Our weekly roundup of essential new singles including the return of PVA with the announcement of their second album.

PVA – ‘Boyface’

Three years on from the release of their celebrated debut album ‘BLUSH’, PVA are back at last. Returning with a fresh lick of paint to boot, and with news of album two – ‘NO MORE LIKE THIS’ lands on 23rd January –  new single ‘Boyface’ sees the London trio wholeheartedly embrace the current trip hop boom. In a year which has already seen celebrated albums from James K and Erika De Casier – with Londoners like wing! and Pearl2 debuting their own take on the languorous break-beat formula – PVA confidently throw their hats into the ring, adding their own flickers of 90s RnB colour. As is their trademark, it’s a track too which oozes sexuality. “Boyface is a song about desire and somatic sensuality”, the band say, “the beauty and fragility of fleeting connections on the dance floor.” (Elvis Thirlwell)

Cardinals – ‘Masquerade’

Cardinals strip themselves bare, exposing their most vulnerable selves with the announcement of their debut album, ‘Masquerade’ – set for release on February 13th via So Young Records – accompanied by the release of the title track. Euan Manning’s confessional vocals cut through the air, while his brother Finn’s soft, intimate accordion weaves around the melody, creating the sense of eavesdropping on a personal conversation. There’s a sense of catharsis in the interplay, where yearning aches beneath a warm embrace. On ‘Masquerade’, the percussion pulses with a restless heartbeat, switching between hypnotic grooves that cradle the listener and sharp accents that keep them on edge. Distorted guitar lines scratch through the mix, raw and unpolished, adding a visceral grit that contrasts the softness. The Cork-based five-piece draw from the raw honesty of folk traditions when crafting their distinct indie-rock sound. Their latest single is a sonic masquerade; a dance between vulnerability and restraint where every note is a wound half-healed and every lyric an intimate confession. (Isabel Kilevold)

mary in the junkyard – ‘midori’

‘midori’ drifts through rusted lullabies and warped echoes before breaking into sharp, chaotic textures softened by unexpected tenderness. mary in the junkyard move seamlessly between vulnerability and abstraction, blending fuzzy instrumentals with Clari Freeman-Taylor’s vocals, which shift from whispered fragility to cathartic outbursts. Drawing on elements of art-rock, post-punk, folk, and indie rock, the London-based trio carve out a sound that balances the whimsical and the eerie, which is delicate yet deeply grounded. Drums sway beneath earthy, reverberating strings, while the melody unfolds with minimalist pacing and intricate textures. The lyrics are both intimate and unsettling: “I have been travelling left / with this ache in my chest / and a pain in my view.” The imagery is vague, but the emotion cuts clear, anchoring the song’s surreal textures in something painfully human. While touring North America in support of Wet Leg, mary in the junkyard offer ‘midori’, a single that slips gracefully between beauty and unease and refuses to fade quietly. (Isabel Kilevold)

Hannah Frances – ‘Life’s Work’

An earthy eruption of immaculately complex avant-folk bliss, ‘Life’s Work’ sees Hannah Frances expose a complex tangle of familial roots thronged beneath the deep, dense soil of her past. Braced by a flurry of enthrallingly neurotic folk instrumentation – partly arranged by Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rosen – here the Vermont-based artist and poet unleashes a powerful sentiment that immediately transcends its own meaning due to the weight of its words: “Learning to trust in spite of it is life’s work”. The new single forms part of an impressive run of teasers from her upcoming new album ‘Nested In Tangles’, due for release in October via Fire Talk, and it showcases an impressive virtuosity that calls to mind the likes of Regina Spektor or Dana Gavanski. Pirouetting between consonance and dissonance with the nimble, assured elegance of a ballerina, ‘Life’s Work’ feels like yet more proof that Frances is a true artist in many more ways than one. (Hazel Blacher)

Max Winter – ‘The Olympics’

The use of strings always seems to embody the cinematic in music. Stemming from sweeping orchestral soundtracks that buoyed the Golden Age of Hollywood, searing and soaring strings are infinitely versatile in capturing both the sting of heartbreak and the fury of violence. In Max Winter’s latest release ‘The Olympics’, these elements are firmly at the forefront, reinstating strings as a timbre for passion and power. Equal parts Piers Brosnan-era James Bond soundtrack and Deftones anthem, ‘The Olympics’ is nothing short of massive. Piercing violins scream over distorted modulating bass and cello, while close, secretive vocals trickle over the top. Stuttering delays, sample manipulation and warped voices waltz atop ride-heavy drumlines, pushing and pulling like a vehicle barely gripping onto worn tarmac. Epic and expansive while fierce and driving, ‘The Olympics’ is a triumph of tension and unadulterated force. (A. L. Noonan)

Sassy 009 – ‘Butterflies’

The sound of an engine growling fades into the electronic production on ‘Butterflies’ before the vocals cut through. Sassy 009 crafts a strain of hyper-pop that feels tactile and physical, never lost in abstraction. Sunniva Lindegård’s vocals take centre stage, synthetic and pitch-shifted yet emotionally precise, gliding between honesty and digital distortion. Beneath her voice, a heavy bassline crashes and coils, tangled with a pulsating techno beat that thumps with club energy. The Norwegian singer and producer balances maximalist production with moments of softness. There is an urgency in the rhythm, but it is grounded by lyrics that merge natural imagery with something almost spiritual: “the butterflies fly to the top / heaven is close enough to me.” The result is euphoric and uneasy, a clash of artificial textures and raw emotion. (Isabel Kilevold)