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

MIRI – Good Ones

We kick off this week’s Fresh Faves with a song from London based singer / songwriter / campaigner MIRI. She’s supported artists such as Rita Ora and Laura Veirs, and has recently been performing in prisons across the UK. Good Ones, which is taken from her most recent EP Soundbites, is a lovely, soulful song, one that has a timeless quality to it, as if it could have been happily been released any time in the past 40 years and still sound as current.

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MYLES MCCORMACK – Merry Go Round

It’s always great to discover new artists from my neck of the woods through the Listening Post, even ones I should have already (quite literally) heard – Belfast based singer-songwriter Myles McCormack recently launched his debut solo album Real Talk in a venue 100 metres from my house.

The song that charmed so many of us this week was Merry Go Round, a wistful, acoustic-folk song that layers vocals in an interesting way that I’ve rarely heard in that genre before. I’m definitely glad to have finally comes across great music from a local lad – better late than never, eh?

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PLÏNKÏ PLØNKÏ – Reul

Icelandic artist Plïnkï Plønkï make the sort of music that would fit very well on relaxation CDs or study playlists — indeed, a quick look at their Spotify profile reveals they’re a firm favourite with playlisters that focus on the peaceful end of the musical spectrum. Reul is a good indication of their sound, it is a minimalist piano tune that is brave enough not to feel the need to fill every nook and cranny with sound – sometimes silence in a song can be just as effective as noise, and this is very well evidenced in the output of Plïnkï Plønkï.

If you’re looking to buy a physical copy of the accompanying album Càirdeas, it’s only due to be released as a cassette, so you may need to dig your tape machine out if you want a copy of it, but off the strength of Reul, it would be very much worth your time.

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ROY JUXON – I Don’t Know

I’ll be the first to admit that hip-hop is not a genre that I am overly familiar with. Having said that, there is something about I Don’t Know by London artist Roy Juxon that I quite enjoy. The production of the track, as well as the sung chorus, reminds me of the sound of Hot Chip, and whilst I can’t comment on how his rapping compares to his peers, to my ears it sounds quite impressive indeed.

Soundcloud | Twitter

SALTWATER – Down By The Sea

The London based production duo Saltwater are not the easiest band to find information for at the moment – an internet search of Saltwater, or of Saltwater – Down by The Sea instead gives lots of links to pictures of sandy beaches.

Maybe things will change as word spreads about the group off the back of their debut track, Down by the Sea. It’s a song that is quite tricky to pigeonhole into one genre – it’s a chilled-out slice of electronica, with live drums and acoustic guitar also thrown into the mix. They’ve got an interesting sound, one that has piqued my interest enough for me to want to hear what else they’ve got in store.

Soundcloud

SEA CAVES – Dart

I could have sworn that Sea Caves were English the first time I heard their song Dart, given the folk elements of the song which reminds me of Lucy Rose in places, but they’re actually from Portland, Oregon. Dart is a great example of taking a well-trodden sound and adding an interesting twist to it – I’ve rarely heard a dream-pop song use the schaffel rhythm up until hearing this song.

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SEASIDE WITCH COVEN – Splutter

Cardiff trio Seaside Witch Coven have been described as an “indie-come-punk-come-surf-psych-garage band”, in case you wanted to pin their sound down to one thing in particular. Their latest single, Splutter, would seem to lend themselves well to be compared to Japandroids – they have an uncompromising, noise-rock harshness to their sound, yet beneath it they seem to have a knack for including quite accessible hooks and melodies inspired by classic rock of the 70s.

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ST FRANCIS HOTEL – Liar Liar Liar Feat. Gaz Coombes

St Francis Hotel are a London-based Irish production duo, who have both worked on albums by U2 in some capacity. Liar Liar Liar features a guest appearance from Gaz Coombes (who was involved in a few bands in the past), and is an impressively produced, sinister quasi-gospel track, which is no surprise given the pedigree of the performers on it. It’s a track you would imagine as the opening theme of a British gangster flick that you liked the look of based upon its intriguing blood-red cover image, which you end up leaving on your Netflix queue for several months, promising that you will eventually get around to watching but never do.

Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

TOM MOUSE SMITH – I’m Not Going

Sunderland artist Tom Mouse Smith has already racked up an impressive list of gigs despite being only 15 years old, with supporting slots with The Charlatans, James Bay and Catfish and the Bottlemen already under his belt, and he’s already been a favourite on Fresh On The Net in the past.

I’m Not Going was the most popular song in the Listening Post this week, and it a song that shows Tom as a performer well beyond his years (he played every instrument on this track. At twice his age, I can barely play one). The song is a slow-building song that erupts in a cacophony of noise by the end, topped off by Tom’s powerful and impassioned vocals. If he can keep up this level of quality as he progresses, he is going to be a world-beater in the years to come. You can also see Tom Mouse Smith as part of Fresh On The Net Live in Liverpool on Saturday 2nd November.

Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

YAMMERER – Y Ffves HÆD

Yammerer don’t have much of a social media presence, but so far, the post-punk inflected band have built up a solid reputation in their native Liverpool for their rambunctious, quasi-improvisational live performances. You can definitely hear that coming across in their song Y Ffves HÆD (which translates as “the wife’s head”), where it’s Fall-like discordant energy doesn’t let up at all. It is definitely a song that one would definitely lose one’s mind to if one were to see them in an intimate venue, which you will be able to do on Saturday 2nd November in the Handyman Pub as part of Fresh On The Net Live in Liverpool.

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.