent songs.

Southern have come on leaps and bounds in the few years since they first came to our attention. 2014 could be the year where they burst their way into the big leagues, which if this E.P is anything to go by, is not empty hyperbole.

The "Where The Wild Are" E.P will be released on April 14th.

Circa Waves - Stuck in My Teeth

It's time to jump on the bandwagon again. With news just in from Radio 1's Head of Music, claiming that guitar music is now on its way back (just like it did the last time he made that pronouncement back in November 2012), it couldn't be a better time for hotly tipped Liverpool group Circa Waves to bring out their latest single, "Stuck In My Teeth". As far as the song goes, it's pretty standard stuff - fairly enjoyable yet incredibly familiar major label-friendly indie guitar sounds. It won't alter the axis of rock, but it'll be a rather decent ride nonetheless. With a slot on the NME Tour, copious Radio 1 play to-date, as well as a US record deal with the label who look after The 1975, it's fair to say that there's a lot riding on the success or failure of Circa Waves. After all, how many artists have failed to become successful after successfully gaining the blue tick on Twitter?

Southern - World Don't Shine

It's been over a year since this blog last heard from Belfast siblings Thom & Lucy, who record under their surname, Southern. Since then, things have gone rather swimmingly for them, with the now Liverpool based duo recently signing to Marathon Artists, who release material for Jagwar Ma among others.

Their latest single to be released is "World Don't Shine", which sees the siblings' vocals intertwining over a distinctively infectious blues guitar riff. Southern have been making some great tunes over the past few years, and with some serious muscle now behind them, they are in good stead to take on the wider world come 2014.

Lewis Fieldhouse - Don't Be A Stranger

A smorgasbord of influences has gone into the recording of "Don't Be A Stranger", the latest single from Yorkshire born, Liverpool based singer/songwriter Lewis Fieldhouse. The song sparks comparisons to Vampire Weekend, Paul Simon, Queen, The Beach Boys and "I've Got a Name" by Jim Croce, all wrapped up in a contemporary sunny-pop sheen. It's a song of real warmth, one which should act as an appropriate heat substitute for when the UK weather inevitably decides that July is the new November.

"Don't Be A Stranger" will be released as a free download on July 15th.

Vasco Da Gama - Brigadiers

If you are a big fan of indie-pop, but think that the genre is too twee and cutesy, then the latest song from Liverpool based quartet Vasco Da Gama might be right up your metaphorical street. "Brigadiers" has a pop feel to it, that's for sure, but there's a feeling of bitterness that underpins the song that seems out of place on a song like this, and  its structure seems more shifty-pop than indie-pop. It's no wonder that they're just as comfortable supporting Los Campesinos! as they are Adebisi Shank.

"Brigadiers" is available as a free download, and is taken from their E.P "Geography", which is released on April 22nd.