WITH festival lineups and tour announcements coming in thick and fast, 2019 is already shaping up to be another exciting year for music fans. Gearing themselves up for the year ahead, this week has seen another onslaught of new tunes from a mixture of established names and emerging artists. Featuring the likes of Soccer Mommy, LUCIA, Sports Team and Billie Eilish, check out some of our top picks below.

LUCIA ‘Blueheart’ 

A hugely ambitious and emphatic follow-up to last year’s acclaimed Cheap Talk EP, today marks the arrival of ‘Blueheart’; a track that very definitively lays down a marker for the year ahead.  More of a slow burner than previous outings, it sees the quartet explore a different dynamic; one that finds its strength in emotional depth and brooding cinematics. Like an amped up Beach House, ‘Blueheart’ is the dark cousin of ‘Cheap Talk; one that replaces the fiery defiance of the latter for smouldering melancholy.

And while Lucia’s emotive delivery is complemented wonderfully by airy backing vocals as she depicts a tale of raw heartbreak, the track still swells with arena-sized ambition thanks to its widescreen production. Ignited by a rousing guitar solo and hard-hitting rhythms, the band have quite frankly never sounded so massive.

Soccer Mommy ‘Be Seeing You’

With a year of headline shows, support shows and festival slots ahead of her, Soccer Mommy (aka Sophie Allison) shared a pair of rarities this week – a demo of ‘Clean’ track ‘Blossom’ and ‘Be Seeing You’, a track only previously available physically as a b-side. Described by Allison herself as an “old favourite”, the latter is full of those deeply affecting melodies and emotional truths that we’ve come to know and love from the singer-songwriter. Brimming with a homemade charm thanks to her lo-fi production, she details the pains of young adulthood over breezy guitars and subtle drums.

Theophilus London ft Tame Impala ‘Whiplash’

After first emerging in 2016 when a recording of a live performance appeared online, Theophilus London and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker have finally unveiled the full studio version of ‘Whiplash’ and it’s every bit as impressive as we’d hoped in its fully realised form. Backed by Parker’s distinctively groovy production, the track is our latest insight into his enduring love affair with hip-hop and the results are incredible.

Interpol ‘Fine Mess’

With a number of massive live dates lined up throughout 2019, Interpol have dropped a surprise new track ‘Fine Mess’. Following in the vein of last year’s acclaimed LP Marauder, the single is a boisterous, raucous take on their dark post-punk sound; one punctuated by hard-hitting drums and urgent guitars as frontman Paul Banks depicts a carefree duo whose love affair is doomed by their own dreams and appetites.

FEET ‘English Weather’

After generating a significant buzz with the release of ‘Petty Thieving’ and ‘Backseat Driver’, Coventry newcomers FEET have injected their trademark jovial charm into latest single ‘English Weather’.  A mischievous, eye-rolling take on Britain’s gloomy climes and our unerring optimism, the catchy track is scattered with jangly guitars, funky riffs and laid-back swagger.

Sports Team ‘M5’

Fast-rising outfit Sports Team have made it their raison d’être to pick apart the mundanities of everyday British life with gusto, bravado and a lot of humour. Their latest instalment is an ode to life on the open road, in particular the M5 and its many service stops; and fans will be pleased to know it’s another brilliantly witty track that comes armed with another ridiculously catchy chorus.

Trudy & the Romance ‘The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen’

Swooning romance meets cinematic fantasy on ‘The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen’; the latest single from Liverpudlian trio Trudy & the Romance. Set to feature on their upcoming debut LP Sandman, the track is the first thing we’ve heard from the band since 2017’s Junkyard Jazz EP and it finds them channelling their vintage pop influences with more ambition and grandiosity than ever before. Crafted in their own words “like a blockbuster, with characters and a story”, their fictitious world is brought to life by cinematic strings, a flourish of brass, 50s-style rhythms and wonderful question and answer vocals; Olly Taylor’s gravelly, tremulous vocal brilliantly complemented by the backing choir. It’s a dazzling return that will sweep you off your feet.

Billie Eilish  ‘Bury A Friend’

Described as “the most talked-about teen on the planet” and on the brink of megastardom, Billie Eilish has shared details of her debut album aswell as a minimalistic new track called ‘bury a friend’. An intriguing yet fitting progression from recent singles ‘You Should See Me In A Crown’ and ‘Lovely’, the track is laced with dark, creepy vibes; driven by a rumbling, pulsing beat and drowned in vocal effects. It’s an inquisitive, frustrated and introspective take from an artist who operates on entirely her own terms; one that challenges her doubters aswell as embodying the many uncertainties that plague her generation.

Haiku Hands ‘Dare You Not to Dance’ 

Sometimes a song drops onto your radar that leaves you bewildered and enthralled in equal measure. Hailing from Australia, Haiku Hands have been building a reputation for their hectic, colourful, frankly bizarre sound that brings together punchy hooks, eclectic production and club-ready drops. Their latest release does exactly what it title suggests across four crazy minutes. Lulling you into a false sense of security with staccato strings and delicate harmonies, it doesn’t take long for the song to launch into a mammoth sensory-overloading dancehall number.

Demob Happy ‘Less is More’

Following the release of their Holy Doom LP last year, Demob Happy have wasted no time in progressing and have dropped the boot-stomping ‘Less is More’. Refusing to adhere to their own advice, the Brighton trio instead throw themselves into a rollicking sonic assault; one fuelled by huge dirty riffs and psychedelic flexes. It’s purposefully ostentatious, instantly addictive and absolutely massive.

Black Midi ‘Speedway’

After months of buzz-building shows and the release of their explosive Dan Carey-produced debut single ‘bmbmbm’, the enigmatic Black Midi have unveiled a new EP called ‘Speedway’ which features a title track of a single along with a number of remixes. Surrounded by mystery and unavoidable hype, the band have only broken cover a few times to reveal their unnerving blend of post-punk, noise and electronic and hardcore and this latest excerpt only serves to reinforce this beguiling reputation. A dark, creeping post-punk number, ‘Speedway’ begins in a restrained manner before taking off with frenetic rhythms that become increasingly more threatening as the lead vocal depicts a series of unappealing images. Like an uncoiling snake, the instrumentation becomes increasingly more detailed as we are plunged into their black, caustic yet subtly addictive world.