Hello world,
Check out this week’s FP Picks update for a great mix of fresh cuts fm Chloe Slater, Westside Cowboy, Andrew Cushin & many more. If you like what you hear please follow and share this playlist, it helps us keep doing our thing by getting the algorithms on our side. Also please support the artists featured in any way you can!
Until next week
Helen (Futureproof) x
Westside Cowboy – Kick Stones (The Boys)
Westside Cowboy have shared new single Kick Stones (The Boys), taken from their upcoming debut album It Goes On. Guitar strums tenderly open the single before the drums kick in, leading to shared vocal duty from Aoife Anson O’Connell and Reuben Haycocks. On the planning of the arrangements for the track and the differences from live to recording, Aoife shared that “we loved the way it felt to play, but we thought we couldn’t record it like that or people would think we wanted to be a stadium rock band”. Of the album, the band shared “put simply, we wanted to make an album for our younger selves, one that reminds us of all the bodies of work that made us fall in love with music. We wanted the music to be instant, concise, and honest to us as people today.”
THEATRE – You Are
Irish band THEATRE have shared their new single You Are, taken from the upcoming debut EP Incarnate. Frontwoman Maeve O’Shea states: “You Are explores visual imagery attached to my childhood spent in West Cork. Lyrically, each verse strings random memories together, the kind of memories that pop into your head as you’re walking down the street alone or doing your dishes. As the idea became whole, You Are turned into an ode to my childhood self, an anthem that I wish I could have heard when I needed it.” Powerful and melodic with a stunning vocal – we’re loving this absolute banger!
James Bruner – Wish I Could Stay
Nashville’s James Bruner has announced the release of his debut album Can’t Keep Wanting You & shared the powerful track Wish I Could Stay from it. This blues-infused slice of alt-rock gold was produced by Nashville’s Shane Weisman and sees James singing about the need to ‘keep moving on’ from toxic relationships with attention seeking people. James explains “You may think it’s love but it could well just be infatuation & Wish I Could Stay suggests a way to navigate away from that situation to calmer waters. The track has plenty of space in the arrangement &, dare I say, a taste of funk in there, which has been a new & exciting territory for me to navigate musically. It really steps up when the chords hit in the chorus, giving the track much warmth & openness.”
Chloe Slater – Ugly
Chloe Slater tackles consumer culture on new single UGLY. The song interrogates modern consumerism, inspired by the Netflix documentary Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy. Slater explains: “I wrote UGLY after watching that documentary, which looks at where ‘away’ actually is when we throw things out. The song centres around this almost religious compulsion we have towards consumerism. Our ads are full of commandments, ‘buy now’, ‘don’t miss out’, and we’re promised heaven in the form of status and wealth if we follow the right path.” At 23, Slater has accumulated over 15 million streams and built a following through live support slots for Role Model, The Beaches, Courtney Barnett, and Alessi Rose, as well as an arena tour in Belgium with Pommelien Thijs.
The Race – Best Is Yet To Come
Indie-rock band The Race are back after a 16 year hiatus and recently dropped their new single Best Is Yet To Come, taken from the forthcoming EP Family – an aptly-titled track delving into watching family and friends move through different stages of life with an undertone of wanting the best for all. There’s something special about bands from the early aughts. They capture a specific sound that catapults you into a time capsule of nostalgia for a time when music was at the forefront of the beginning of social media; where things just felt a little less chaotic and more authentic. Fans of Arcade Fire, The National and Editors: if you missed out back in the day, now’s your chance to hop on the bandwagon, as the best is indeed yet to come.
Andrew Cushin – Goodbye
Championed by the likes of Noel Gallagher, Pete Doherty, Sam Fender & Louis Tomlinson, singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin announces his first release of 2026: Goodbye released on First Run Records. Fresh from several performances at the infamous SXSW in Texas & a packed-out show at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall, Andrew is set for a busy summer with plenty of exciting new music & tour dates on the horizon. As his first release of the year, Goodbye delivers infectious guitar hooks along with relatable lyricism & a festival-ready chorus. Andrew states: “Lyrically it’s about the end of something that neither of the two parties involved really wants … quite self-deprecating in a way but on the musical side, I believe it’s my most sonically uplifting song to date.”
Iceage – The Weak
Danish post-punk outfit Iceage have shared infectious new single The Weak, taken from their album For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter. The track is rowdier than previous singles with some rollicking drums, freewheeling guitar riffs, and a recorder solo from frontman Elias Rønnenfelt: “Not one of these pricks is a friend of mine/ Yeah, I’ve had it with peace times/ I found a new home in war crime,” he sings. “The songs needed to be immediate, urgent, raw, and fast,” Rønnenfelt says in a press release. “We wanted to try to shed any unnecessary weight. Catching outlets of energy is what excites us the most.” The lyrics were written only a few weeks before entering the studio to prevent the overall picture from being too fragmented and to increase the sense of risk and urgency.
Margaret Glaspy – Michigan
Singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy announces new album I Am Both and shares the single Michigan. “I was in Michigan a couple years back and had a really beautiful time, and thought about how New Yorkers sometimes fantasize about the countryside as a retreat from the intensity of the city,” Glaspy says of her new single, in a press release. “It turned into a song about someone going through a bad breakup, and then deciding to just leave the city behind.” She says of the album: “When I started writing for this record I had a goal of getting my practice back – to walk the walk in terms of how I envision myself as a songwriter. At first it was really hard to break that addiction to social media, but after a while something shifted. It felt like I’d gotten back to original thought instead of being under the influence of so many outside opinions. It was life-changing.”
Amy Bell – Want Me
Northern singer-songwriter Amy Bell returns with the EP Want Me – a reflective collection of personal songs that deal with thoughts & feelings, often difficult to express in words but more possible through song. Released by Warren Records, the EP consists of four heartfelt tracks dealing with mental health, relationship breakups & lack of empowerment around global issues. The EP kicks off with the emotive title track Want Me, which portrays the angst & heartbreak felt while in a confusing relationship with feelings of rejection & uncertainty expressed in lyrics like “I feel overtired, I feel undesired”. Amy says of the tracks: I want people to hear them as I believe they’re quite relatable & touch on themes that a lot of people my age struggle with. They represent my growth as a musician as I’ve struggled to make sense of the world around me in recent years”.
Essence Martins – Can We All Slow Down
British-Nigerian alt-pop singer-songwriter Essence Martins has shared reflective new single Can We All Slow Down. A call to take a moment away from the digital chaos and constant perception, the track looks beyond the screens. Calming vocals and honest lyrics break through the static, encouraging listeners to put their phones down and reconnect with the world around them. Essence states: “This song is about that constant pressure to keep up, to strive for the image of perfection, while knowing everything you do is being watched and judged online … I often long for a time where life moved much slower and I noticed small things and I was curious about the physical world around me. I long for the version of me that would play outside for hours with nothing but my imagination, perhaps I’m just grieving childhood as I move into adulthood.”
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