Brooklyn-based artist Avery Friedman has announced her debut album, ‘New Thing,’ for release via Audio Antihero on April 18th. The album features James Chrisman (Sister. / CIAO MALZ) and Felix Walworth (Florist / Told Slant).
Previously, Friedman had always felt that songwriting was just something that other people did until she was pushed by a transcendent live music experience and a traumatic mugging to seek catharsis through music. Playing her first show in July 2024, she soon shared stages with h. pruz, Dead Gowns, and Sister., where she impressed the latter’s James Chrisman enough that he offered to record her debut album.
The result is ‘New Thing,’ a sonically deep and layered debut that sees Friedman explore her trauma and sexuality with a raw open-heartedness inspired by artists like Adrianne Lenker, Squirrel Flower, and Babehoven. Following "Flowers Fell," Friedman's acclaimed debut single, February 28th's "Photo Booth" is a punchy burst of shoegaze and indie music, both singles have impressed Beehive Candy and we really do look forward to the debut album.
“New Thing is a conduit for emotions too frenetic to hold on your own. This record is a collection of the first songs I’ve ever written, after many years of orbiting the music world, but denying myself my own musicianship. Many of these tracks were born of anxiety – from my turning to a guitar to externalize (and organize) a sense of chaos that otherwise felt trapped inside me. We recorded a bulk of it with a live band, as a means to maintain the raw energy at the center of the record. What results is a time capsule for a year of intense personal expansion in my life – and the layers of warmth, wonder, sensitivity and sharpness that come with growing.” – Avery Friedman.
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Ahead of their very first international shows in Austin, Texas for SXSW, Joan & the Giants return with their first music of 2025: an emotional indie rock single, ‘Still Breathing’, which came out yesterday. Joan and the Giants' collections of accolades expanded exponentially in the past year. Having won Best Rock Song and Runner up Song of the Year at the 2024 WA Song of the Year Awards, touring along Australia’s east coast, playing Sydney's SXSW, and playing alongside P!NK and Tones and I at OPTUS Stadium, 2024 was a productive year, and 2025 is set up to be a fantastic follow-up as they head to the US for SXSW in March.
‘Still Breathing’ is a dreamy and emotional track. Born impromptu from a jam session, this is a free-flowing and heartfelt single and a true reflection of the love and passion that Joan & the Giants put into every song. With two tracks of guitar, a percussive track and melodic track, this song is imbued with an internal conflict. Its echoing instrumentals straddle the line of wistful pop and energetic rock. Frontwoman Grace Newton-Wordsworth’s voice is intoxicatingly authentic and leads the listener on an moving journey.
The emotion of this song comes from a very real place. This single marks the parting of frontwoman Grace Newton-Wordsworth and her long time partner, bandmate and songwriter, Aaron Birch after their nine-year relationship has come to an end. A tumultuous time for both of them, this is a product of their shared pain after their separation, and in that tragedy a passion is captured. This song acts as a farewell to Aaron as he and the band go their separate ways. Grace comments that:
“The lyrics really speak about an inner war, trying to fight for the people you once were but knowing you have to let it all go - “But some things are best kept in the past, and I know we weren’t built to last”.
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Helsinki’s rising dreampop duo Eidetic Dreams returns with The Truth About My Fall a lush, emotionally charged breakup anthem that blends ethereal soundscapes with a fresh pop-rock edge. Featured on Radio Helsinki and praised in Soundi, the band is making waves in the Nordic indie scene. Released via All That Plazz (home to Markus Krunegård, Lala Salama, moshimoshi), this track is their most direct and compelling yet.
The song captures the moment after a breakup when unspoken words finally surface—sometimes as sharp remarks, yet with a lingering sense of respect for what once was. "Breakups are full of contradictions and bittersweet emotions—they hurt, but they can also help us grow as people," says vocalist-songwriter Siiri Kähönen.
Writing the song was quick, but the arrangement took time. "We experimented with different approaches for over a year and a half before realizing that simplicity was the key. We stripped away anything unnecessary to keep the song’s intimacy intact," Kähönen explains. The track’s depth is built on lush vocal layers, an atmospheric synth, and a melodic guitar theme that ties it all together.
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| Photo - Charlotte Croft |
British singer-songwriter and producer Shura shares her new single "Richardson" ft. New York singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins. It is the second single taken from her recently announced album I Got Too Sad For My Friends, to be released on May 30 via Play It Again Sam.
A lyric on “Richardson” cuts to the core of the album’s solitary feeling. “I got too down around my friends,” Shura sings over a laid-back groove adorned with soft guitar licks and flurries of keys. It was the first song written for the record, and it was also – by circumstance, but also fittingly – the first song she’s written at home alone on an acoustic guitar since she was a kid. Featuring Cassandra Jenkins, whose album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature was one of the few Shura could listen to during that period of high stress, the track brings her sadness full circle; Jenkins’ voice accompanying hers in lush harmony the same way it did back then.
Shura says: “I fell in love with Cassandra's record at a low point in my life. It felt like an armchair I could crawl into. It accompanied me on long walks I took around my apartment in Greenpoint. I always knew I wanted to work with Cassandra on something. After a few conversations it became obvious to the both of us that it had to be this song. That Cassandra would accompany me here. A song about walking, thinking, and trying to find comfort somewhere, as Cassandra’s voice accompanied me on those walks then.”
Cassandra Jenkins says: “I was drawn to Richardson because it captures a mood that's hard to place, in part because it's so much about place, and a kind of limbo we bring with us wherever we go. I love that this collaboration developed into a meta conversation between me and Shu about the ways we communicate with our loved ones when we are apart, whether by circumstance, time, or geography. It makes me think we were cosmic pen pals long before we ever met.”
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| Photo - Calm Elliott-Armstrong |
Shealagh Rose, a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario, releases her captivating new EP, Safe in Our Silence, a collection of songs reflecting themes of vulnerability, growth, and emotional resilience.
The standout focus track, "Perth," is a transcendental and calming piece that celebrates the comfort found in deep, silent connections with loved ones. It embodies a hopeful sentiment, exploring the beauty of letting people into our lives despite the baggage we carry.
"Perth" was recorded in an intimate setting, with Shealagh tracking the piano at the music studio where she teaches, using rented Rodes mics. The process was a learning experience, pushing her to apply her knowledge of mic techniques in new ways. Contributions from friends like Murray Heaton (guitar on "Radio Silence"), Sam Goswell (drums on "Radio Silence"), Dan Minchom (bass on "Radio Silence"), and William Lamoureux (strings on "Games") recorded remotely, added rich textures to the EP.
The EP takes you on a journey. While the first three tracks deal with loss, apathy, loneliness, and bitterness, the last track, "Perth," turns a corner. It is a much more hopeful piece about letting people into our lives despite whatever baggage and scars we may have. – Shealagh Rose.
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