BAGDAD • Valley of Dry Bones • 2025

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Hailing from Wrocław, Poland, Bagdad are excited to announce their debut EP, They Don’t Know, set for release on March 27, 2025 via Houston’s tastemaking Rite Field Records. To celebrate the announcement, they’re sharing their first-ever single, “Valley of Dry Bones.” This gritty, hypnotic track encapsulates the angsty sound of 90s grunge, giving listeners a brooding atmospheric experience. A trio consisting of guitarist and vocalist Franciszek Drobiński, bassist Wojciech Stach and drummer Jakub Gadamski, Bagdad bring their unique, Eastern European sensibilities to songs bursting with melancholy and emotional resistance. 

Thomas Thomas • One Lone Candle • 2025

 WEBSITE

Calgary indie ensemble Thomas Thomas is the result of the creative collision of the sincere singer-songwriter Shannon Thomas and the curious indie-rocker Thomas Englund (Bell Tower, Beta Boys). Combining their names and adding a sparkly rock ensemble, the band makes swooning and nostalgic songs worthy of the swankiest high school prom. Known for their hand-crafted aesthetic, heavily decorated live shows, and love of the colour yellow, Thomas Thomas has landed a YYC Music Award nomination and a first place win at the Ship & Anchor songwriting contest. Their tunes have seen chart positions on CJSW, CKUA, spins on X92.9, and a dedicated local following. The band has performed with Japanese Breakfast, Shannon & The Clams, and Vundabar. They have graced the stages of Breakout West, Canadian Music Week, Sled Island, Folk On The Rocks, Winterruption YEG, BIG Winter Classic (with headliner billing) and the group recently made their international debut at FOCUS Wales this past May. The dreamy indie idiosyncrasies on their debut self-titled EP (2019) has drawn comparisons to Born Ruffians, Wallows, and Camera Obscura. Their most recent single, the nostalgic ‘Right Place Wrong Time,’ was featured in Starbucks’ 2023 summer socials ad campaign.

Ben Kweller • Optimystic • 2025

https://benkweller.com/

Ben Kweller has unveiled the alt-anime official music video for his harrowingly powerful new single, “Optimystic.” The debut animation by Dallas, TX-based tattoo artist/musician Mistery Matter, the companion visual is streaming now on YouTube. A brutal expression of the emotions Kweller felt shortly after losing his 16-year-old son Dorian Zev Kweller in a freak car accident back in February of 2023, “Optimystic” is available now at all streaming services. Kweller recently discussed the origins of the song and video in a premiere feature on Consequence.

Adwaith • Heddiw Yfory • 2025

"'Heddiw / Yfory' is a deeply nostalgic song that captures the intense bond we have with places that shaped us. It reflects on the comfort and familiarity of returning home, where even the simplest things—like gazing out a bedroom window or walking familiar paths—can evoke a powerful sense of belonging.

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Icarus Phoenix • Pedantic Myopia • 2025

 

“sweeping emotional powerhouse...it's the sincerity in the lyricism that just keeps you coming back”     - Nathan Lankford/Austin Town Hall

“thematically rich and melodically captivating”                                                                                                        - Mike Mineo/Obscure Sound

"epic piece of art that will instantly capture your heart and soul in all of the right ways"                                        - Langen Goldstien/Girl at the Rock Shows

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Run Remedy • Kerosene • 2025

Kerosene recounts the tragic loss of Koob’s first “puppy love”, Lily, when the pair were involved in a tragic car accident during her teenage years. Raised in a strict Evangelical Christian household, with two preacher parents, Koob spent her adolescence lost and closeted, struggling to understand her identity within the confines of a conservative community. On Kerosene, she reflects on how the tragedy reshaped her life and pushed her toward self-discovery and a broader world beyond the confines of her upbringing.

 

On her new single, Koob shared:

 

“Losing Lily so young is a big part of what gave me the courage to really live. It was a face-slap way to learn how short and precious life is. Kerosene is about that bright flame of being young, filled with the promise of life. It’s about the destruction and terror of that day, as well as the brightness and life that come afterward.I don't know if I ever would have been brave enough to leave the comfort of my world or risk being my true self without that experience.

