The week’s essential new releases, also including goose princess, Worm School and Cardinals.

Formal Sppeedwear – Hit ‘n’ Run

Fast-rising Stoke three-piece Formal Sppeedwear return with their most undeniable cut yet. ‘Hit ‘n’ Run’ is built around jolting new wave licks and sharp jabs of distortion, marching forward with rhythm as its primary motive. Frontman Beck Clewlow has spoken about how he prefers to begin writing songs with just his bass and a drum machine and this is clearly a song born from that — the bassline that carries through this one wouldn’t be out of place on a Krautrock record whilst the janky vocal delivery recalls David Byrne or Tom Verlaine. Melodic Records are doing a lot of great things at the minute and bringing Formal Sppeedwear to the world is right up there. (Marty Hill)

ugly ozo – ‘Cherry’

Ahead of the release of their debut EP ‘stargirl’ out today, ugly ozo shared their latest single ‘Cherry’ earlier this week. ‘Cherry’ is a more melancholic, gothic-tinged affair from the Isle of Wight based artist. Channelling The Cure along with some reverb-drenched my bloody valentine-esque shoegaze,‘Cherry’ is timely for these leaden, shower-washed October days and nights. A glorious gloom-goth banger, ‘Cherry’ is a testament to the dynamic songwriting from the rising artist. Alongside the release of their debut EP, ugly ozo will also be celebrating with a local-ish headline show at Heartbreakers in Southampton this Tuesday, before playing The Shacklewell Arms on the 30th October. What better way to spend the eve of Halloween than spilling pints to some spooky doom-grunge, eh? (Brad Sked)

Dove Ellis – ‘Love Is / Pale Song’

Dove Ellis was clearly moved when he walked off stage at No Band is an Island earlier this month. The night, organised by a collective of musicians and activists in Manchester, is first and foremost about raising money for Medical Aid for Palestine but it’s also about celebrating Manchester’s resurgent music scene in the process. “You have given me faith in the music industry that I really didn’t have a couple of years ago, so thank you,” Ellis said as he and his band departed after a genuinely breathtaking set, before adding “Free Palestine and fuck Keir Starmer.”

Whatever was happening to disenfranchise the Irish singer-songwriter before, we should all be incredibly grateful that he has found a home for his music. He is one of the most singular talents on the planet and could well be set for the sharpest upward trajectory imaginable. He’ll support Geese –perhaps the most talked about indie band on the planet right now – in the States this autumn and will release his debut album ‘Blizzard’ in December. Upon announcing that album, he tripled the amount of songs available to listen to with the release of ‘Love Is’ and ‘Pale Song.’ The former introduces itself as a weathered piano ballad before exploding into power pop brilliance as Ellis cries “love is not the antidote to all of your problems” for the first time. It’s a masterful execution of loud-quiet dynamics by one of the most gifted songwriters in the country. ‘Pale Song’ builds more conventionally, revolving around a stunning chorus that will do little to quash the inevitable Jeff Buckley comparisons but plenty to stoke the fanfare around Dove Ellis. The word-of-mouth hype has been overwhelming for a while now and debut single ‘To The Sandals’ was one of the most impressive releases of 2025. Now, three of those belong to Dove Ellis and it has never been clearer that we’re witnessing the start of something very special. (Marty Hill)

goose princess – ‘beyond’

The transmutation of sorrow into art can be more an act of necessity than inspiration. Taking action and lifting oneself from misery through creativity can finally let the murk of the past settle into its rightful place, allowing new beginnings to finally emerge. On her debut release, ‘beyond’, goose princess gleams a delicate yet cathartic indie-pop ray onto past trauma, cleansing and accepting in equal parts.  goose princess, the solo project of London based artist Rosie Bla, is both pensive and playful on ‘beyond’, marrying confessional poetry with a buoyant sonic palette. Bla’s fine vocals are chopped and scattered across bubbling percussion and crystalline synths, pairing the sparkling pointillism and dexterity of Caroline Polachek with the puckish agility of Oklou. Despite the weight of the subject matter, goose princess is lithe and graceful on ‘beyond’, moulding the mass of dejection and sorrow into a form that is insightful and at peace. An art-pop tour de force and a defiant statement of intent from an exciting new talent. (A.L. Noonan)

Worm School – ‘Jacob’s Ladder’

In the latter half of the 90s, indie music in the British isles was undergoing a change. Bands like Dublin’s My Bloody Valentine, Oxford’s Ride and Reading’s Slowdive had all received attention with the burgeoning shoegaze sound of the early 90s but had quickly fallen to the capricious nature of the music press at the time who moved onto heralding Britpop. Since this decline, we have seen a mighty resurgence in quality shoegaze on both sides of the Atlantic, and with their debut release, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, Manchester’s Worm School should be firmly included within this cohort. ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ creeps like the onset of a dream, lulling you gradually and then all at once into a lucid state of openness, reflection and peace. Long, teardrop-delayed guitars unfold and tumble gently over one another as reverb-drenched whispers plane overhead. Less a product of haze and noise typically associated with the MBV school of shoegaze, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ leans into the hypnagogic blanket of Slowdive and Cocteau Twins. Beautiful and transcendent, a stellar debut from a promising new prospect. (A.L. Noonan)

Cardinals – ‘Burning Cork’

“Again and again / Cause it hurts / But it will burn / I know the smell.” Euan Manning’s vocals enter almost in a whisper, delivering these lines with quiet intensity. Beneath him, a pulsating bass holds the rhythm like the flicker of a flame, both steady and hypnotic, until the track cracks open in dissonance. With ‘The Burning of Cork’, the Cork-based five-piece demand more from the listener. Driving drums and distorted guitars surge forward, pushing the vocals into a raw ascent. The band’s signature accordion cuts through the noise, not as a softening presence but as another texture, sharpening the edges of the melody. Following the release of ‘Big Empty Heart’ earlier this year, and ahead of their debut album ‘Masquerade’, set for release on 13 February via So Young Records, Cardinals continue their descent into something darker, more visceral. The lyrics unfold like a city on fire: vivid, claustrophobic, and close. The rhythm is relentless but skewed off-balance, leaving no safe footing as Cardinals let the track burn. Drawing on gothic shoegaze, Irish folk, and post-punk, ‘The Burning of Cork’ carries a fume of unease. “And it burns,” Manning repeats, until the song collapses into stillness, the smoke still hanging in the air. (Isabel Kilevold)