FUTUREPROOF PICKS 25-04-24

Hello world,

Here’s your latest FP Picks update .. loads of great new music as always inc BluePrint, Villagers, John Grant & 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

BluePrint – Shake It

BluePrint’s new release Shake It has echoes of Wet Leg in remix mode and is surely gonna fire-up indie-disco nights across the land over the coming months. Structurally quite formulaic but strikingly individual in style, the infectious rhythm has hints of an early 80s drum machine vibe a la Linn Drum / DMX etc. A previous release made Pete Tong’s ‘Essential New Tune’ back in October, so these guys are definitely turning heads with their lo-fi grooves. We picked up on this one when Steve Lamacq spun it on his Tea Time Sessions show, but also Groove Armada, Camelphat & Jamie Jones are tuning in to their sound too. I guess it’s a cliche to say ‘simple is best’ but in this instance, that’s so true.

Sister – Feel It

As if plucked from a mid 70s Top Of the Pops show, this instantly catchy indie-pop number from up & coming East London duo Sister is bursting with lo-fi ear-candy throughout. A Bolan-esque vocal sets the scene in the verse before rich chord stabs in the chorus majestically elevate the arrangement, weaving their way amongst a vocal hook that I just cannot for the life of me get out my head. A simple well-trodden chord progression (which is no bad thing) on this timeless production makes for an elemental connection with the more ambivalent right side of my brain – and a perfect mix of influences make this a highly accessible slice of indie, that I’m sure will stir the mind of many a future fan. Best keep an eye on these guys, they’re going places.

BIG SPECIAL – BLACK DOG / WHITE HORSE

Birmingham’s BIG SPECIAL have dropped new single BLACK DOG / WHITE HORSE from their upcoming debut album POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES. The song delves into themes of fear, depression, and redemption. Vocalist Joe Hicklin explains: “BLACK DOG / WHITE HORSE is about fear, about rumination, intrusive thoughts and cycles of depression. It’s about trying to figure out how to reach out when feelings of guilt and shame take hold. It’s about recognising these things in others, noticing the lost and undervalued, and their increasing numbers.” A dark, contemplative tune with gripping vocals and great lyrics – loving this one!

Anna Erhard – Botanical Garden

Berlin based Anna Erhard has shared infectious, summery new single Botanical Garden and states: “I read this google review from a guy who complained about the bad parking situation in the middle of the Atlantic. I think that’s how I started writing the song and eventually this person who is incredibly judgmental and won’t be pleased by anything, not even by the flowers in the Botanical Garden, came to life.” Check out dates for Anna’s extensive tour through Europe and the UK from May until November 2024. Great quirky lyrics on this witty track – a catchy toe-tapper for sure!

Villagers – You Lucky One

Villagers have dropped melancholic new single You Lucky One from their forthcoming album That Golden Time, with a video that taps into morality and inner conflict. The band’s Conor O’Brien said, “The types of physical currency change throughout time, but the essential power relationships and bartering principles persevere throughout the cosmetic changes … The video, much like the song, is a complicated, messy affair full of hellish landscapes and internal demons. It exists in a world conquered by irrational beings and emotional, selfish creatures. Corruption of the soul and disingenuous motivation are the order of the day, so I thought it best to serve with a side plate of the macabre and sinister.” Great songwriting on this captivating, melodic track – another banger from Villagers.

Vampire Weekend – Mary Boone

Vampire Weekend have dropped a track from their album Only God Was Above Us about disgraced art dealer Mary Boone who went to prison for tax fraud! It’s actually more about a nostalgic reflection of a bygone era of New York City – the album delves into themes of generational change and memories of a different New York City captured in the album’s cover art, a photograph of a graffiti-covered subway car from 1988. The track features a sample of the drum loop from Soul II Soul’s Back to Life (However Do You Want Me). A press release promises that the album is “direct yet complex, showing the band at once at its grittiest, and also at its most beautiful and melodic.” We featured previous single Capricorn too and we’re loving what we’ve heard so far!

John Grant – The Child Catcher

Check out a dark and foreboding synth-based track from one of our fave songwriters, John Grant. “I’m sure many of you remember the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” John nods, to the iconic character. “Terrified me when I was a kid. Of course he’s a metaphor. Anyway, here’s The Child Catcher from my upcoming record The Art of The Lie, which is also a love letter to both Dead Can Dance and Vangelis, I suppose, two of my all-time favourites.” Of the album, he states: “This album is in part about the lies people espouse and the brokenness it breeds and how we are warped and deformed by these lies.” Another excellent cut from what bodes to be a banging album!

Willie J Healey – The Apple

Loving upbeat, funky new single The Apple from skilled indie artist Willie J Healey which portrays his newfound self-awareness. He states: “I wrote The Apple after feeling weird and self-aware. I was living in my head until I realised, man, life is short… so be yourself, get your cake and fu*king eat it!” The track effortlessly blends elements of ’70s funk and vintage soul into the mix, whilst tipping his hat towards influences such as Neil Young and Elvis Costello, resulting in a warm and engaging indie rock sound, with just that hint of folk about it. Great stuff as we’d expect from Willie J Healey.

Fontaines D.C. – Starburster

Fontaines D.C. are back with their experimental new single Starburster and it’s an anxiety busting belter. Inspired by a panic attack suffered by vocalist Grian Chatten in London’s St Pancras station, the track captures the shock of trying to grasp reality amidst all the chaos. As bassist Conor Deegan says of James Ford-produced upcoming album Romance: “We’ve always had this sense of idealism and romance. Each album gets further away from observing that through the lens of Ireland”. Now settled in London, the boys are searching for “where and what else there is to be romantic about.” Chatten says it’s a record driven by the idea of “falling in love at the end of the world” and “protecting that tiny flame”. “The bigger armageddon looms,” he adds in a statement, “the more precious it becomes”.

Frank Turner – Letters

Singer-songwriter Frank Turner has dropped infectious single Letters from his upcoming, highly-awaited album Undefeated. “Letters is a song that I’ve been working on for a long time,” he reveals. “In some ways, I’ve been writing it since a genuine pen-friendship of mine dried up when I was a kid, when the mixtapes stopped coming through the post. It’s a song about communication and its breakdown, about nostalgia for teenage romance, and about how reassessing those things as an adult can be the start of a healing process.” Entirely written by himself, this is the first album that he produced himself, recorded in the home studio and we cannot wait!