Welcome to the first single round-up of 2023. We thank you for your continued support throughout 2022 and look forward to the next year of music discovery. The tunes on this week’s list aren’t all as new as usual, as we missed a few over the festive period, but they’re all quality.
So, starting as we mean to go on, we’ll start with 2023’s first Single Of The Week. This week it comes from the fast-growing London-based band, The Velvet Hands with ‘Over It Now’. With a core sound that slots into the current indie scene, and a storytelling ability reminiscent of Pavement and Do Nothing, the track hammers home the band’s relevance in the modern landscape. Laboured vocals deliver the song’s anti-capitalist theme with a blasé rock ’n’ roll attitude, while a simplistic guitar riff ensures the track’s infectiousness. The track also provides a taste of the band’s new album ‘Sucker Punch’, which arrives in February.
Next up is the new tune from The Outcharms. It’s been over a year since the Doncaster foursome’s last release, and the new tune ‘Life Gets In The Way’ looks to pick up where they left off. Featuring a powerful punch with pop sensibilities, the tune looks forward to a brighter future with jangly rhythms. Expect to hear this one on stages this summer…moving on and next is this week’s EP, which comes from New Town. They’re a band OSM readers will have heard of before after we featured the EP’s singles. New tracks ‘The River’ and the title track ‘Lost in the City’ are new additions and cement the band’s indie rock sound. Anthemic choruses help to form the tracks’ focal points and give them an uplifting, grandiose identity... looking to our next tune now and it comes from The Publics. Also released towards the end of 2022, the new tune ‘Young Hearts’ is inspired by an unsuccessful date and combines a 2000s powerhouse indie sound with bright and snappy vocals to create an infectious and danceable tune…next on this week’s playlist is the new tune from Motorcycle Display Team. Their new single, ‘The Chain Links’ kicks off the band’s 2023 with joyous and bright tones. Pop influences form the core of the tune, which sees subtle guitars developing into expansive soft rock choruses punctuated with Santana-inspired guitar lines…Crux are up next with their new song, ‘Save Me’. The track centres around inaction, and throws shade at those who choose to not help others in need. Such themes are framed by ethereal and misty sounds that evoke prog-rock, complete with organ chords, haunting harmonies, and delicate guitar arpeggios…this next one isn’t so new, but we felt we couldn’t leave it out. It comes from the electronic post-rock band, Ritual Cloak. The duo returned with a new single, named ‘Shell’ in November. Ghostly piano chords sit beneath soft vocals until the song drifts into a mystifying post-rock soundscape. Centring around the concept of an unfinished dream, the song’s sonic consistency suits its dreamlike quality…finally, this week is the new track from the New York-based JW Francis. His jangly new tune, named ‘Going Home To A Party’ is as charming as it is infectious. Clean guitars and driven drums give the tune a funky pushed rhythm, while keyboards add further inflexions of pop-infused glimmer. Chanted lyrics complete the track’s feel-good vibe.