The week’s essential release, also including new singles from Pollyfromthedirt, Los Bitchos, Wyatt and Druid Fluid.

Fontaines D.C – ‘Tongue’

The second single from Fontaines D.C.’s fifth album ‘Dopamine Chamber’ – due 16 October via XL Recordings – stretches itself between something equally eerie and seductive, strings swelling around screeching guitars as if the song is constantly on the verge of breaking through the fourth wall. An eerie piano cuts through the noise, whilst a loose, grounding groove keeps everything moving beneath it. On ‘Tongue’, nothing sits comfortably for long. The track keeps expanding, but never gives you enough space to settle inside it. Grian Chatten’s voice only deepens that unease. Distorted through a sampler, his vocals lose some of their human edges, becoming grainy and distant before pushing back through the layers of sound. There is something visceral in the way his voice sits against the instrumentation. That tension reaches its sharpest point in the bridge: “Deep inside your pain I feel the same / Deeper as we go I think you know.” The words are intimate, but there is nothing comforting about them. ‘Tongue’ never quite resolves that feeling. It leaves you suspended between the groove beneath your feet and everything threatening to swallow you above it. (Isabel Kilevold)

PISS – ‘blocking a scene you can’t remember’

(PSA: this track is highly distressing.) Submerged in the gore of a gaping wound, gasping for air in a stifling, claret quicksand, ‘blocking a scene you can’t remember’ is a deeply upsetting and vulnerable purgation from Vancouver’s PISS. Fraught with all the visceral intensity of their live show – which, if you haven’t had a chance to catch, blurs the lines between noisy hardcore and harrowing performance art – the new track sees lead vocalist Taylor Zantingh delivering a fitful monologue detailing the impacts of sexual violence over an eerie, brooding slowcore instrumental. ‘blocking a scene you can’t remember’ is a highly uncomfortable listen, and it feels like Zantingh screams into the void not just for herself, but for the countless abuse victims systemically ignored every single day. In light of the seemingly endless slew of new high profile assaults such as the Cornell Seven too, her brutal candour – laying bare the very real devastation sexual violence causes – feels more vital than ever. (Hazel Blacher)

Fine – ‘Sometimes i rush’

Copenhagen producer Fine keeps things brief on ‘Sometimes i rush’, packing a hazy, downtempo world into just a minute and a half. Glossy synths drift around gritty guitar lines, whilst airy vocals sit somewhere between the foreground and the atmosphere. There is a groovy, dream-pop pulse running through it, but the production is textured enough to keep revealing small details with each listen. It has the ethereal intimacy of Mazzy Star, stripped back to something more nocturnal and restless. The lyrics are just as minimal, circling around the repeated phrase “Sometimes I”; there is something quietly disorienting in the way those thoughts arrive and disappear, matching the track’s drifting rhythm. ‘Sometimes i rush’ is the sixth single from Fine’s forthcoming album ‘Jazz Dreams’ set for release 23 October via Escho. (Isabel Kilevold)

Pollyfromthedirt – ‘White Wine Vinegar’

On ‘White Wine Vinegar’, Pollyfromthedirt lets the mask slip. Built around acoustic guitars and stripped-back production, the track is a raw indie ballad that feels closer to a confession than a performance. Beneath his unvarnished vocals, the guitar trembles like a held breath, leaving just enough space for every word to land. There is a dreamy melancholy running through it, but the song feels more immediate than distant, its softness carrying a quiet weight. The lyrics read like a handwritten diary entry with slightly smudged ink: “Falling to my knees / Everyone thinks that I am weak / I need help / You know I do.” His raw hums sit over the strummed guitar, giving the song an intimacy that feels almost too close. There is no attempt to soften what he is admitting. Instead, ‘White Wine Vinegar’ lingers in that uncomfortable space between tenderness and ache. (Isabel Kilevold)

Los Bitchos – ‘Conexiones’

The ever-fun Los Bitchos have shared yet another glorious, vitamin-D enriched delight from their upcoming third album ‘Los Bitchos & Friends Vol 1’ – due for release on the 7th November. ‘Conexiones’ sees the London-based trio once again collaborate with New York outfit Chicha Libre, delving into a scorching feast of sun-drenched psychedelic cumbia and cosmo funk. A hypnotically heady, celebratory affair, ‘Conexiones’ feels like an infusion of Khruangbin and Takeshi’s Cashew, a danceable banger perfect for cocktail fuelled beach parties in scorching heat waves. Los Bitchos will be taking their fun crusade to a number of cities across the UK and Europe from January, including a stop off in London on 5th February at Camden’s Koko. (Brad Sked)

Wyatt – ‘Morning’

Exciting Manchester risers Wyatt have been quietly building a reputation over the last year with their spell-binding live show that’s nothing short of stunning. The quartet have finally shared their debut single ‘Morning’, released by Manchester hit factory Heist or Hit (also home to releases from Westside Cowboy and Mleko, to name a few). A warm yet breezy sonic brew, ‘Morning’ sees Wyatt coalesce the glorious jangle of lo-fi, Pavement-esque indie-rock with fringes of country-rock/pop, making for a jovial, agrarian anthem. It’s a jolly jaunt, filled to the brim with goodness and glazed in sweet, honeyed croons that could be benedictions from the sun gods themselves. ‘Nothing’ showcases exemplary songwriting from one of the most promising young outfits around right now, recalling halcyon days spent in festival fields, sipping warm tinnies among friends. If you want to experience the wondrous Wyatt, the quartet will be heading out on the road with Heist of Hit label mates, Westside Cowboy later this month, so get down early. (Brad Sked)

Druid Fluid – ‘Petrichor’

Adelaide-based Aussie psychedelic quintet Druid Fluid are back with their kaleidoscopic cosmic joy-ride of a second single ‘Petrichor’, taken from their forthcoming album Pareidolia – out via Third Eye Stimuli and Copper Feast on 13th November. A technicoloured fever-dream, ‘Pareidolia’ sees Druid Fluid channel English 60’s psychedelic influences like The Beatles or The Pretty Things alongside nods to fellow Aussie cosmonauts Babe Rainbow or 2013-era King Gizz. This psychotropic, speckled fantasy of a track feels like an exploration of transformative consciousness itself – that should really be experienced whilst wearing the most prismatic, pastoral shirt one might find down the vintage market. (Brad Sked)