Hello world,
Here’s your latest FP Picks update including banging trx fm Idlewild, Gurriers, Alabama Shakes & 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
Idlewild – Like I Had Before
Scottish alt-rock outfit Idlewild have dropped melodic anthem Like I Had Before, taken from their upcoming self-titled album. Roddy from the band states: “Songs can transmit what they have received with a peculiar force, a force which drives communication deep into the listeners mind. Sometimes I’m asked – which one of your albums is your favourite? This one, or the next one is what I reply.” Idlewild were a teenage punk band, slinging buzzsaw riffs and barbed refrains, before becoming one of the most compelling mainstream rock groups of their generation. This new album interrogates formative sounds with the vigour and curiosity of kids geeking out over Fugazi and R.E.M. while simultaneously exploring texture and harmony through the sort of road-worn chemistry that you can’t fake.
GANS – NIGHTWALKING
Birmingham’s alt-rock duo GANS are back with their new single NIGHTWALKING, taken from the upcoming debut album GOOD FOR THE SOUL. The track continues the genre-defying pairing’s journey across the realms of rock, post-punk and electronic music. By pursuing a markedly different sonic direction to the abrasive punk sound of their earlier singles, the track consolidates the band’s place as firmly beyond the Royal Blood-shaped mould of heavy 2-man rock acts. Brooding and intense, the track follows vocalist and drummer, Euan Woodman’s experience with the shadowy sides of love, stating “Love does not always have to be clean and pure – it’s not that simple and one-dimensional. It can be dark and cruel. It can be late night f******.”
shame – Spartak
shame’s upcoming album Cutthroat is shaping up to be pretty eclectic. The UK band announced the record with its danceable, new wave title track, and then went for rowdy rockabilly on the follow-up single Quiet Life. On new single Spartak, they take an Americana/country-rock turn. Guitarist Sean Coyle-Smith says the track came about because he “was basically trying to write a Wilco song.” He states: “I guess this disdain towards cliques comes from how shit I was made to feel by the cool kids growing up. I was a chubby teenager who liked the wrong type of music and wore the wrong type of clothes. It’s just another time I’d like to say fuck you to those people, and to anyone who makes someone feel shitty for not fitting in.”
Gurriers – Erasure
Dublin’s Gurriers have shared a raucous new single. “Erasure is a chaotic mash of genres, an unwavering cry into the void in the face of imperialism and tyranny,” explained frontman Dan Hoff of the blistering and distorted new tune. Recorded with returning collaborator Alex Greaves and mixed by Pelle Gunnerfeldt, the track arrives alongside a video directed by Adam Hart, set within the offices of a shadowy security agency. With its wall of death guitars and shout along lyricism, Erasure is a well-received headache. A call to arms, its urgent vocal delivery makes for a statement track. It is a current of an unexpected plethora of sound and feeling coming together to form an unlikely post-punk baby.
Yoshika Colwell – In Bloom
A while back, singer-songwriter Yoshika Colwell shared the single In Bloom, taken from debut album On The Wing. The track is described by Colwell as “the most hopeful song on the album,” a sentiment beautifully captured in its accompanying video directed by Tilly Wace, featuring Colwell’s own family. The track, a “bouncy, upbeat kind of country song,” explores the intriguing concept of “sunny nihilism.” Colwell explains, “It’s about acknowledging that everything ends, but trying to find the beauty and freedom in that. It’s a song about inevitable death and trying to enjoy your life & the people you love whilst it’s all happening.” The album is a deeply personal exploration, born from a decade of profound life shifts for Colwell, including a move, lockdown, and a traumatic break-up.
Life Aquatic Band – Summer Rain
Everything’s a party for dance-punk five-piece Life Aquatic Band and that’s the ethos of their latest single Summer Rain, taken from the upcoming EP Stuck in the Mud. It’s a shimmering slice of electro-punk that distils the band’s high-octane live energy into something lean, dark and instantly danceable. Written by synth/vocalist Jazmine Kelly while cycling through torrential rain in Japan, the song pulses with urgency – crystalline synths and throbbing beats mirroring the exhilaration and unease of the storm. Fans of LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and Fat Dog will find plenty to love here, but the track also pushes Life Aquatic Band into their own lane, balancing no-wave grit with electroclash sheen.
Cate Le Bon – About Time
Cate Le Bon has shared haunting new single About Time, taken from the upcoming album Michelangelo Dying and it’s built on colliding reverb-filled guitars and a synth that sounds like a soft alarm. The track explores the viscerality of life, love, and human connection — what it means to hold, to be held, and to stand exquisitely, profoundly alone. As Cate puts it: “No revelations. No conclusions. There is no reason. There is repetition and chaos.” In recent years Cate has become a sought-after producer, working with Wilco, Horsegirl, Devendra Banhart and St. Vincent and the production of Michelangelo Dying was shared with collaborator Samur Khouja.
Alabama Shakes – Another Life
American rock band Alabama Shakes have dropped their new single Another Life. An ode to old friendships and flames, the end and the beginning of new relationships, frontwoman Brittany Howard lays bare her soul with a shiver-inducing vocal performance over tempered, southern rock production. Brittany Howard states: “When I wrote Another Life, I was thinking about all the lives we carry. The ones we’re living right now, the ones that slipped away because of different choices, the what ifs, the what wasn’t meant to be, the goodbyes, and the chance encounters that feel divine. This song is about those threads and how they stretch across time and space, connecting every version of who we are. It’s about letting them come together, letting them harmonize, and realizing that goodbye isn’t really goodbye.”
Steve Lacy – Nice Shoes
In an interview with Rolling Stone’s Jeff Ihaza, Grammy-winning artist, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Steve Lacy called his energetic single Nice Shoes “a ‘trailer’ for this new moment in his career.” Elsewhere in the interview, he discussed a forthcoming new album called Oh Yeah? “This one has taken a lot of time and thought,” he told Ihaza of the self-produced project. “I keep using the word ‘design.’ It feels like fully designing a new language for myself.” The track’s high energy is consistent for most of its runtime, keeping the listener entranced with its bouncy rhythms and unfiltered lyrics. Suddenly, the production slows down and melts into a silky, soulful section.
Gorillaz – The Happy Dictator (ft. Sparks)
Marking two years since the release of their 2023 number one album Cracker Island, digital supergroup Gorillaz are back with their new single The Happy Dictator – a ‘feel good’ tune featuring a collaboration with American pop duo Sparks. Damon Albarn told NME the track “touches that sweet spot between making something that’s fun and also got some social, political clout to it.” Once again, Gorillaz have managed to take a serious matter, make a statement, and keep it an enjoyable experience. Reportedly, the song is inspired by a recent trip to Turkmenistan, where ruling dictator Serdar Berdimuhamedow would tamper with news stories to keep his citizens appeased- hence the persistent backing vocals of “oh what a happy land we live in” sung by collaborators Sparks.
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