I have a tattoo for Lily now. We used to talk about what we wanted to get, and after her death, when I finally got my cliché violin back tattoo, I got hers on my hand too—so I wouldn't ever forget that lesson.”

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Flora Hibberd • Lucky You • 2025

Along with the album comes a lyric video for release day focus track, "Lucky You." Made by band member Victor Claass with font hand-drawn by Flora Hibberd herself, the video collages fascinating archival footage and scientific diagrams of plant growth cycles. About it Claass says:

 

Watching the video for Lucky You is supposed to feel like flipping through a book about mosses and lichens. These soft and fragile organic forms appear in the lyrics, which reveal themselves across the screen until they crowd each other out and saturate. The effect is an instability, a sense of disturbance, reflecting the song, holding all its tension until the last.

https://www.florahibberd.com/

SOFIA HÄRDIG • PALE FIRE • 2025

"The Swede oscillates between Post-punk, goth-rock, Placebo and Nick Cave. Her singing has the same kind  of absolute urgency that Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine once has."

ROLLING STONE

 

”The Swedish-born polymath has never been on more rumbustious form.”,

CRACK 

 

”She fathoms and conjures up the dark sides of the soul, love, sex. Exciting!"

VISIONS

'Pale Fire' showcases Härdig's signature sound, which draws influence from alternative rock, post-punk, and New Wave, while maintaining her distinct artistic voice. The track is part of a larger body of work that represents what Härdig describes as "the tip of the iceberg of a long cycle of lyrics, often a novel/short story that I have built in solitude." Anchored by brooding piano work and haunting chord progressions, 'Pale Fire' unleashes the full force of Härdig's commanding vocals while highlighting her masterful touch as both producer and songwriter. The single is accompanied by striking visuals created in collaboration with a close friend and photographer Jessica Nettelblatt, who was so moved by the demo that she immediately envisioned the cover art, listening to the track on repeat during the photoshoot. For fans of Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and Anna Calvi, 'Pale Fire' further cements Sofia Härdig's position as one of Sweden's most compelling alternative artists.

Blondshell • T&A • 2025

https://www.blondshellmusic.com/

“There’s a Rolling Stones song on Tattoo You called ‘Little T&A’ and at one point in the song, he says ‘tits and ass,’ so I’m borrowing that,” Teitelbaum said. “I think in music, it’s easy to see things as either more sexualized or more romantic, and I wanted this to be both. I see it as a love story — maybe not the most fairy tale love story — but I wanted it to feel like a really narrative song, where one thing leads to another and then you end up somewhere you didn’t expect. Normally that’s not how I write, but I wanted a song like that.” stereo

Samia • Bovine Excision • 2025

https://samia.ffm.to/bovineexcision

PANIK FLOWER • alkaline • 2025

“Trying to boil down this new female-fronted five piece means first contemplating Leopold’s voice, powerful in its ability to go low, then break into a calm, breathy rush reminiscent of The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan — dark and vulnerable all at once. Then there’s the band as a whole — a wall of surfy and washed-out guitar, driving bass lines and dynamic drums that squanders and builds momentum in tight, catchy turns, steering the audience from a place of silent awe to a mass communal headbang.”

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The Convenience • I Got Exactly What I Wanted • 2025

https://lnk.to/like-cartoon-vampires

If you hadn’t been paying close attention, it may have seemed that the band’s Duncan Troast and Nick Corson have been taking it easy since 2021’s Accelerator, but the two have been busy backing Video Age and Hovvdy on tour and honing a refreshing new sound. Across thirteen vivid, angular tracks, The Convenience explores an invigorating sound that's just a tad psychedelic on the new record

