The Big Indie Playlist: Curated by Picture Parlour
It’s been a scorcher of a week. At Far Out HQ, laptops have been relocated to gardens and then swiftly brought back inside again out of fear of overheating. At least there has been a hefty dose of great new music to soundtrack the sunburn and heat stroke, and it’s all gathered here, on the Big Indie Playlist.
While we’ve been melting, Picture Parlour has been going international. As they jet set off to Japan, we thought there was no better activity for them to do on the plane than taking control and sharing their favourite new tracks with us.
Elsewhere, it’s been a week of long-awaited releases. Haim finally shared their new album, I Quit. CMAT finally dropped her Jamie Oliver hate track. The Dare finally gave us more of the same. Elsewhere, artists of all shapes, sizes and genres delivered greatness for another incredibly strong week.
All put in one handy place, all you have to do is hit play to get a quick fix of the best new hits and keep up to date with the finest fresh tracks.
The best new music of the week
Track of the week
CMAT – ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’: On a three-for-three golden run of singles, CMAT is working towards the release of her third album in August, and every teaser so far has been perfection. Following on from ‘Running/Planning’ and then the star-status solidifying ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, which has seen her captivating a whole new, mass audience, ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ has her singular wit on perfect display.
Pinned down by the chant-ready chorus of “OK, don’t be a bitch”, this track is less about hating Jamie Oliver and more about simply trying to hate less, to embrace the world. It’s a tough one to pin down, gathering together so many influences in one place, but front and centre is CMAT’s ever-brilliant lyricism and unbeatable vocals. [4.5/5]
Must-Hear: Curated by Picture Parlour
This week, to give them something to do during a long plane ride to Japan, we handed control of the playlist over to a true Far Out favourite act, Picture Parlour, who shared their favourite new songs from recent weeks.
Suede – ‘Trance State’: Talk about comebacks – gimme it all! The bass in this is what dreams are made of.
Sunflower Bean – ‘Nothing Romantic’: They do it every time: heart-wrenching and anthemic all at once. We’ve had this on repeat all month!
Hannah Jadagu – ‘My Love’: One of our fave new discoveries, giving us all the indie nostalgia with beautiful vocals.
Wolf Alice – ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’: Axl Rose got competition! Those bridge vocals do something unholy to us.
Queens of the Stone Age – ‘Villains of Circumstance (Live at The Catacombs)’: The album version of this song was a hard act to follow, but this gives us pure chills. Is it the eerie environment, or is it just the magic of the Homme? Guess we’ll never know…
And some more: The best new tracks of the week
Sam Fender and Olivia Dean – ‘Rein Me In’: After stepping into a support slot at Fender’s huge London Stadium show the other week, Dean joined him on stage for a duet of this album track, instantly leading to fans calling for a recorded version, and here it is. [3/5]
Lorde – ‘Hammer’: The final teaser we’re getting before the release of her new album, Virgin, ‘Hammer’ is lyrically sharp and expansive, meandering through Lorde’s mind in a beautiful way. [3.5/5]
Keo – ‘Hands’: There’s a new Wunderhorse on the scene and they’re threatening to usurp the original. After building a following offline, Keo is finally releasing tracks, and they don’t disappoint. ‘Hands’ feels totally timeless. [3.5/5]
Sombr – ‘We Never Dated’: If you haven’t heard Sombr’s earlier tracks ‘Undressed’ or ‘Back To Friends’, you’re lucky in a way, because there is seemingly no way to get those earworms out of your head. ‘We Never Dated’ isn’t quite like that, but it shows a more mature sound for the artist. [3/5]
Bar Italia – ‘Cowbella’: Bar Italia are back, and so their cult fan base can rejoice. This one feels more straightforward for them, more polished and accessible in a way we’re not complaining about. [3/5]
The Dare – ‘Cheeky’: The Dare is never escaping the ‘all his songs sound the same’ allegations. The deluxe version of his album is populated with more of the same, but who’s complaining when the energy is always this good, demanding you go straight to the club and dance. [4/5]
Haim – ‘Gone’: Haim took our album of the week crown, but it’s this opening track that captured our attention, starting out incredibly strong with one of the band’s finest compositions to date. [5/5]
Baxter Dury – ‘Return Of The Sharp Hands’: This is Baxter Dury’s turf war song, raging at Shoreditch wankers from his west London pad. It’s classic Baxter, sharp spoken word verses and a hooky chorus. [4/5]
Chartreuse – ‘Fold’: We’ve come to expect nothing less but pure beauty from Chartreuse, and ‘Fold’ follows suit as the band always create such gorgeously layered tracks. [3.5/5]
Off The Beaten Track: Left-field sounds, curated and written by Ben Forrest
The Diasonics – ‘Chickadee’: Moscow’s premier exporters of cinematic funk and soul goodness have returned with a brand-new single on Record Kicks. ‘Chickadee’ is the infectiously funky B-side of that single, featuring a commandingly groovy bassline and a deluge of drum breaks that hark back both to the golden age of American funk and early days of New York hip-hop. [4.5/5]
Sola Akingbola – ‘Olukumi’: Opening up a portal back to the heyday of old-school Afrobeat, Lagos-born, London-based percussionist Sola Akingbola takes audiences on a journey through the cultural traditions of his Yoruba roots, with utterly captivating results on his latest album How Should I…. [4.5/5]
GOBYLNS – ‘Christof Waltz’: Berlin-based outfit GOBLYNS unveiled their expansive album Three Sisters recently, and ‘Christof Waltz’ is one of its ultimate highlights. Encapsulating the diverse outfit of the psychedelic outfit, the song draws upon everything from krautrock to old library instrumentals, culminating in a track with enough funk intrigue to keep you coming back for more. [4/5]
Joe Bataan- ‘Drug Story’: Madrid’s Vampisoul label continue their dedication to sharing the music of Latin soul progenitor Joe Bataan, releasing his lost masterpiece ‘Drug Story’ for the first time on seven-inch vinyl this week. Originally recorded back in the 1970s, when Bataan was at his ultimate peak, this harrowing exploration of drug use and self-destruction only saw widespread release in 2022, but it remains one of the songwriter’s most emotionally affecting anthems. [4/5]
