2023!
The first week of the new year sees a slow start for delectable single releases as artists and collectives alike set preparations – and anticipations – for albums in 2023.
A healthy line-up from hardcore rock to classic punk, settling into folk indie. Grab your notepad and find your new favourite artist in this weeks’ line-up.
Iggy Pop: Kicking things off, we start with an artist all too familiar with fanatic cult success. Chartered as one of the most dynamic performers of all time, Iggy Pop is a staple to both ’70s punk and ’90s grunge, leading the pack through the murky waters from calamity to acclaim. From ’77s Lust For Life to Josh Homme’s collab with Post Pop Depression in 2016, Iggy brings in the new year with an energising powerhouse of loud and lairy – two adjectives the mastodon has been acquainted for over two decades. Every bit as boisterous as angsty punk as it is iconic to the essence of Iggy Pop. Untempered by the modernised audiences or pandering to trends, it is illustriously Iggy and kicks off the year in emphatic fashion. Get your best shoes, whack on Comments and walk like a badass.
Gabrielle Aplin: January 6th sees not only a turning tide for the new year, but sees the singer-songwriter re-blossomed: courtesy of an escapist haven in the countryside as she became one with nature. A luminescent pop-soul spring cleaning of Anyway and Good Enough brings Aplin into the forefront of January-longing.
The Murder Capital: Another day, another post-punk spirit hailing from Dublin. Joining an ever-growing roster of conscious curiosity into the world of alternative, The Murder Capital are a sprawling outfit destined for greatness. This year? This year, sees the group push themselves into ever braver sonic territories with their highly-anticipated follow-up Gigi’s Recovery, expected to drop in full on the 20th this month. When their stylised debut When I Have Fears was released in the backend of 2019 – before the world crumbled into turmoil – they knew they had to go larger. A reassuring anchor throughout, McGovern’s melodies are as bold as they are ambitious, as it drives a highly gloomy album, painted in cathartic paint, – industrial in places; but paints of colour all the same. Only Good Things was the first taster of new music from the group post-pandemic and brings a broader range of emotions, compared to the relatively dampened tact of When I Have Fears, which centres around the loss of a friend to suicide. Only Good Things brought about a temporal shift for the band of sorts, as they brought a decamp of gear and set up camp again. Capital’s second, Gigi’s Recovery is set to be released on 20th January via Human Season.
We Are Scientists: Enter the world of We Are Scientists. An inaugural synth-alternative pop medley of catchy melodies, high-octane guitar trills and booming bass-lines. The American rock duo have always had a following in the U.K. With their array of post-punk revival and part-indie rock with a glint of ’80s synth pop, they drew comparisons with the likes of Editors and Franz Ferdinand. Especially after Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt dropped in late ’05. Now after their contemporary efforts of Huffy in 2021, they are back with a declaration of a new album set to be released on the 20th Jan: Lobes. A world utterly unknowable among the many, it sparks ambiguity and assertive sci-fi concoctions, especially with the drives of synth waves used throughout their 4 tracks released so far. Today, we saw the release of Settled Accounts, an echoic indie-pop charmer with jangly guitars and a catchy chorus. What else do ya need?
Sleep Token: A new year also sees the bold return of the anoynmous metal rock collective of Sleep Token.Ripping through the very fabrics of speaker outlets with their obliteration of dark crunch, Chokehold and The Summoning are every bit classicToken in the blaring breakdowns to the angelic chorals, as their work teeters on the parameters of music and an ethereal soundscape of nightmares. With not much to go on – despite fanatic forums and band devotees – the album looks to be titled Take Me Back To Eden, with no release date this year announced as of yet.
Shmoo: Your painfully raw bedroom curator this week is Teddy, a San Francisco-based solo artist who often gets lost in his own introspective thoughts. With a stage name to fit the bill, Shmoo comes with the release of his second work, slow release. A gooey shoe-gaze temperament of someone.. *cough cough* “monging out”, it is the ultimate slow release of lo-fi chill. How fitting. Recording all the instruments alone, it is a fitting moment for the soul. Favourites are don’t cut your chest and i skip when i’m sad. Funnily enough, from bottom to top.
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mvm. 
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