The Big Indie Playlist: Curated by Sunday (1994)
I don’t want to jinx it, but it felt like the first buds of spring dared to pop up this week with some glimmers of good weather. Naturally, that makes music sound endlessly better, and so this week’s Big Indie Playlist feels greater than ever.
This week was a huge one for comebacks: Francis of Delirium made a return, so did Martin Luke Brown, Dave Grohl’s daughter, Violet Grohl, announced her debut album with a deliciously Lynchian tune, and Bleachers reappeared with a Springsteen-esque love song.
From small-town bands to the biggest names around, the music world was firing on all levels. Don’t be mistaken by the title here, we’re dealing in more than just indie, too, including everything from new club classics to alt-pop bangers here.
As they prep to move into a new chapter of their career, we also checked in with Sunday (1994) to see what’s been on repeat in their playlists during their last few months of hectic tours and track releases. If you like Irish trad and white noise for babies, boy, do they have some good recommendations for you.
Must-hear: Curated by Sunday (1994)
Madra Salach – ‘I Was Just A Boy’: “I got goosebumps the first time I heard this, and I still get them now”.
Slayyyter – ‘Old Technology’: “Before one hits the tiles, once one adds the wing, one must put on this song”.
Anna Calvi, Iggy Pop – ‘God’s Lonely Man’: “An instant classic, I would like a full album please, Miss Calvi and Mr Pop”.
Lana Del Rey – ‘White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter’: “Preposterous, haunting, beautiful, meandering, perfect nonsense”.
Dream Supplier – ‘Clean Baby Sleep White Noise (Loopable)’: “This is always my most played track on tour; it would be dishonest of me to exclude it”.
MJ Lenderman – ‘She’s Leaving You’: “If MJ was around in 1994, this song would be on the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack. That is extremely high praise”.
The best new music of the week:
SoftTop – ‘Paving Stones’: Grooving baselines, cello detailing and a rich vocal line, what more could you want? To announce their debut album, SoftTop shared what might just be their best track to date as proof that they’re still one of the crowning jewels of the Brighton scene. [4.5/5]
Beabadoobee and The Marias – ‘All I Did Was Dream Of You’: It’s almost as if this collab was genetically engineered in a lab to make a listener yearn on a level they’ve never experienced before. Putting two wistful icons together with a heartaching lyrical ballad, it’s stunning, but proceed with caution if you’re currently experiencing limerence. [4/5]
Sunday (1994) – ‘Shame’: From our playlist collaborators themselves, Sunday (1994) are leaving their EP era behind, capping off this first chapter of their career by sharing the final tracks they wrote for these first releases, before resolving to move forward on a debut maybe. Ending even more golden than they started, ‘Shame’ is a storytelling epic. [3/5]
Sophie May – ‘Greek Statue’: I swear no one writes feelings as Sophie May does. At its core, what we have here is a yearning song, but the artist comes at it from such a unique vantage point, weaving behind hyper-specificity and universality for something so special. [4/5]
Francis of Delirium – ‘It’s A Beautiful Life’: Francis of Delirium are finally back! To announce a new album, they shared their most boisterous track yet, one so full of life it demands to be heard live in a rattling and packed venue. [3.5/5]
Bleachers – ‘Dirty Wedding Dress’: I don’t know about you, but if I were married to Margaret Qualley, I would probably also be writing the best love songs of my career. With a real Springsteen swagger, inspired by his wedding day, Jack Antonoff is sounding better than ever. [4/5]
Baby Queen – ‘Feel Something’: After hosting a funeral for her old career, Baby Queen is starting fresh. Sharing the second track from this refreshing chapter, there’s a delicious spontaneity here, offering a shining pop song that always manages not to feel too overthought or overdone. [3.5/5]
Violet Grohl – ‘595’: Inspired by David Lynch’s Fire Walk With Me, Violet Grohl is going all in as she announced her debut album with this seductive, grunge-fuelled rager. It’s great, really great, and we’d be saying that even without the powerful surname. [4/5]
Anthony Szmierek – ‘The Heron’: The top class of northern talent join together here as Szmierek is at his club-poet best, and Imogen and the Knife’s backing vocals provide a perfect polish. Like the John Cooper Clarke of the rave, Szmierek remains the preacher of the party. [3.5/5]
Martin Luke Brown – ‘Back Of My Mind’: As another figure returning this week, Martin Luke Brown muses on lost connections and the way they tend to linger forever, even as the subtlest little whisper in the back of our mind. A sweet little ditty, it’s what he does best. [3/5]
Ladylike – ‘Sour Carol, I’: If there’s one EP you should take the time to listen to start to finish this week, it’s Ladylike’s It’s a Pleasure of Mine, to Know You’re Fine. Moving, dynamic and emotive, this tune feels like the credits rolling at the end of a gut-wrenching movie. [3.5/5]
Lover1k – ‘Liiiiights’: Celebrating their tenth anniversary, Slow Dance continue their legacy of being the best star spotters in new music, sharing their latest compilation tape of new talent. The finest moment comes from Lover1k with this instant earworm of a tune. [3/5]
Off The Beaten Track – Left-field sounds, curated and written by Ben Forrest
Asha Puthli and Say She She – ‘Pawa!’: Two disco worlds collide in this inter-generational collaboration between Brooklyn’s premier disco queens, Say She She, and bona fide legend of disco and jazz, Asha Puthli. Released on beautiful 12” vinyl and complete with a myriad of remixes, ‘Pawa!’ speaks to Puthli’s timeless dancefloor-filling quality, along with the infectious euphoria of Say She She; what is there not to love? [5/5]
Thee Marloes – ‘Under The Silver Moon’: The long-awaited announcement of a new LP from Indonesia’s premier psychedelic soul heroes comes complete with a lush new single, ‘Under The Silver Moon’, which very much does what it says on the tin; laid-back, moonlit funk and soul with the kind of universal power the group have become known for. [4/5]
BCUC – ‘Umdumakhanda’: Ahead of their upcoming The Road Is Never Easy album, Soweto’s BCUC unveil a third single, featuring brooding Afrobeat rhythms and suspenseful, experimental funk angles that exemplify the sonic diversity at the heart of this incredible group. [3.5/5]
Mamas Gun – ‘Joy’: London’s premier soul outfit Mamas Gun return with another choice cut from their upcoming record Dig!, featuring funk-fueled basslines and the kind of timeless appeal that comes with the brand of soul music the group have struck upon. [3.5/5]
Jocelyn Virapin – ‘Respè pou fanm’: Parisian label Hot Casa Records answers the prayers of Afro-soul aficionados everywhere, giving this infectious, rhythmic single from Virapin a long-awaited vinyl release since its original, CD-only unveiling all the way back in 2010. [4/5]
Steve Hernandez Y Su Orquesta Latinoamericana – ‘Guaguanco Pa’ Borinquen’: Another long-awaited reissue, this time from Barcelona-based Rocafort Records who have delved into the archives to pluck out this Latin classic from 1967. Needless to say, it has lost none of its dance-heavy lustre in the past half-a-century. [4.5/5]
