Watch: Beautiful Everything by Astral Bakers

The video for Astral Bakers’ new single is shot from the inside of a vehicle, on an endlessly panning camera, as the four-piece play the gentle wave that is Beautiful Everything. As they travel through a seemingly unending landscape of fields, hedgerows, and overcast skies, the wistful, melodic thrum of the song feels like the perfect soundtrack to a long journey.

The dream-like feel of Beautiful Everything is purposeful, the band channeling the more upbeat, accessible side of Sonic Youth. Recorded live in the studio, the song also provides a tangible, grounded sense of feeling alive. Alongside Sonic Youth, the dusty and windswept sound of Beautiful Everything reminds me of the gentle sway of Kurt Vile, and the slow motion emotional breakdowns of Sun Kil Moon. The building wall of guitars and percussion gives the song a beautiful feeling I can’t help but get lost in.

Having previously found acclaim with French trio Revolver, Astral Bakers is the new outfit featuring Sage, aka Ambroise Willaume. Together with Theodora, Nico Lockhart, and Zoé Hochberg, the group have each collected over 10-years’ of professional music making experience. Having all collaborated previously, the four are now working together as Astral Bakers, taking inspiration from a pursuit of ‘epiphanies and presence, friendship and purity’. Beautiful Everything is taken from the group’s forthcoming album, The Whole Story, set to be released on 9 February 2024.

Watch: Closer by pecq

Here we are, in 2024, a year that sounds neither like the future, nor the present, and we kick it off with the glitchy electronic pop that is Closer.

pecq is the musical project of duo Nicholas (Nikò) O’Brien and Hannah (Jakes) Jacobs. Vocalist, producer, and songwriter Jakes brings her talents as a classically trained pianist and touring member of Arlo Parks’ live band. Her pursuit of music has been a route to escapism, as well as a path to a sense of identity, as she frequently finds herself impacted by her immune condition. Nikò compliments this with experience working as a producer, multi-instrumentalist and engineer for Cocteau Twins’ vocalist Liz Fraser, among others. Nikò’s aesthetic stems from the psych and prog scene of his French hometown, a commune on the outskirts of Paris, from which the duo derive their name — Le Pecq.

On Closer, pecq have created a restrained piece of electronic pop music. Fuzzy electronic bass tones establish the song’s pulse, overlayed with frequent clattering percussion elements that briefly spark before being clipped harshly back into silence. Jakes’ vocals hover and soar above all this, a wing on the wind, organic sounding and yet filtered and twisted at the same time.

Together, pecq establish a sense of motion and emotion, as Closer gently crawls through me, the tendrils of something winding itself into my mind, before a feeling of release. That creeping sense likely comes from Jakes’ sense of isolation and loneliness, as she describes:

‘Closer is about distance. I’ve been away for most of this year touring. It was so freeing and inspiring to visit places I never thought I’d see, but after a few months I struggled being away from my friends and trying to finish songs with Nikò being in an opposite time zone. I was seeing all these new things, but I couldn’t ever communicate them properly, so they started to feel like a weird dream. So Closer was originally about isolation, but it was finished on the plane trip home so a different mood crept in — getting closer to your besties, coming home full of fresh things to share.’

Check out Closer below.

Watch: Midfall by Kate Schroder

As we slip out the back door of 2023, I feel like someone who has just snuck out of a bad party without saying goodbye, a little relieved to be free. Which is to say that, whilst it won’t register on the scale of 2020, I won’t particularly miss this year.

With that in mind, Kate Schroder’s new single, Midfall, feels like a suitable soundtrack to not just round out 2023, but kick off 2024. The song bristles with an energetic sense of self-reflection, nostalgia, sadness and just a little hope for the future. Describing the Midfall, Kate says:

‘I was inspired to write this song after a string of bad decisions and wrong relationships. Wondering if the attraction to rollercoasters and chaos was a part of me at my core, or just a product of youth?

‘Now, this song has a nostalgic element to me and I also see it as a reflection on all of my past-selves (that often feel like past lives). And trying to accept and love them all.’

The cool synths melodies and Schroder’s vocal in the verse give Midfall a somewhat melancholic opening, which establishes a necessary emotional baseline. In the chorus, bass tones, chunky beats and a soaring vocal performance hint at the acceptance Kate references… Music as a form of healing, exactly the sort of sentiment I carry with me as we enter a new year, the possibilities it holds still unknown.

Here’s to a little balance, and to acceptance.

Listen: Hunting Points by Aves featuring JFDR

This is the kind of song that arrives in such a cloud of beautiful, heart-breaking vulnerability that it stops me in my tracks, instantly planting me in the moment. On Hunting Points, Helsinki-based pop trio Aves have partnered with the Icelandic artist JFDR to create a spectacularly delicate piece of music.

Together, Aves and JFDR have combined the former’s warm instrumental soundscapes with JFDR’s ethereal vocals. JFDR’s performance here is really spellbinding, and I’m impressed with the delicate way Aves have embellished it, without overpowering something so delicate. Gentle melodic keys create a dream-like aesthetic, with loose percussion and layered synths giving the song a cinematic feel.

As we coast into the holiday season, Aves and JFDR have created the kind of record that feels like a warm hug, and I’m here for it.

Listen: Regulate by iVANA

Regulate starts with a bass guitar riff that feels a little like the sort of thing Kim Deal would create… loose, low-slung, melodic. iVANA’s vocal drips in spit, sweat and attitude, as the snarls through the verse before ploughing into the song’s chorus, head on.

A song about the complexity of relationships, Regulate depicts the sense of yearning for a connection whilst feeling constrained and unable to break free. You can sense the tension in iVANA’s performance, particularly as a wall of grunge-y guitars bite in the song’s chorus.

Hailing from the Poconos in Pennsylvania, iVANA started making music during her college years, under a different name and in a different genre. She ultimately found her calling in the uniquely diverse experiences of New York City. Here, iVANA felt free to break free of conformity, liberating her to combine her love of indie rock with diverse styles and collaborators. Taking inspiration from Santigold and Lykke Li, you can clearly hear the eclectic and artistic aesthetic of the former on display here on Regulate. Check it out below: