These Fresh Faves were picked by our readers over the weekend – and reviewed by Fresh On The Net’s Will O’Brien this week. You can hear all these tracks in a single Soundcloud playlist here.

BIG CAT – Waiting Outside Alone

Brighton-based songwriting duo Big Cat (Henry and Johnny Tydeman) kick us off with Waiting Outside Alone. Striking a delightfully infectious balance between a relentlessly strutting rhythm section, joyous brass and beautifully arranged and performed vocals, I’m left feeling curiously melancholic and keen for a second listen. If you’re in Brighton on the 3rd of April, Catch Big Cat at The Brunswick Live.

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BRUCH – Ley Lines

Captured immediately by BRUCH’s cavernous, enveloping and cleansing vocals (gently reminiscent of Aurora), I’m absolutely enchanted by the palpable atmosphere that she creates. As the textures and sheer aural impact develop and brilliantly original percussive layers are introduced, the song builds to a stunning and truly inspired climax. Self-described as “Cellist and alternative-folk artist, aiming to one day become a magical elf”, we can begin to connect the dots as to what sort of fantastic space Brunch inhabits and will hopefully continue to explore.

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GRACE SAVAGE – Snowflake 2019

London-based Grace Savage serves up a thumping three minutes of excellently produced electro pop, culminating in the seriously powerful vocal hook in the chorus. A quick search reveals that Grace is a 4 x UK beatbox champion, a skill that she employs sparingly but to great effect throughout the track. Grace releases her third EP on 17th May, celebrated with an intimate live launch party at South East London’s Bermondsey Social Club on 15th May.

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HEALTHY JUNKIES – This Is Not A Suicide

Thrashing around like a ferocious wild Marlin, This Is Not A Suicide skewers the listener with pounding drums, a wall of aggressively down picked guitars and vocals that impressively tread the line between melodic and altogether terrifying. This is not a suicide, it is a lesson in punk rock grunge and a great track from Healthy Junkies. Head over to their Facebook and make sure you catch Healthy Junkies at one of their many upcoming shows.

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JOY LYNN – Grow

A sincere and heartfelt Grow takes the spot as my personal favourite of this week’s picks. In this short and bittersweet piece, Joy Lynn shares gut wrenchingly hopeful words of encouragement that inspire through the gorgeous articulation of a striving towards recovery from tragedy (it would appear to me); the music is the ethereal and delicate soil that gives life to and bolsters Joy’s sombre tree. This “experimental-folk musician from the East Coast” has brought a tear to my glass eye. Thank you for uploading!

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MARTHA HILL – Reborn

This track is utterly fascinating. Swinging rather boldly from one texture to the next, Reborn bends and distorts all genre stereotypes in its path and pulls them together skilfully. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Martha Hill doesn’t hesitate in putting on display what her extensive DIY touring has enabled her to create: enjoyable, at some points challenging and all together brilliant alt pop.

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PIT PONY – Osaka

Pit Pony pull together a perfectly left of field dose of modern garage rock, combining excellent guitar textures, scuzzy and aggressively nonchalant vocals and some impressive modern production. The song descends into an absolute sludge fest as it comes to a close, leaving me with a slightly sore neck and feeling a little gutted that the Newcastle-upon-Tyne troops have no publicly scheduled shows. Keep an eye on Pit Pony’s socials!

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ROSIE TEE – Chambers

Rosie Tee’s weightless vocals effortlessly juxtapose the stuttered and intricate instrumentals. Fusing electronic, jazz, classical and pop to produce a compelling atmospheric track, the Birmingham based composer and performer transcends each of her influences to create something inspired, vivid and undeniable. I imagine this is another ballgame live. Make sure you head out to check Rosie Tee perform – plenty of upcoming dates on her Facebook!

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TUGBOAT CAPTAIN – Be Strong, Smoke Less

Grin-inducing DIY pop, delivered by a rotating crew of terraced house dwelling tugboat captains. What’s not to love? Between the quirky vocal delivery, the comfortingly nostalgic instrumentation and the soft production, I feel very at home listening to Be Strong, Smoke Less. Having amassed quite an impressive following in the DIY community and yonder, it’s not hard to see that Tugboat Captain are doing something very engaging. Apparently, their live shows often include “Bassoons and nudity” – that’s surely worth checking out if the music hasn’t convinced you?

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WE ARE AERIALS – Titanic

I suspect that the endearing lo-fi production and delicate piano refrains of Titanic contribute significantly towards why this song works so well, and although the vocals and ambient soundscape produce a pristine and ethereal atmosphere, there is something unsettling that I can’t quite put my finger on. Dublin-based We Are Aerials don’t display much in the way of information, and as far as I can tell, no Facebook. Keep fighting the good fight lads!

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PS from TR: If you’ve submitted a track that hasn’t been picked for the Listening Post, our team has definitely listened to it and there’s no need to send it again: feel free to send us an even stronger track another week. The same goes if you were picked for the Listening Post but didn’t feature in our Fresh Faves.

But if we’ve recently featured you in our Fresh Faves – or on my BBC Introducing Mixtape – please wait three months before sending us another track, so we have space to help other deserving artists… For more info see Robinson Has A Good Old Moan.