Avery Friedman • "Flowers Fell” • 2024

“The opening melody for “Flowers Fell” came to me on a headphone-less walk home one night down Greene Avenue in Brooklyn. I had noticed that the flowers that once lined the branches had been replaced by leaves -- seemingly in the blink of an eye. I was briefly disappointed until I considered that the petals had made way for something more sustainable – and equally full of life.  The song became a meditation on the concept of place – how things of our surroundings like ‘sidewalks,’ and ‘balconies’ and ‘trees,’ can act as fixed backdrops upon which we measure our personal evolutions (and the evolutions of our relationships) across the span of many seasons.” – Avery Friedman 

https://linktr.ee/averyfriedman

“Having frequented bills with artists such as Sister. and Dead Gowns for the past year, Avery Friedman has consistently left an impression on those that have caught her sets, oftentimes performing solo, creating a space in which her vivid imagery and tender melodies greet new ears with welcome and understanding. Produced by James Chrisman (Sister.) and with contributions from Felix Walworth (Told Slant, Florist), “Flowers Fell” plays to the in-between moments as Friedman defines new beginnings.” – The Ugly Hug

girlpuppy • Windows • 2025

https://girlpuppymusic.com/

In the peak season for being wistful and nostalgic and sad but ultimately hopeful, Becca Harvey — the Atlanta, GA-based musician behind girlpuppy — is kicking off the new year with an outside-looking-in approach that's far subtler; more in the vein of driving by an ex's house out of muscle memory, scanning the darkness for light-soaked material proof. exclaim!

ZZZAHARA • IN YOUR HEAD • 2025

https://www.instagram.com/zzzahara.wav

Spiral Your Way Out finds zzzahara in the aftermath of a relationship spent trying to fit someone else’s mold, being jerked around by indecision, and then hitting “emotional rock bottom.” Made in a three-month burst that let all their pent-up frustrations loose, Spiral Your Way Out is in part a work of self-reclamation. It marks another sonic evolution as much as an emotional one. zzzahara’s songs have always come wrapped in a warm glow that reflects how they were written – namely at home in their bedroom. That glow remains on Spiral Your Way Out, but it also packs an ambitious streak and a gutsy punch. Taking a more collaborative approach than usual, zzzahara worked with a range of producers including Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, No Joy, Sky Ferreira), Sarah Tudzin (boygenius, Cloud Nothings, The Armed), former Ducktails guitarist Alex Craig (Jelani Aryeh, re6ce) and Halsey tour drummer Franco Reid, who helped harness their intimate style of writing and blow it up into something more panoptic.

Zack Keim • Battery Lane • 2025

zackkeimmusic.com

Sophmore Album by Zack Keim out on Evan Westfall of CAAMP's label Super Sport Records. Keim’s music glimmers with a retro-twinged pop sheen and a bright folk-driven optimism. Feat contributions from Matt Costa, Jordan Clark (The Frights), Evan Westfall (Caamp), and mastered in Nashville, TN by Pete Lyman (Tyler Childers, Weezer, John Prine).

Red Sleeping Beauty • Late Nights • 2025

”Another indie pop gem in electronic guise", one of the albums of the month - HELSINGBORGS DAGBLAD

“Mini-masterpiece”, “Everything is perfectly formed and immaculately conceived” - LOUDER THAN WAR

“All very elegant, refined but always engaging.“ - INDIE FOR BUNNIES

“Experts at constructing this sort of agile Euro-pop” - DAGGER ‘ZINE

“It's absolutely as superb as you'd hoped it would be“ - A PESSIMIST IS NEVER DISAPPOINTED

Happy New Year

 

ifitbeyourwill Podcast 2024

 These are some of the amazing artists that join me on ifitbeyourwill Podcast in 2024… A playlist of a few of the artist featured. If you missed any or wanna catch up on the show check out all the episodes https://ifitbeyourwill.buzzsprout.com In 2025 we’ll start the engine up again with a new slew of amazing artists. Thanks for listening ❤️ 

best of 2024 • Hurray for the Riff Raff • Buffalo

Linktreelinktr.ee/hurrayfortheriffraff

Following a performance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Hurray for the Riff Raff has released an official music video for their song “Buffalo.” One of many highlights from The Past Is Still Alive, the 2024 Nonesuch album that Pitchfork just declared one of The Best of the Decade So Far, “Buffalo” is a love song about survival, patience, miracles, and memories of real people and places that bandleader Alynda Segarra (they/them) experienced during trips to New Mexico. In the video, directed by The Past Is Still Alive collaborator Jeff Perlman, Segarra takes over the Field Museum in their brand new home of Chicago, roams alongside a herd of wild buffalo, and shines a light on extinct and endangered species. none