Charlie Ashcroft’s Musosoup Round-Up January 2024
Charlie Ashcroft: Presenter @amazingradio, DJ @SomebodyTM_Club. Also a @QPR fan, a @RecCollMag columnist + #Spotify Playlist curator with @music_gateway
Hello! Starting 2024 on the front foot, here are 10 gems that landed in my Musosoup feed over the last few weeks.
No better place to start than with a band whose name sounds like a New Year’s resolution... Learn to Surf are a British four-piece, describing themselves as a “new band of old friends”. With plans afoot for an album later this year, Jack, James, Joe and Jim have unveiled their debut single ‘Coming Good’, whose style recalls early Midlake and a bit of classic-era Kings of Convenience. It’s a gorgeous debut.
Over in the US, we head to upstate New York to find Head Sound, whose dreamy brand of intoxicating shoegaze is a wonderful treat for the ears. The quartet’s track ‘Like a Painting’ first surfaced as a demo back in 2022, but has now been polished up and given a new lease of life for an official release. Definitely a band to watch!
Staying in the States, we travel to Tucson, Arizona and bring you the work of Dolly Creamer. ‘She’s A 10’ is a brilliant slab of lo-fi indie rock, which builds to a wonderful crescendo. They say it’s a song about “…a wise soul growing old, waking up to the beauty of every day and realising that the older you get, the gayer you get.”
I was also blown away by Cam Wilson’s 4-track EP, ‘The Time’, which surfaced towards the end of the month. Cam’s voice is stunning, amid a lovely mix of acoustic guitars and expansive chamber pop. Lead track ‘The Time’ is absolutely beautiful.
Lucie Glang and Dominic Romano recently joined forces for an excellent single in the shape of ‘Friend’ - one of those addictive folk-tinged songs, which finds a great balance in presenting itself as a gentle ballad one minute and an undoubted foot-stomper the next.
Southampton-based band Pioneers also made their return with ‘Old Ways’, which will surely gain them plenty of new supporters alongside the decent fanbase they’ve already built up. As predicted before you even press play, it’s a tub-thumping colossus of a record.
The Briefcase EP ‘Are the Stars Keeping Score?’ is a lot of fun too. Get on board with their ramshackle garage punk immediately! ‘Strong’ is probably my favourite song from the collection, with its heart-on-sleeve urgency there for all to hear.
Singer-songwriter Miles Pascall has been a firm favourite over on my Amazing Radio show for a while now. His latest single ‘Tears’ popped up on my Musosoup feed last month, showcasing yet another example of his innovative fusion of roots, pop and neo-soul.
Luna Keller is on a fantastic run of releases at the moment, with several more planned (one per month!) for the first half of 2024. ‘Swallow The Sea’ is an absolutely spell-binding, campfire-ready folk song, conveying “the shame associated with mental health struggles and how isolating it can be to put up a facade when you're not well.” It’s taken from Luna’s upcoming album ‘Ocean of Me’ set for release in July.
Finally, we play out with the acoustic musings and charm of One Dan Band. Upon encountering the Chigago-based artist’s work for the first time. I was immediately struck by the quietly compelling nature of ‘The Way you Look at Me’, taken from his recently-released ‘EP ii’.