Hello world,
Back again with this week’s FP Picks update – a host of banging tunes from Blumi, LIFE, Malin Andersson & 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
Kelsey Lu – Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost
Kelsey Lu has shared the ethereal new single Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost, taken from the new album So Help Me God. It features a children’s choir in Rome, and was named BBC Radio 1‘s Hottest Record. The release is a compelling reminder of why Lu occupies such a singular and irreplaceable space in contemporary music — an artist whose work exists in a world entirely of its own, suspended somewhere between the sacred and the surreal, the deeply personal and the universally felt. The music video is a natural and breathtaking visual extension of the song’s ethereal world — a piece of visual art as carefully and beautifully constructed as the music it accompanies.
Greta O’Leary – Year of the Dog
Greta O’Leary has shared a captivating new single and states: “Year of the Dog is animal spirit, it’s racing forwards and upwards, fast and free. It’s renewal.” The track marks a noticeable shift from the atmosphere of O’Leary’s well-received debut album River Dark, which dropped last year. Where that record often moved at a careful, reflective pace, Year of the Dog charges forward, a bright guitar riff leading the way. Everything feels loose, warm and full of movement. Previous album River Dark established O’Leary as one of the country’s most distinctive emerging songwriters, blending folk, surrealism, and sharp-eyed storytelling into a sound that feels entirely her own.
Gabi Garbutt – Radical Love (ft. Jemma Freeman)
Gabi Garbutt has shared the new single Radical Love which features Jemma Freeman (of The Cosmic Something) adding guitar, synth and vocal harmonies and it’s a beautifully wistful synth pop track full of quiet steadfast hope. “I’ve been hugely energised by reading the work of Martin Luther King, and his belief in the transformative power of love,” explains Garbutt, “and this song draws all these themes together, to explore how a radical love is urgently needed to face a world falling apart with humanitarian crisis and climate crisis.“ What a beautiful, heartfelt track with clear tones, warm guitars, and synths – poignant songwriting.
LIFE – My Yan
LIFE have dropped their new single My Yan, taken from their recently released album ABSTRACT / NATURAL and frontman Mez Sanders-Green states: “This track is a love song. Yan in old Cumbrian means ‘one’ so I’m saying ‘The One.’ This is the band’s favourite track from the album. It’s really dynamic, especially the middle-eight with all of its space and dreamlike textures that build to a monumental outro that we hope sounds like a journey towards new beginnings.” During the project’s inception, he kept returning to a book of poetry he was writing whilst walking in The Lake District, transforming his experiences in the hills and fells into an imagined world; one where genuine personal stories intertwine with folklore, myth and a cast of characters drawn directly from the rugged landscapes he encounters on the way.
Holly Head – I’ve Had Want
Following a hugely successful UK tour earlier this year supporting Westside Cowboy, Manchester’s Holly Head are back with new single I’ve Had Want. Melting distorted guitar textures with anthemic melodic energy, the track serves as a powerful introduction to the music still on the horizon. Singer and lyricist, Joe says: “It can take a heavy toll on your mental health to process all the negative emotions we feel about the inequality and suffering we see around the world. Our anger shouldn’t be repressed though, and we still feel we must continue to tackle the same issues we’ve talked about in the past. The music is different on this track, but it’s still about wealth inequality, racial hate and animal rights to name a few but, this time, it’s through a wider range of emotions than solely anger.”
The Stanford Family Band – Feeding The Beast
Brighton quartet The Stanford Family Band have shared new single Feeding The Beast, taken from their forthcoming EP Go Again. Built around shimmering guitars, lively percussion and instantly memorable melodies, the track channels the warmth of The Beach Boys alongside the contemporary retro-pop approach of The Lemon Twigs and Drugdealer. Laurence from the band states: “Feeding The Beast was a really fun one to write and record, I wrote it last summer and then we cut it live really soon afterwards which is a rare thing for us, we added a wall of guitars and tambourines after. I was listening to a lot of XTC and power pop stuff at the time and really wanted to capture that classic Rickenbacker jangle as so many of our favourite records have done in the past.”
Malin Andersson – Seeking Something
This light & airy offering from London based Swedish singer-songwriter Malin Andersson is the first in a series of singles building up to an EP due for release later this year. Decidedly Swedish in its vocal tone, the gentle acoustic backing melds nicely with the intimate vocal performance, which expresses ideas of letting go and how that can be a healing process, whether it be around a child leaving home for the first time, or a more adult relationship that’s coming to an end. References to nature & its various elements in the lyric add to the song’s earthy feel & approach – something Malin’s been developing for a while now on her two albums Follow & Space to Feel to great effect. Overall an interesting record that steadily pulls you in as it unfolds, reminding me personally of Stina Nordernstam (who I’m a big fan of) at times but nonetheless refreshingly original.
The Bankes Brothers – Aaliyah
Across years of touring and recording together, the Victoria, BC-based band The Bankes Brothers have built a reputation for emotionally charged songwriting, soaring melodies, and the kind of chemistry that can only come from lifelong friendship and brotherhood. Fronted by brothers Nelson and Morgan Bankes, the band returns with their new single Aaliyah. The track was built around warm fingerpicked guitars, soaring melodies, and heartfelt lyricism. During recording, the band experimented with several acoustic guitars before landing on an old Gibson with worn strings that gave the track its nostalgic warmth and character. Balancing longing and optimism, the song introduces a softer and more reflective side of the band while continuing to blend indie rock, folk warmth, and anthemic hooks.
Blumi – Jaguar
Jaguar is Blumi’s first release for Capitane Records, and provides a preview into her forthcoming debut LP, Steady Heart. The tension at Jaguar’s core is concerned with the dichotomy between the individual and society — our need for space and solitude, combined with the desire for connection. That cool bass line is complimented by a percussion section that feels like a pan about to boil over. Together, they underpin the verse, which forms the portion of Blumi’s song concerned with herself — time alone, contemplating, reflecting. Blumi states: “I used to think, with great drama and hand-on-forehead-flapping, that what I needed the most was solitude. If only everyone would leave me be — leave me tranquil, as we say in French.”
The Snuts – Defibrillator
After some time away to focus on their personal lives, Scottish band The Snuts are back with some new tunes for their upcoming album, Joy In Short Moments, to help you appreciate the little things in life. The upbeat Defibrillator, with its feel-good summer vibe, is a catchy and optimistic track that focuses on being present and making the effort to enjoy time with loved ones. Frontman Jack Cochrane states: “I wanted to write a track that detailed a conscious decision to live and love more. To take life less seriously and dilute ego as often as possible. Defibrillator is a song that celebrates the collective and trivialises the sludgy worries of being alive.”
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