FUTUREPROOF PICKS 26-02-26

Hello world,

Here’s your latest FP Picks update with a host of killer fresh cuts fm Sorry, LIFE, Bel Cobain & 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

Witch Post – Worry Angel

Indie duo Witch Post have dropped their haunting single Worry Angel, taken from the upcoming EP Butterfly. The band state: “Worry Angel is a lucky keychain you can’t go anywhere without. It’s a python that curls around your neck and makes you into a bitch. It’s twisted superstition that guides your everyday. It’s a pixie taunting you every time you close your eyes. It’s crows that caw on your walk home. It’s a sense of being watched. It’s sweaty palms. It’s not real. We’re waiting on angels. It’s all real and sometimes it’s all just because we feel alone.” There are recurring dualities in their music (Beast / Butterfly; “Dusk” / “Dawn”), and a deepening of the surreal, folkloric nature of their storytelling which taps into an archaic wisdom we’ve lost touch with.

LIFE – The Dollywaggon

LIFE celebrate “new adventures and beginnings” on distinctive new single The Dollywagon, taken from their upcoming album Abstract/Natural. The striking first taste of the forthcoming record boasts swirling synths, rapid-fire drums and near stream-of-consciousness lines from frontman Mez Sanders-Green – who portrays a protagonist caught between escape and self-reckoning. The track was written while Sanders-Green was walking the 193-mile UK coast-to-coast route and he states: “I like to think it sounds like a pulpy Northern-based western – cryptic placards, farmers hanging dead moles on chicken wire, phallic mountains, pikes and ridges, Mother Earth always winning. The middle-eight feels like a salute to the new.”

Holly Head – No Country Is An Island

Manchester’s Holly Head have accrued a cult following, now releasing their latest single No Country is an Island ahead of their opening tour for Westside Cowboy. The intro pushes and pulls, before jumping into a crash of guitars led by a steady bassline – the chorus clashes as it ponders on the uselessness of hate and prejudice. Frontman Joe shares that “the song is a reaction to the rise of anti-migrant and refugee views in England where news and debate are framed to divide and conquer. We seem to have come to this point through the underfunding of public services and higher living costs leaving people hanging on for their lives. We’re experiencing an acute ‘every person for themselves’ culture through media and political messaging that’s been present longer than all of us”.

The Itch – Aux Romanticiser

Luton’s dance-punks The Itch announce their debut album It’s The Hope That Kills You with transformative new single Aux Romanticiser. The track opens with a sample of viral phenomenon ‘Subway Takes’, an Instagram account that invites people riding the subway to share rogue opinions; three guys lambast the stream of wannabe DJs engulfing New York. As one of them shyly admits that they themselves have ordered a DJ deck, they’re drowned out by glitchy synths. It’s a banging slice of alternative pop from a band that deal equally with things both silly and thrilling.

Bel Cobain – Am I Dumb

Hackney vocalist Bel Cobain is back with a sincere new single and states: “Am I Dumb is about questioning your own sanity. Inside a chaotic dynamic, there’s barely any time to stop and really evaluate what’s happening or make clear decisions. Over time, blatant disrespect begins to blur into grey vagueness, and everything starts to lose its shape, leaving me with one question: am I dumb for that? It’s one of the angrier tracks I’ve written, documenting the real madness of grief (or impending grief) in certain moments. It’s not the prettiest, but it’s brutally honest and that’s what’s most important for me in my art.” Jagged edges see Bel chipping away the smooth edges of her sound to reveal the raw emotions underneath.

Nxdia – Cool

Cairo-born Manchester-raised Nxdia embraces self-discovery and the exploration of desire on new single Cool and states: “I’m in my hoe era and I wanna celebrate that! Seeing what works, what feels good and what doesn’t is a fun process. I hate this whole aversion to casual sex, how about we just enjoy the moment rather than overthinking stuff – everything is temporary anyway!” The track defies rules, blending punk-inspired defiance with melodies that demand a dance floor. By effortlessly weaving English and Arabic lyrics, Nxdia creates a global soundscape that feels both deeply personal and universally liberating. Nxdia is set to support Cat Burns on a UK tour in April.

Genesis Owusu – STAMPEDE

Genesis Owusu has shared dynamic new single STAMPEDE, accompanied by a vibrant music video filmed on location in Accra, Ghana. “There are people who have expansive amounts of money, who are intentionally acting to separate us so they can keep getting richer at the expense of general human wellbeing,” he notes, rallying listeners to consider the power of standing together against inhumanity. “We’re all under that same thumb and we need to realise that.” Of filming the video in Ghana, the rap-punk disruptor (who hails from Canberra) has explained that “this whole project is about humanity and community, not just in Australia, where I live, but globally.”

Temples – Jet Stream Heart

Temples have shared hypnotic new single Jet Stream Heart, taken from their upcoming album BLISS. “I think it’s easy to get stuck in this creative loop with each record you make, and it felt like coming together to create BLISS completely broke the cycle,” shares the band’s bassist, Tom Walmsley. “We had time to really reflect on ourselves, rebuild and reconnect with why we want to make music. BLISS feels like a line in the sand; it’s us recommitting to ourselves not just to being a band, but how we want to exist as one going forward.” Of the single, he states: “It felt like we were giving ourselves permission to be more physical with everything—with heavier sounds and textures—and Jet Stream Heart was a forerunner in the whole process … It’s guitars, samples, and beats all pulsing together as this one living creature.”

MWSOG – Llef Hir

MWSOG are back with Llef Hir (The Long Cry) which channels ancestral memory through a darkly psychedelic folk lens, sounding a long-held cry for land, language, and survival. Llef Hir reflects on a painful chapter in Welsh history and the lasting impact of cultural loss. The song looks back to periods when speaking Welsh was actively discouraged, including the era surrounding the Treachery of the Blue Books, when children were punished for using their mother tongue. Drummer Luke Huw Llewellyn said: “Llef Hir is a fiery ballad of rage and mourning. It ruminates on the deep wound carried by the Welsh nation. It is why Welsh entered a prolonged decline – and why the artwork for Llef Hir is bathed in blue. The colour serves both as an act of remembrance and an emblem of defiance: a tribute to our ancient Celtic ancestors, who once painted themselves in woad blue before battle.”