Charlie Ashcroft’s Musosoup Round-Up April 2024
Charlie Ashcroft: Presenter @amazingradio, DJ @SomebodyTM_Club. Also a @QPR fan, a @RecCollMag columnist + #Spotify Playlist curator with @music_gateway
Hope you’re all keeping well in this turbulent of times. As usual, I’ve been trawling the Musosoup submissions to pick out some top-drawer new talent for you! Here are ten excellent discoveries from the past month.
Let’s kick off with one of London’s finest new names, Human Interest. ‘Shapeshifting’ is a stunning, quiet-loud statement of intent from Cat and Tyler, which bodes very well for their upcoming 6-track EP on Nice Swan Records. They play The Great Escape in Brighton this month and then headline the Lexington in London on 13th September.
Back in December it was a joy to encounter the wonderful songwriting and pop innovation of Los Angeles-based Shana Sarett and feature her track ‘Minnesota’ in this very column. Now she’s back with the brilliant ‘Love Me More’, whose breezy, sometimes sparse, electropop vibe feels equal parts hopeful, equal parts introspective.
I absolutely loved Nico Dey’s new track ‘Hot Honey’ as well, drawing on an impressive concoction of classic rock, psych and soul influences to conjure up five and a half minutes of magic. There are some undeniable summer festival feels on display here!
April also saw the release of a new EP by navel grazr called ‘Elegies’. Standout track ‘Two Funerals’ finds that dramatic sweet spot between slow-building art pop and DIY indie rock. Needless to say, the entire 4-track collection from Anjali Nair and her band is well worth your time!
Tired of Fighting were another one to catch my attention with their intoxicating brand of emo-laced punk last month. ‘Branches’ is a genuinely powerful suckerpunch of a song, which has inevitably made me seek out more of the Newcastle band’s back catalogue. Some real gems in there - make sure you listen to ‘Out of the Forest’ if you want to dig a bit deeper.
Austrian trio Lucy Dreams also landed on my radar recently. The band have set about crafting an impactful collision of 80s-esque New Romanticism and contemporary bedroom pop. ‘Love’ is a great introduction to their work if you’ve yet to have the pleasure.
On a more acoustic tip, Chicago-based duo The Kantors are a wonderful new discovery. The atmospheric folk leanings of ‘Found’ have a timeless quality to them, underpinned by some glorious group vocal effects. It’s their first new material since last year’s ‘Our Hearts Revealed’ EP. Glorious stuff.
In a similar vein, we have Toronto crew The Neighbourhood Watch in the mix this month as well. This delicate acoustic ballad develops gradually into an altogether noisier, orchestral jam, which brings to mind artists on this side of the pond like Keaton Henson and Dry The River. A stirring number from a band on prolific form so far in 2024.
Over in Australia, we find Iain T. McKelvey providing us with an Americana-tinged shot in the arm in the form of ‘There Goes Hollywood’. Two years on from his well-received ‘Midnight Tangos’ EP, the Sydney songwriter is back with a bang.
Finally, a piece of jazz-soaked soul to see us home, courtesy of Charlotte Lansman. Based in London, she kicked off last month by unleashing the gorgeous ‘My Mind’. Fast forward a few weeks, and she’s since headlined the legendary Old Queen’s Head in Islington and put out another great record called ‘Love Lessons’.