WITH a steady stream of new releases appearing on bustling social media feeds and snippets of fresh, impassioned music catching your attention as you go about your day-to-day life, it can be virtually impossible to give every track or EP the attention that it rightfully deserves. In an attempt to alleviate this problem, we’ve once again thrown ourselves headlong into the world of the passing week’s emerging sounds in order to compile the very best for your listening pleasure.
HQFU
An artist that never fails to enthrall in both the studio and as a live performer, HQFU has been a firm favourite of Scotland’s tastemakers ever since the release of the intoxicating ‘Dust & Dirt ‘at the tail end of 2015. Clearly bouyed by a supreme sense of confidence and creativity over the past few months, the singer/producer otherwise known as Sarah J Stanley has signaled her arrival in 2017 with not one but two tracks. Continuing to diversify with every step up the proverbial ladder of the UK’s music scene, new offerings ‘Poison’ and ‘Sub Sub Bass’ are steeped in very different terrain yet are equally effective in achieving the desired effect. Whilst the former is more in line with the atmospheric and engulfing electronica that we’ve came to expect from her, the Amandah Wilkinson (Bossy Love) assisted ‘Sub Sub Bass’ is a delightfully sordid affair which incorporates a hip-hop influenced delivery alongside her consistently impressive vocals.
SHREDD
As refreshingly unrestrained and liberated as garage rock gets, there’s a sense of authenticity which seeps through the music of Glasgow’s Shredd. Striking a balance between between delicate harmonies and dissonance which harks back to the genre’s forebearers, the band’s debut EP Every Time We Meet I Want To Die can be summarised as a whirlwind of gripping guitar parts and reckless abandon. Among its standouts is the rugged ‘Hideout’, their debut release’s opening track and one which careers forward at a rate of knots before culminating in a hail of percussion and fuzz-laden carnage. Officially released this Saturday via Fuzzkill Records, the band are preparing celebrate their debut EP’s unveiling to the world with a show at the 13th Note alongside Home$lice and Black Cat Revue.
MIDDLE KIDS
Hot on the heels of inking a deal with the revered Domino Records, Australia’s Middle Kids are gearing up for a breakout year. A three piece filled with ingenuity and an acute sense of what separates them from the pack, new single ‘Never Start’ is the first taste of what’s to come from their upcoming EP and will garner them scores of new converts with its uninhibited dream-pop textures. Set to tour the length and breadth of the US in February and March, we can but hope that it’s not too long until they find themselves on our shores.
St Duke’s
Exhibiting an adventurous and expansive take on rock ‘n’ roll, it’s hard to imagine that anyone won’t be sitting up and taking notice of Glasgow’s St Duke’s upon encountering their new track ‘Easy Money.’ An examination of the corrupting influence of our incessantly money-driven society over a soundtrack of delectable punk rock, the utilization of duelling lead vocals is an inspired choice and one which emphasises the disparity in outlooks between the haves and have-nots of this world.
