Watch: Don’t Jump The Gun — Sfven

This one gives me goosebumps.

Don’t Jump The Gun starts with a propulsive rhythm and Sfven’s browbeaten vocals. “Patience: you always said I should be patient”, the Derby musician sings, before quickly embracing his own fallibility.

As a sufferer of anxiety and insecurity, there is something about Don’t Jump The Gun that resonates for me. I have experienced a feeling on multiple occasions where my expectations, or reading into a situation, positive or negative, can sometimes be many magnitudes greater than another person’s. Here Sfven wrestles with instinctively wanting more, and yet trying to be at peace in-the-moment, taking pleasure in that “part of the magic”, as he sings here.

If the verse is the internal strife, then the chorus is the exhilarating rush in the moments where you just manage to be present. This is the kind of soaring emotive moment that feels like it has no right being jammed in the middle of a sub-three-minute indie pop song like Don’t Jump The Gun, and yet I just love it. Sfven has created a record that gets me and, for just a moment, it feels like everything is okay.

Having spent much of his time in Leeds, collaborating with friends from college, Sfven signed to 3 Beat Records before starting work on his debut album in the Scottish Highlands last year. A low-fi approach led to the release of Forest Avenue, an album that evoked the soft acoustics of early Bon Iver. Now Sfven is back, and Don’t Jump The Gun is the first of ten new singles. If the rest of those singles are anywhere near as wonderful as Don’t Jump The Gun, I truly can’t wait... Patience be damned.

Premiere: Good Luck Charm — Ray Rhemey

Good Luck Charm is the debut single from new female and best friend duo Ray Rhemey. Pronounced Ray Ra-may, the pair channel a joyful and energetic 90s-influenced blend of pop, soul, and R&B funk — something they have playfully labelled Pop&B Funk.

Ray Rhemay’s sound is familiar, and yet it feels fresh — acid-funk melodies and bubbling bass make a warm instrumental backing for fun, infectious vocals. Together, the artists TaRhea and Vilda Ray are looking to create music “untainted by strict structure, only guided by what’s essential to move you physically and emotionally”.

Produced by Jay Cass and Zyodara, Good Luck Charm depicts a form of unrequited love, when someone takes the lessons they learned by receiving your love, only to apply them to someone new. The lyrics themselves, and the subject of the song, could be interpreted as sad. Yet, Good Luck Charm is delivered with a sense of acceptance and determination — the result is both empowering, and uplifting.

Check out Good Luck Charm below:

Listen: Differently — Limón Limón

Limón Limón are LA-based future indie duo Jason and Rand, and they take a deliberately difficult-to-pin-down approach to their music. It’s at once accessible, and yet, well… Different.

As demonstrated on Differently, Limón Limón’s sound avoids the trappings of conventional pop, and yet it has the infectious melody and attitude of the best pop music. Live instrumentation combines with both analogue and digital synths to create something that just feels a little new and fresh.

Differently is a song all about the feeling of overwhelming appreciation for the feeling of being in love, following a period without that sense of connection. The vocals here really convey a fresh, energised feeling, with Jason and Rand’s sunny instrumentation providing a crisp, sunny atmosphere. As we continue to ride somewhat of a heatwave in the UK, the bright and joyous melodies of Differently hit perfectly.

Listen: I’m Your Guy — Anna Shoemaker

Fresh off the release of her debut album, Everything Is Fine (I’m Only On Fire), the wonderful and prolific Anna Shoemaker is back with another brand-new track for your aural pleasure.

Following on from the drama of Anna’s more recent releases, I’m Your Guy has a wholesome and reassuring feeling to it. Atop grungy but laid-back instrumentation, Shoemaker lays out a song of commitment and reassurance, singing on the chorus, “Baby if you’ll be my man, I’m your guy”.

I’m Your Guy is about that kind of love, romantic and platonic, where you are there for one another and have each other’s backs. As Anna herself goes on to say:

“It’s been made clear over and over again that people in our country don’t really give a shit about us, so it’s really up to us to protect and be there for each other.”

Check out I’m Your Guy below:

Premiere: Outskirts — Elhel

Elhel is the musical stage name of Argentinian musician and producer Yamil Eljel. Having originally started performing in Spanish, Yamil switched to producing English language music in 2019.

Having signed with Dance Cry Dance towards the end of 2021, Elhel has been working on a forthcoming EP. Outskirts is the first track to be released from that EP, and it seeks to capture the joy of connection and freedom that many of us experience in the summers of our youth.

Opening with analogue synths and a broad, hollow-feeling bass line, Outskirts feels wonderfully nostalgic from the get go. Elhel finds inspiration in the sounds and images in 1980s cinema — something you can both hear and see in the video for Outskirts. The lyrics have a beautiful innocence to them from the first line:

“We live on the outskirts, a quiet place. I love taking pictures of your face.”

And then the chorus drops, and it feels like the rush of your favourite person squeezing your hand. Yamil’s vocal starts to erupt, his real emotions fully on display as he cries out, “Sometimes we take our car, and drive it, at full speed”. And as the layered melodies soar, you feel a moment of recognition — for just a moment, you can exist inside the connection Elhel feels with the other passenger in that car.

Check out Outskirts below: