Lucia & The Best Boys ‘Picking Petals’
Three years on from her debut, Burning Castles, Lucia and the Best Boys return today with their second album, Picking Petals. It takes the strongest elements of that first record and blows them up into something bigger, more widescreen – while somehow feeling more personal at the same time.
The band recorded in the Scottish highlands, and that sense of place bleeds into the writing itself. Bagpipes, fiddles and harp weave through synths, gritty guitars and hard-hitting drums, so the landscape isn’t just a backdrop – it’s woven into the sound. That lush, eighties-inspired palette from the debut is still very much present, with many highlights including the fist-pumping opener “Back Inside My Heart,” the Lauren Mayberry-assisted “Lonely Girl,” the gloomy, atmospheric “Wolf Cry,” the rousing title track, and the gorgeous baroque pop of “Big Romance,” featuring The Last Dinner Party’s Abigail Morris.
At the heart of it all are Lucia’s vocals – delicate yet powerful, soaring but searing, holding the whole record together even as the sound swells around her. Sonically, it’s huge, and that scale suits the album’s resilient core, which digs into acceptance, home, complicated relationships and female solidarity. It’s another marker in Lucia’s constantly shape-shifting musical journey, and one that will sound right at home on the Barrowlands stage when she headlines there on 23rd October.
redolent ‘ok wow’
Edinburgh SAY Award winners redolent are back with a new single called ‘ok wow’ and a feature-length documentary charting their journey. The band’s story has been one based on sheer graft and determination, working hard to keep the band afloat before signing with Columbia Records, eventually parting ways with the label, and then, completely independently, releasing their last project “Dinny Greet”, which went on to win the Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2024. This new track ushers in a new chapter but it’s very redolent – pairing vulnerable lyrics with an emotive, electronic-indebted backdrop. They said: ok wow’ is about going too far in a scrap with someone and being sat alone in silence with your wrongness in the aftermath”.
YES AND MAYBE ‘Train to Nowhere’
Sottish-French indie duo YES AND MAYBE have shared their debut album, Train To Nowhere. The pair met years ago while working on other people’s songs, stayed friends, and then – without ever formally deciding to start a band – wrote eight tracks in two weeks, trading ideas back and forth over WhatsApp. The album was finished remotely and produced across borders, and that long-distance, almost accidental origin shows in the songwriting itself: there’s an instinctive quality to it and innate music chemistry at the heart of it.
That songwriting nous is what elevates Train To Nowhere beyond pastiche. The duo cite Franz Ferdinand, Phoenix and the early 2000s indie scene as touchstones, and there’s no mistaking the influence – all sticky floors and indie sleaze, all angular guitars and knowing hooks. But rather than simply replicating that era, they’ve rebuilt it with a sharper emotional core. Distorted vocals and upbeat choruses collide with vulnerable lyrics, exploring modern disillusionment and anxiety without ever losing their pop instincts. It’s a record that knows its way around a hook – showing that beyond their DIY origin story is real craft.
Tanzana ‘Without a Sound’
Tanzana have shared details of their debut EP, ‘Etched In’, out 9th October, alongside a new single called ‘Without A Sound’. It follows ‘Covet” and ‘Pulse, Pose, Position’, and showcases a much heavier sound – dramatically shifting from a melodic, hypnotic opening to thunderous choruses. Led by Freya Talbot’s enigmatic vocal, she explains: “‘Without A Sound’ deals with the connection to the art you make and the frustration caused when pushing yourself to your limit. Ultimately knowing it’s the one thing that keeps you going.”
walt disco ‘lies’
After making a thrilling return with ‘Coup de foudre’, they’ve now shared ‘Lies’ and it encapsulates their upcoming third album perfectly. Complete with twinkling guitars, soaring choruses and deeply personal lyrics, it finds Jocelyn depicting her struggles with self-worth in music and her identity. And while it’s imbued with a sense of yearning and nostalgia, it has fierce ambition and raw honesty at its heart. Shaping up to be some of their most empowering material to date, it’s said to explore themes of gender dysphoria, self-doubt and an unpredictable music industry. Newly signed to EMI North, the new album arrives on 2nd October.
Curiosity Shop ‘Wandering Arrow’
After sharing the brilliant ‘Crows’, Curiosity Shop have shared a new song ‘Wandering Arrow’ – with both songs set to feature on their debut EP ‘Bound For The Sky’, out on 25th September. Opening with intricate finger-picked guitars, the track settles into a rustling groove with delicate vocals, gorgeous harmonies and bustling choruses. The rich instrumentation is imbued with a sense of nostalgia and warmth from the off, perfectly encapsulating everything we love about the outfit.
Speaking about the song, Ruaridh Wallace says: “When writing ‘Wandering Arrow’, I wasn’t in a very focused place. I was drinking all the time, a lot of things were up in the air but I was still adamant that I would become a real musician, though I wasn’t really finishing many songs. ‘Wandering Arrow’ was one I finished. The first verses are an ode to the journey, its ups and downs, doing what you want, and not losing hope whilst simultaneously walking directly into the wind (words I needed at the time). The lyrics were about me, someone yet to find their feet but somehow always landing on them.”
Alcatraz ‘Messiah’
Glasgow fast-risers Alcatraz shared their third single a couple of weeks ago called ‘Messiah’, and it finds them taking another step forward. Sonically, the band return to that dark, brooding alt-rock sound of previous singles ‘Nowhere Man’ and ‘You Make Me Bleed’, but this feels punchier and more streamlined. Working with Gianluca Bernacchi and Blair Crichton, the drums are strong, the electric guitars are forceful and the chorus kicks everything up a notch. And they’re unafraid to play with tempo, tension and traditional structures, pushing the parameters of their songwriting into exciting new territories while building to a huge, chaotic, pulse-quickening finale.
