Stine Bramsen – Prototypical
Danish band Alphabeat were either perfect pop music or like a bunch of kids TV presenters in a band depending on your point of view. Lead singer Stine Bramsen is striking out on her own and ‘Prototypical’, her ultra-melodic foot-stomping hand-clapping new single is a fine slice of pure pop without the potentially annoying bits.
Childbirth – I Only F**ked You As A Joke
A shouty two minute garage-rock track from a Seattle band at first sounds like a novelty song based on a punchline written to go viral but considering the band are all-female and the song has the line “Oh, I hope I’m not pregnant,” the song is really a black comedy about making an infantile bad decision that could lead to real-life consequences. It’s throwaway fun but it has a deeper resonance.
Farao – The Hours
The Scandinavians continue to consume us whole. London-based Norwegian recorded her debut EP in Iceland and some of that iciness creeps in to Farao Jahnsen’s delicate supernatural folk.
