The Big Indie Playlist: Curated by Bathing Suits
Ensure that you don’t miss out on fresh greatness amongst the huge mass of new music each week: The Big Indie Playlist puts all the best in one place.
Each new one, hundreds of thousands of new songs land on streaming services like a tidal wave of talent. In the crash of it all, it’s easy for the best moments to be drowned out and lost, especially for new talent trying to get noticed.
This week however, it’s the one-to-watch that won out. Jeanie and the White Boys returned with an electric new single, ‘Queen Bee’, while Westside Cowboy maintain their rising star status. Stone open a bold new era as independent artists, and NewDad stay on course with more grunge greatness.
But even among more established artists, the quality this week was golden. Ethel Cain’s new album provided a whole batch of epic and visionary tracks, Laufey’s third album is shaping up to be something special, and Wolf Alice continues evolving its sound.
For more tips, we passed the mic to Leeds-based unit Bathing Suits to get their picks for songs that demand attention.
All in one place for easy listening, all you have to do is hit play.
The best new music of the week
Track of the week
Jeanie and the White Boys – ‘Queen Bee’: To see Jeanie and the Whiteboys live it to become instantly obsessed. If any one person is keeping the 1970s punk spirit alive, it’s Jeanie Crystal, a singer who you can literally watch on YouTube sustain a head injury and still finish an electrifying live set as the blood drips.
The band’s music embodies that same rebellious spirit, with ‘Queen Bee’ being one of the most intoxicating and energetic moments in their live set that’s now been perfectly translated to tape with Crystal’s attitude-heavy voice front and centre. [4.5/5]
Must-Hear: Curated by Bathing Suits
Passing the mic to Leeds electro-noise quartet Bathing Suits to give us their favourite new releases.
Frost Children – ‘Falling’: An electronic summer anthem for bleach blonde emo’s. Lit vocal chops and even litter music video
Cannelle – ‘Fille’: I don’t know what she’s saying cause I can’t speak French, but it sounds really good, like if American Apparel skirts were turned into headphones.
Magdalene – ‘Hot shot’: Divas unite, your anthem is here. Wanna feel like Britney Spears, wanna feel like a bad ass bitch? Get your headphones on and stream. She’s a diva, and she knows what she’s doing.
KiosK—‘Dogma’: Ethereal angels Bella and Maz, electro track and bass. They’re our best friends, and they’re amazing.
Model/Actriz – ‘Departures’: My favourite song off the album. I love when he goes “be embodied, be embodied, be embodied”. It’s so dancey, it’s so fun, it’s so beautiful, I love it, and you should too.
Black Fondu – ‘I’m Not Sleeping’: We’ve never been more nervous to follow an artist other than Black Fondu, super electronic, super high pitched, super glitchy – love this guy.
Search Results – ‘I Was A Teenage Girlfriend’: Wonky Irish friendship-rock, good guided by voices lofi fuzzy vibes and fun times.
And the rest – the best new releases of the week
Ethel Cain – ‘Dust Bowl’: On her 5/5 album of the week winning second album, Ethel Cain is a visionary genius, but nowhere is that more vivid than on ‘Dust Bowl’, a truly staggering lyrical and instrumental offering. [5/5]
Wolf Alice – ‘White Horses’: For their third teaser of their upcoming album, The Clearing, Ellie Rowsell passes the mic to Joel Amey, offering a different sound as their music keeps evolving. [4/5]
Laufey – ‘Snow White’: For her third album, Laufey is going in deep. As this era opens up, it’s clear how much she’s pushed her lyricism, giving further into a feeling and coming back to the light with something even more poignant, like ‘Snow White’. [4/5]
Lucy Dacus – ‘Bus Back To Richmond’: Following her latest album in March, Lucy Dacus surprise-released two new singles. Both are excellent and are, as with everything she releases, true triumphs of lyricism, but ‘Bus Back To Richmond’ wins out as a favourite. [4/5]
Westside Cowboy – ‘Drunk Surfer’: With each new release, Westside Cowboy make their one-to-watch status brighter and brighter with these new doses of promise. ‘Drunk Surfer’ stands as their most electrifying yet. [4/5]
NewDad – ‘Pretty’: Ireland’s finest 1990s grunge-inspired unit seem to only get better and better. On ‘Pretty’, The Cure meets New Order, topped with Julie Dawson’s angelic vocals, it’s a stunning contradiction of parts. [3.5/5]
Stone – ‘Never Again’: Stone are back. Casting off their big label and embracing their new future as independent artists, they’re boldly breaking down the door with their loudest track to date and a chant-worthy pre-chorus. [3/5]
Teethe – ‘Iron Wine’: The same week that Ethel Cain put her album out, one of her own favourite artists released their own too, as Teethe supported her on her last tour. Magic of the Sale is moving and cinematic throughout, but ‘Iron Wine’ is a standout. [3.5/5]
Off the beaten track – Written and curated by Ben Forrest
Johnny Bristol – ‘Lusty Lady’: London’s Dynamite Cuts answers the prayers of soul obsessives everywhere, reissuing this slice of soulful excellence from Johnny Bristol, first released back in 1975. For the first time on seven-inch vinyl, listeners can hear the vocalist’s rich, smooth tones work through the disco-infused deep soul classic, which still holds up today. [4.5/5]
The Holy Rollercoasters – ‘Brownsville’: A highlight from This is the Last Will and Testament of, the latest offering from the Brisbane-based R&B obsessives, ‘Brownsville’ is rooted in the enduring sounds of golden age soul and R&B, but with a few contemporary touches thrown in for good measure. Timeless charm and more brass than you could shake a stick at, what is there not to like? [4.5/5]
August – ‘The Mirror’: Yet another incredible, newly unearthed garage rock gem from Germany’s Tramp Records, blending those groovy elements of early R&B with the raw, grassroots sound of golden age garage rock. Although very little appears to be known about August themselves, let’s hope there are some more hidden artefacts out there of this quality. [4/5]
