Featuring new music from Y, Pearl2, Rosie Alena, medb, Johnny Sais Quoi and MIEN.

Our favourite new releases this week comprise the long-awaited debut single from Windmill regulars Y, a debut from Pearl2 (the first track from Slow Dance’s annual compilation), new music from Rosie Alena and medb, the return of MIEN and the launch of Johnny Sais Quoi, a new project formed out of the ashes of HoH favourites Speedboat.

Y – ‘Why’

The debut single from one of the Windmill scene’s most exciting bands of the moment, Y is a perfect introduction to the band’s idiosyncratic, ecstatic brilliance. A trilling sax riff initially puts one in mind of single letter contemporaries O. (and perhaps also BCNR’s ‘Opus’), but from there they jump in several different directions at once. Dance beats and bleeping synths spool forth over an irresistibly danceable rhythm that is broken only at intervals where the band join together to yell, “Why?” An original and incredibly well-rounded debut single, it is perhaps not surprising that the band comprise of several members who have cut their teeth in other projects, including Fat White Family, Meatraffle and Pregoblin. Satisfyingly, ‘Why’ is the first taste of Y’s debut EP ‘Y’, which has just been announced for release this April. (Lloyd Bolton)

Pearl2 – ‘Watered Down’

As punctual as ever during these gloom-laden January days, the ever-great Slow Dance Records have given us all an early January gift, with their annual Slow Dance compilation, showcasing some of the very best emerging acts around. With tracks coming out daily over the coming weeks, they kicked off on Monday with a debut release from Pearl2, the electro-charged single ‘Watered Down’. Featuring members of Hank and Moreish Idols, the first outing from the new London outfit sees them intertwine an acid-house influence reminiscent of A Guy Called Gerald with psychedelia and ethereal gothic-post-punk. It’s almost like Warpaint if they had formed during the Madchester-era. An absolute mega debut, for sure, and a reminder that Slow Dance’s beastly-feast of a compilation always stands amongst some of the most important of releases of the calendar year for new music fans. (Brad Sked)

Rosie Alena – ‘Everyman’

A single that has been a part of Rosie Alena’s breathtaking live sets for some time now, ‘Everyman’ from the South-London artist has at last been released via London label Plum Cut, the imprint spearheaded by producer Oli Barton-Wood (black midi, Porridge Radio, Ezra Collective and Los Bitchos). Rosie Alena’s folkier stylings take a backseat here, with jangly guitars making for a more country-pop affair, guided by Alena’s celestial, Hollywood-ready vocals. It’s another gem from one of Britain’s most underrated artists, who will be playing Morocco Bound Bookshop in London as a part of Independent Venue Week on the 31st January. (Brad Sked)

medb – ‘Junkie’

Bursting with the mixture of arrogance and vulnerability that lies at the heart of most of medb’s work, ‘Junkie’ is one of many standout moments on her new EP ‘Hercules’. Eerie synths whine along over a chugging rhythm, all a backdrop for medb’s indomitably pissed-off delivery. Vocals crunch as they burn the microphone at the song’s climax, but haunting BVs ground the track even here, perpetuating the cyclical contradiction outlined in the lyrics of two people “stagger[ing] back” to each other, year after year. The accusation that the subject is a “sinister bastard forever” has appropriately already been winningly reclaimed by the singer as her own Instagram bio.  (Lloyd Bolton)

Johnny Sais Quoi – ‘Love On Ice’

When much-loved brotherly duo (and Hard of Hearing favourites) Speedboat decided to call it day after a pair of EPs, the British alternative scene lost a great pair synth-pop pranksters. With their tongue-in-cheek 80s revivalism gone, but by no means forgotten, from their ashes emerges the more dancefloor-initiated Johnny Sais Quois. One half of the aforementioned duo, a relocation from Brighton to Marseille has not only determined a suitably francophonic moniker, but also a musical shift to the European flavours of classic Italo Disco. The first glimpse of his “homespun neo synth productions”, and of a debut EP due in March, debut single ‘Love on Ice’ is smooth, decisive, magnetic and aloof. It’s effortlessly addictive too, like a bag of popcorn half-consciously devoured without restraint, whose only tragedy is that it’s finite. (Elvis Thirlwell)

MIEN – ‘Evil People’

Returning with their first output since their self-titled 2018 debut LP, MIEN are back with their new single ‘Evil People’. Consisting of Alex Maas (The Black Angels), Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone), John-Mark Lapham (The Earlies) and Robb Kidd (Golden Dawn Arkestra), the lead single from the psychedelic-supergroup that is MIEN is nothing short of a cosmic beast. Heady, pulsating techno-infused krautrock and warping space-psychedelia, that’s akin to a more frenzied Moon Duo and Follakzoid, ‘Evil People’ is one for late nights down at the rock ‘n’ roll club. MIEN have also shared news of their sophomore album, ‘MIIEN’,set for release 18th April via their new apt home Fuzz Club Records. They will soon be touring the UK and Europe, starting with Portsmouth at the brand-new KOLA on the 28th April.