Sorting through the week’s new singles and songs that have surfaced online over the last seven days, Jamie Skey (@jamie_skey) presents five songs you need to hear this week…
Hard-edged, anthemic rock is as much a part of the Scottish landscape as barren uplands, rural lowlands and the odd loch. Slackerpop trio The Xcerts had always seemed to be destined for everlasting toil on the toilet circuit, but armed with dam-busting anthems like like Shaking In The Water, which could fellow Scotsmen Biffy Clyro a run for top dogs north of the border, the band appear to be teetering on the brink of arena-sized success.
Toronto-based retro rockers Zeus clearly made their latest video for Straight Through The Light on a shoestring budget, with the song being played on a battered tape deck and filmed via a camera phone. Despite its lo-fi quality, the song itself is rich with an The Eagles-like warmth, messages of hope and peace and delicious guitar hooks.
As they ready themselves to drop their forthcoming third album, Conversationalist, Canada’s In-Flight Safety drop the soaring Animals, which, with its shimmering guitars and sky-scraping chorus, finds the band flying in formation with indie types like The Walkmen, DIIV and Wild Nothing.
Although enchanting singer-songwriter Laurel is barely out of college, she’s already signed a deal with Turn First Records (home to rapper Iggy Azalea) off the back of her first demo. The singer’s cinematic dreamscapes have been going down a storm at this summer’s festivals, including a haunting set at recent family friendly festival Camp Bestival. Now she’s releasing single Shells, an ocean-spray licked collision of folksy emoting and glassy, electronic grooves.
Fuzz-obsessed duo Table Scraps are releasing their debut single this month in the The Stooges-shaped racket of Bug, which very much justifies the intense hype that has led to support slots with fellow rising hopes Fat White Family and Amazing Snakeheads.
