A dozen of the finest new tracks around. Check out the info and purchase links, as well as individual streams below, or stream the lot together using the playlist on the right!
Luke Haines - British Nuclear Bunkers
There are a lot of conspiracy theories and doomsday predictions floating around for this month, so will Luke Haines (formerly of The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder and more) get to see his new solo album 'British Nuclear Bunkers' released in October? Well, probably, but the cold, almost industrial vintage electro-rock of the title track (which includes a fake BBC announcement of imminent nuclear war) seems oddly fitting, as well as being as interesting and unique as we've come to expect from this cult hero.
Luke Haines' website
Pre-order the album
Air Formation - The Wasted Days
Forming in the late '90s, Air Formation were a light for the shoegaze genre that wasn't enjoying the attention it had before or does again now. The band split in 2011 but reformed last year. New single 'The Wasted Days' is the first release since then and will be on their EP 'Were We Ever Here', out on September 25. It's a fizzing, towering piece of driving, distorted and dreamy loveliness; this is what happens when reunions go perfectly.
Air Formation's website
Pre-order the EP
Daisy Victoria - Pain Of Dancers
Daisy Victoria has the potential to be huge. Her first releases last year caught the attention of nation radio and press, and with new single 'Pain Of Dancers' out at the end of the month, she could leave a real impression. A wonderfully powerful indie/pop/rock track, this single is like a rampant Anna Calvi at the top of her game. Making predictions can be a hit and miss game, but we might just be witnessing the birth of a new alternative music star.
Daisy Victoria's website
Pre-order the single
Monk Parker - Sadly Yes
Following the break-up of his band, The Low Lows, Monk Parker moved back to his native Texas from New York and began work on a solo album. Involving over 30 musicians (including members of The Polyphonic Spree and Okkervil River), 'How the Spark Loves the Tinder' is out this week and contains plenty of moments of stately grandeur and isn't short of beauty. Opening track 'Sadly Yes' is a prime example of this lush and emotive Americana.
Monk Parker's website
Buy the album
Literature - The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything
Philadelphia quartet Literature released their second album 'Chorus' a couple of weeks back, and they've since unveiled the video for 'The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything', a bouncy, hook-laden, catchy and enthusiastic guitar-pop tune that's bursting with energy and is highly likely to put a smile on your face. Slumberland Records have put out some amazing albums in the past few years, and they've come up with another beauty here.
Literature's website
Buy the album
Palace Winter - Menton
Danish/Australian duo Palace Winter have a knack of crafting quite lengthy songs that just seem to fly by - always a mark of quality. The pair met while touring with their respective bands and began working on material themselves. Following a debut single earlier this year, they release their first EP, 'Medication', on October 2nd, and taken from it is the epic, surging indie-psych track 'Menton' which also sees them bringing in a new-wave vibe.
Palace Winter's website
Buy the single
HÔN - Honeydream
Neatly welding indiepop to '80s synth-pop is new Danish act HÔN, the brainchild of Jesper Lidang (formerly of The Rumour Said Fire, along with one half of Palace Winter). With a debut single released earlier this year, 'Honeydream' is the follow-up and should feature on forthcoming debut album 'White Lion'. A mixture of styles, this is a track that crosses genre boundaries and could well see HÔN achieving widespread acclaim.
HÔN's website
Buy the single
Galants - Seventeen
Dublin alt-rock/shoegaze newcomers Galants first hit our radar last year with the ace 'Howling', and this year they've cemented our opinion that they're definitely a band worth following. 'Seventeen' is the second of three single which will be digitally released over summer and into autumn. It's a scuzzy and commanding number with a quiet confidence that recalls some of the best alternative acts that the '90s had to offer.
Galants' website
Buy the single
Flyte - Please Eloise
London-based quartet Flyte have done a great job of injecting some sunshine into the damp squib that was the final few weeks of summer. 'Please Eloise' takes modern British indie music, stirs in a few tablespoons of quirky pop, a vocal that's not far removed from certain Super Furry Animals tracks, and then tops it all off with an earworm of a chorus. This is moreish indie-pop with a contagious jauntiness.
Flyte's website
Buy the single
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Paper Mâché Dream Balloon
Typically oddball is this new track from psychedelic pop/rock chameleons King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Initially planning to record an album of heavier, darker material that they'd been playing live, they opted instead to go down a different route, as you can hear on new track 'Paper Mâché Dream Balloon' which will also be the title of the album when it arrives in November. Delightfully crafted and fantastically kooky.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's website
Pre-order the album
Bernaccia - Power To The Hills
They may be from Newcastle, but Bernaccia's new single 'Power To The Hills' draws on stoner-rock from the US, as well as the kind of deep psych that Australia has become known for more recently. The first track from the quartet's upcoming album also touches on the early hard-rock groups that the UK produced such as Cream or even Black Sabbath. Compare it to who you like, it still sounds like the work of a band who mean business.
Bernaccia's website
Buy the single
Alberta Cross - Ghost Of Santa Fe
It's sometimes odd when bands release eponymous albums midway through their career, but with Brooklyn's Alberta Cross there is something of a new beginning, so it feels quite apt. 'Alberta Cross' will be the first record since co-founder Terry Wolfers left the group, leaving Petter Ericson Stakee to work on the album with an assortment of friends and guests. 'Ghost Of Santa Fe' is a triumphant, brass-fuelled piece of US alt-rock that hits the same heights as any of their previous material.
Alberta Cross' website
Pre-order the album
The Sound Of Confusion on Twitter and Facebook
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's website
Pre-order the album
Bernaccia - Power To The Hills
They may be from Newcastle, but Bernaccia's new single 'Power To The Hills' draws on stoner-rock from the US, as well as the kind of deep psych that Australia has become known for more recently. The first track from the quartet's upcoming album also touches on the early hard-rock groups that the UK produced such as Cream or even Black Sabbath. Compare it to who you like, it still sounds like the work of a band who mean business.
Bernaccia's website
Buy the single
Alberta Cross - Ghost Of Santa Fe
It's sometimes odd when bands release eponymous albums midway through their career, but with Brooklyn's Alberta Cross there is something of a new beginning, so it feels quite apt. 'Alberta Cross' will be the first record since co-founder Terry Wolfers left the group, leaving Petter Ericson Stakee to work on the album with an assortment of friends and guests. 'Ghost Of Santa Fe' is a triumphant, brass-fuelled piece of US alt-rock that hits the same heights as any of their previous material.
Alberta Cross' website
Pre-order the album
The Sound Of Confusion on Twitter and Facebook
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