This week Black Country, New Road lead the line, alongside new music from Memory of Speke, Linfa Kear, Conus sp. Bent, Rowan and Friends and No Cigar.

Our roundup of your essential new releases at the end of an excitingly busy first month of 2025!

Black Country, New Road – ‘Besties’

Announcing their first studio album since ‘Ants From Up There’, which came out what feels like a lifetime ago, ‘Besties’ opens with the grandiose, rousing quality that has become a familiar trope of the group’s music. With singing and lyrical duties now being split among the band, this track is led by Georgia Ellery, and her lyrical cadence feels relatively familiar from her more earnest moments with Jockstrap – very ‘Glasgow’ and not at all ‘The City’. The band have always enjoyed challenging conventions of ‘cool’, and on the surface they lean into that here with the twee marching band lilt of the music, the title ‘Besties’ and lyrics like “I wanna see my best friend waving at me”. Lines about “when I said he shouldn’t treat you that way”, however, suggest that beneath this surface a tumultuous doubt lies in the establishment of boundaries of the duties of friendship. (Lloyd Bolton)

Memory of Speke – ‘Freedom’

Listeners already privy to Memory Of Speke’s rousing live spectacle might already be familiar with the jubilant, optimistic glory of their second single ‘Freedom’. Having spent the last year generating a cultish buzz across the capital with their on-stage theatrics and whimsical DIY vestments, the London group also seem to have a real knack for writing songs that are highly memorable, and this track is no exception. With anthemic choruses moored in glistening hope, ‘Freedom’ sees Memory of Speke stomping resolutely out of life’s shackles to find salvation in the warm, plethoric pastures of avant-pop. Crucially, the track’s lyrics serve as a reminder to us all that it is “a state of mind not a location that truly sets you free”, which is a sentiment that, when fervently exclaimed by enigmatic lead singer Tegen Williams, is difficult to forget. (Hazel Blacher)

Linfa Kear – ‘American TV’

‘American TV’ is an eloquent and allusive new single from Deptford-based songwriter Linfa Kear. Featuring members of Lilo and produced with Joe Futak, the single shares the transatlantic soundworld of those collaborators, as well as immediately evoking the inspiration of Lana Del Rey and that lineage of West Coast songwriting. Kear situates and justifies her use of such idiom, drawing on the influence of American TV from a young age: “If I was raised by the internet, then TV was my best friend”. What is really special about this song is Kear’s ability to hold the listener with her lyrics, which keep on evolving and enchanting as the song burns to its conclusion, life events framed through the language of television: “I want studio lights and a best of reel, a ten year reunion special”. (Lloyd Bolton)

Conus sp. Bent – ‘Like a Dog’

The first single from the newly announced album from Conus sp. Bent is a brilliant mixture of jangling pop perfection with delightful unexpected details. The rumbling, rambling bassline could almost be ridiculous, but in practice it adds a brilliant shimmer to the verses as they roll along. Singalong backing vocals and the sketches of cello, contributed by Wilfred Cartwright, complete the picture, creating pastoral atmosphere comparable to that of contemporaries Tapir!, whose imprint My Life is Big is in fact behind the release of the single. For its climax, the song is ultimately squashed into a distorted section, over which wobbling guitars create an unusual listening experience that feels perhaps like early Beck, but only in its denial of points of comparison. (Lloyd Bolton)

Rowan and Friends – ‘A Message’

The new single from Rowan and Friends expands his ever-evolving sound, introducing a new depth that in turn gives his lyrics a certain wistful authority. The incorporation of piano with sweeping violin creates a grander sense of scale than perhaps any of his previous releases, evocative of the more pristine moments of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci or indeed Belle and Sebastian. His wise songwriting and commanding looseness of delivery takes centre stage, insights like “Some ideas they build cathedrals, some better laid to rest” forming highlights whose shine reflects in the lush instrumentation. (Lloyd Bolton)

No Cigar – ‘Problem’

This latest single from New Zealand’s No Cigar was written in the midst of a writing retreat to France, where the band holed up in an Airbnb in Chantilly (as was previous single… ‘Chantilly’). It feels perfect for the last bus home. A lulling guitar riff worthy of The Strokes kicks off this track and its charm lies in the synthesis of that hard edge with a more pensive, late night atmosphere. Vocals drawl while interlocking guitar hooks dance a dusky shadowdance. We’re looking forward to their return to the UK for a strung of dates through May. (Lloyd Bolton)