Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update with a host of banging tunes fm Pillow Queens, GIFTHORSE, jasmine.4.t & lots 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
Pillow Queens – Be A Big Girl
Dublin’s Pillow Queens are back with their frenetic new single Be A Bad Girl and they state: “I think people expect ‘being a big girl’ to mean keeping your chin up, not making a fuss, and politely ignoring the fact you’re being shoved towards the door. For us, it’s the opposite. It’s staying exactly where you are when you’re told to leave, making a fuss, and taking up more space in the process. Living in Ireland, making music here, and not hopping on the first flight out is already an act of stubborn optimism. And yeah, sometimes you’re crying in Lidl or planning a better life in Australia, but at least you’re still standing. That’s the kind of ‘big girl’ we’re interested in being.”
Florence Road – Break the Girl
Dublin band Florence Road have dropped their new single Break the Girl, alongside an official video directed by Benji Gershon, shot in their hometown of Bray, and vocalist Lily Aron previously told NME the cathartic track came together in an hour, inspired by an emotional conversation that weighed on her mind. Arriving as part of their 5* debut mixtape Fall Back, the track continues a run that has seen the band feature on the cover of Dork (hurray), appear at SXSW, London and The Great Escape, and support Olivia Rodrigo, sombr, Wallows and Royel Otis. Florence Road play Ireland Music Week in Dublin this October before playing shows in New York, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney.
Ellur – The Wheel
Ellur‘s jangly, infectious new single The Wheel highlights how, as an artist, when you are creating you have to navigate and expose the deepest and darkest of personal truths in order to get the point across to the audience. Ellur stated: “I was fed up with scraping the emotional barrel for a song with intense meaning; Jack Cochrane (The Snuts) and Scotty Anderson helped me turn that into a song about making do with what you have. I was a part-time cleaner, living at my Mum’s and trying to make it as a rockstar. I have a lot to be grateful for and I wanted to acknowledge that. Sometimes you’ve gotta fake it ‘til you make it ‘cause you’ve got it better than some.”
Hether – Falling For The Feeling
Hether (aka Paul Castelluzzo) recently dropped the single Falling For The Feeling and it’s sun-drenched, pitched-up R&B paying homage to the distinct haze of 1960s jazz legends. A relaxed beat and hazy vocals usher us into something that feels like a mildly hallucinogenic daydream. As his own writer, producer, engineer and sound mixer, it’s a sonic world that’s entirely his own, with the pluck of guitars echoing the earthy and psychedelic tones of generations past. Before being known as the coolest man in music, Hether grew up playing bars with local jazz greats like Curtis Taylor. “I was in a stuffy garage for 3 years making new music,” Hether shares on Instagram of his latest track. “Here’s the tip of the iceberg.”
Besphrenz – kozy
Emerging between Philadelphia and Nashville, indie-pop trio Besphrenz flex their muscles to the funk of double release kozy and heart attack. The trio find the thrill in lo-fi, nostalgic, and playful song craft and their debut album bert is set for release later this year. Somewhere between shoegaze-inflected R&B and all and out indie-pop, Besphrenz forward upbeat guitar-lines and 50’s esque harmonised chants. Despite its sound that harkens back to summer memories of years gone by, the music remains entirely contemporary in its crafting with kozy toying with tempo changes.
jasmine.4.t – I Can’t Believe I Did This Without You
Jasmine.4.t has shared the evocative new single I Can’t Believe I Did This Without You, which will feature on the deluxe edition of the Manchester singer-songwriter’s debut album You Are The Morning, arriving tomorrow via Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records. Jasmine.4.t. states: “This deluxe version of my record is dedicated to political prisoner Yulia Trot aka YBT … She is one of the Filton 24, arrestees alleged to be connected with a group of actionists entering the UK headquarters of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit systems in August 2024, where £1m worth of damage was said to be caused.”
GIFTHORSE – Please Love Me
With Blondie-esque backing and a vocal style reminiscent of Harriett Wheeler from early 90s band The Sundays, this dream pop gem from fresh out the blocks North London duo GIFTHORSE is inspired by an excellent pedigree of bands & influences giving it immediate appeal to fresh ears. Lyrically laying their vulnerability out for all to see on Please Love Me – did you see what they did there ed… both its pop sensibility and production sound are well evolved on this impressive debut offering. With early support from BBC London’s Gary Crowley & Radio X’s new music guru John Kennedy, we look forward to hearing more from this accomplishing pairing going forward – nice one guys.
Patrick Watson, Martha Wainwright – House on Fire
Singer-songwriter, film composer and pianist Patrick Watson has released the track House on Fire, a collaboration with the wonderful singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright. Written by Watson during a period where he lost his ability to sing – and by Wainwright, the track features his voice intertwined with Wainwright’s in the duet : ‘I’ll be wrong / you’ll be right / I don’t mind / I just want to make it right’. The track also appears on Watson’s forthcoming album UH OH, available September 26 via Secret City Records. Backed by a rousing string arrangement, the duo’s soaring interlocked harmonies highlight the emotional tension of the track, with Wainwright’s powerful multi-octave voice perfectly contrasting Watson’s sensitive tenor.
Blood Orange – Mind Loaded (ft. Caroline Polachek, Lorde, Mustafa)
This incredible lineup of artists has come together on a new track called Mind Loaded. Blood Orange is the main creative force here, and as always, he finds inventive ways to bring collaborators into his world. The track is full of intricate sections that shift and flow naturally. It’s as if the song doesn’t care whether or not you’re listening. It simply exists for itself. Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes) has just released the album Essex Honey, a soundtrack created from a dreamscape of his journey working through grief. It is also an album about growing up in Essex (outside London) and the way music has inspired, healed, and interwoven itself through Hynes’ life.
Good Neighbours – People Need People
Alt-pop duo Good Neighbours have dropped uplifting anthem People Need People, taken from their upcoming debut album Blue Sky Mentality. They state: “The title is everything the track is about. When we started this band, we were in and out of jobs and struggling with staying afloat. Luckily, we had an amazing group of mates around us who we’ve seen laugh and cry when the going gets tough. The song should be an arm around the ones you love.” The duo’s biggest UK & Ireland tour to date is set for February 2026, with shows across the UK and Ireland. The album is about “finding light, friendship and a sense of escapism wherever you are.”
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