Mega Round Up (Part 2)

Following on from yesterday’s Round Up (Part 1), here are a few quieter, more reflective tunes.

But all equally good!

First up is Katie Toupin, ex of Houndmouth, and the title track to her new album. Magnetic Moves is a gem of hook filled indie pop.

We’re big, big fans of Frog’s ‘wyrd Americana’, and they do not disappoint with latest track Black Friday from upcoming album Count Bateman. Once again it is a lyrical gem… “In this country we go tat for tat, wasted bumming a cigarette / Do you wanna sit and sing to me / Barefoot not a pot to piss in these motherfuckers won’t ever listen / Do you wanna get a drink with me.”

With the release of A Dream is U coming around the corner, Francis Lung’s video for Up & Down could also double up as a tour of the grottiest spots Manchester has to offer. It follows a young woman after she murders an anonymous man in a hotel room. We tag along with her through her self-destructive path to oblivion as she wanders the streets at night, drinking copious amounts of tonic wine. She happens upon a northern karaoke bar where she sings her swan song as police sirens sound in the distance.

Taking in elements of folk and Americana but ultimately producing a kind of outsider pop, hd hausmann recall the early works of The National or David Kitt crossed with Leonard Cohen’s poetic charms. Whilst his deep velvety vocal consistently raises comparisons to Tom Waits. The gently hypnotic A Modern Weight is the second single to be taken from hd hausmann’s recently released album Find A Weight, Form A Ground, (out via Panda Cassettes).

Adam Green has shared the video for his ominous track Cheating On A Stranger. He says, “The song is about finding yourself submerged in a wasteland, some kind of second-life where there are empty replacements for everything you knew. You try to embrace this new world, but the more you squeeze it, the more the air comes out.”

Sun Blood Stories is a mass of harmonic noise distilled into sometimes delicate, but always haunting songs. This is Up Comes The Tunnel from forthcoming long player Haunt Yourself.

Folk-pop artist Shannon Lay will release August, her Sub Pop debut, on 23 August. This is the contemplative Death Up Close.

Sam Evian has shared an infectiously fervent interpretation of Gerry Rafferty’s beloved Right Down the Line. Of his choice to cover the 1978 Song of the Summer, Sam says, “At the end of the ‘You, Forever’ recording session, we had a little room left at the end of the tape reel so we decided to do a cover. “Right Down the Line” is one of my favorite songs and I covered it because I wanted to learn how to sing all those harmonies on the chorus.”

Having recently announced the release of their debut album How To Live, available 23rd August via Bella Union plus an Autumn tour, Modern Nature have shared Footsteps, the second single from the forthcoming album,

Finally, Only In Retrospect, the new single from Bay Area group Getaway Dogs, drenches the atmosphere with ethereal, finger picked guitar and breathy vocals. File under spacey psychedelic dreamsurf.