The Ninth Wave ‘Bitumen’
After a four-year hiatus, The Ninth Wave are back with new music. New single ‘Bitumen’ is the first release from the band since their acclaimed second album “Heavy Like a Headache” in 2022 and it marks a distinctive new era for the group. Newly signed to Mogwai’s legendary indie label Rock Action Records, they’ve re-emerged from the shadows with a renewed focus and energy. Shedding the synth layers, drum machines and recording precision of yesteryear, the music still has that dark, emotional intensity at its core – but this time, it’s more urgent and stripped back. It feels vital, sharp and immediate – capturing the electrifying energy of four people live in a room, with searing guitar parts, well-placed harmonies and yearning, hard-hitting choruses. They say it’s about “second-guessing someone’s feelings and being aware of the temporary nature of love when it’s founded on uncertainty.” What we do know is that it’s a very welcome return from one of Glasgow’s best bands – watch this space.
Bemz ‘DND’
Another artist making a welcome return this week, Bemz has shared the brilliant ‘DND’. The warm, sun-kissed track is about putting the phone on silent and shutting out the noise. With his conversational vocal flow set against a subtly infectious acoustic guitar line, it turns the everyday pressures of calls, notifications, work and social expectations into a bittersweet end-of-summer anthem. The song has been released through Happy Artist Records, the independent label founded by The Snuts’ Jack Cochrane and Callum Wilson alongside the band’s long-standing managers Callum Read and Adam Harris. The rapper and the indie outfit have already established a creative relationship, collaborating across remixes and other projects – so this feels like a natural step forward.
BEMZ says “Signing means a lot. To have people believe in you and your music so much that they’re willing to get behind it and give it the best chance is proper,” says BEMZ. “I’m grateful to everyone who’s been part of the journey so far.”
Ezra Collective ‘Jubilee Feeling’
Mercury Prize and BRIT Award-winning Ezra Collective have shared euphoric new single “Jubilee Feeling”, the third track to be unveiled from their forthcoming fourth studio album ‘Here Because of Hope’, now set for release on September 11 via Partisan Records. The new track represents the London movement of an album tracing the journey of Black music from West Africa, through the Caribbean and ultimately into Britain. Bringing together the musical traditions of UK jazz with the euphoric energy of 2010s Funky House, the track is a joyous celebration of the city and sounds that shaped Ezra Collective, built around an infectious, ever-expanding groove and a breathtaking piano performance from Joe Armon-Jones.
Speaking on the video, bandleader Femi Koleoso says “Something we love deeply in the EZ is the feeling of raving and partying like you’re listening to classic British electronic music, but hearing Bebop and Jazz language. That juxtaposition is so EZ, so UK Jazz, so precious. The video is meant to demonstrate that juxtaposition – the dress code and vibes being so early ‘00s, but the music being so new and fresh; how nights out can spiral into so many different things but end up being this feeling of unmatched joy, a Jubilee Feeling”.
With a huge UK tour in the diary for next year, catch them at Glasgow’s O2 Academy on 8th March and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on 10th March.
Friendly Fires ‘Lose All Your Friends’
Friendly Fires have returned as a duo, along with a new single ‘Lose All Your Friends’ on LAB Records. Marking their first new music since 2019’s acclaimed third album ‘Inflorescent’, the band have shifted back to their roots – garage recordings, more live drums, less polish, more human and raw – and you can hear it in this infectious track. An ode to ripping up the rulebook and starting afresh, it’s a slice of sun-kissed indie-dance hedonism, with a Happy Mondays-esque swagger to it. Commenting on their return, the band says: “Sometimes you have to lose everything to start again. Embrace the chaos. Take a chance. Don’t be afraid of change.”
The Temperance Movement ‘Always Been Love’
The Temperance Movement are back with a brand-new single ‘Always Been Love’, the second taste of their long-awaited forthcoming new studio album, New Promise Land Incorporated – out October 9th via Earache Records. Following the ‘Eat You Alive’, this latest tasck slows down the pace, but amps up the groove for a slice of infectious blues-rock – shining a light on those raw, gritty vocals and brilliant grooves.
Frontman Phil Campbell declares; “Always Been Love is a rock tune you can dance to. Bounce and groove in the verses, and power choruses. Love is the answer to all problems in life. Want to change the world? Start with your own self.”
Vanderlye ‘Dystopia Calling’
Glasgow’s Vanderlye have shared their second EP, Dystopia Calling, a darker four-track record exploring displacement, media narratives, relationships and loneliness. The EP follows ‘The Reckoning’ from last year, released in May 2025 – taking them down darker, heavier and more thoughtful territory, while retaining those big melodies and anthemic choruses of before. Partly self-recorded and completed with Jamie Holmes at Castle of Doom Studios, the EP opens with ‘Blackout Sky’, a hard-hitting response to the atrocities in Gaza, before exploring the insidious nature of media narratives and stigma on ‘Step Back’. They then turn their focus inwards on ‘One Way Train’, before the personal ‘There Must Be A Way Out’ is a brilliant exercise in tension building, shifting from restless verses into something full of urgency and energy – exploring relationships, dependency and those cycles that can be difficult to break. It’s a record that looks outward and inward in equal measure, and never flinches from either. Vanderlye tackle difficult subjects head on, and the music rises to meet them – full of melody, atmosphere, and real emotional weight.
They headline the Glad Café tonight to mark the EP’s release.
