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

Happy Monday everyone, it’s been a few months since I’ve done a review, but I’ve been working on my sophomore album out this June 19th (Shameless Plug lol). The music industry and creatives within have taken quiet a blow financially during the current world pandemic, and now more than ever is the best time to get behind your favourite up-and-coming artist and already established bands, and support them by buying merch, t-shirts, etc, and also donating to great trusts funds like PRS and Help Musicians.

Now with that being said and the current worldly view now being focused on equality and not judging a man or woman or non-binary by their race or sexuality LET’S GET INTO SOME AMAZING MUSIC!!!

AILSA TULLY – Edge

Edge opens up with a beautiful bass guitar lick submerged within an ambient background, the first couple of seconds grabs your attention in a calming way. I automatically feel a wave of 90s movie nostalgia when the lead vocals slowly creep up on our eardrums.

Ailsa Tully’s voice is the type to put you into a dream-state of bliss, and a beautiful way to start the Listening Post this this week, I cannot wait to get my ears around the rest.

Ailsa Tully’s latest single Edge, is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of a summer’s evening she spent by Kings Cross canal when she realised she was stressed about absolutely nothing and incapable of relaxing like everyone else.

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GITTA DE RIDDER – The Clearing

We’re serenaded by the opening Spanish guitar riff that leads us straight into strong powerful feminine vocals, The Clearing has all the makings of a modern day classic, the harmony in the background really complements the acoustic guitars sitting on a bed of subtle, but present, reverb. With a strong message taking aim at the humanity in you, this track is not one to take lightly. Absolutely beautifully put together, hats off to you Gitta De Ridder.

Dutch-English singer and songwriter Gitta de Ridder draws the listener into a world full of atmosphere and feeling. Feelings of joy, sadness and wonder. Stories, thoughts, dreams, hopes, and all that lies between wrapped up in a blanket of indie folk acoustic guitar sounds and beautiful melodies.

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JOHN DOLE – Collective Thoughts

Smooth Rhodes reveal the opening of this smooth rap track, with piece lyrics about showing passion and being focussed this is one of those summer tracks you play right before you hit the basketball court for a little morning workout. The beat is a cross between b-boy breakdance style and neo-soul R&B, which makes for a great blend. John Dole is a well diverse hip-hop artist slash singer, I found myself replaying this short song over and over… sometimes songs are better off left short, because that way the replays will add to the streams (a little industry trick right here).

Newcastle’s John Dole is an artist looking to break the monotony of modern hip-hop, forget ‘real rap’ vs ‘mumble rap’, it’s time for something different entirely. Describing his sound as ‘alternative rap’, John splices touches of R&B with brush strokes of Electronica to create an immersive sonic experience.

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KYOTI – Campion

Summer vibes constantly this week so far, Kyoti adds a special twist to the ongoing theme with a beautiful ballad-like song about connection and reminiscing, I absolutely love this track and the lead vocals are pushed right up to the front of the mix with little-to-no reverb or delay. This allows us, the listeners, to connect with every word which in turn enhances the the whole experience. What a beauty of a track. Kyoti is an alternative pop trio based in London.

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LEG PUPPY – Lights Out

Lights Out starts off with a atmospheric movie like soundtrack, this song feels like it should be on the Matrix 4 soundtrack, the heavy hitting four-to-the-floor beat gives us a real retro techno feel, but with compassion rather than harshness, regular FOTN artist Leg Puppy have not failed to hit us again with another banger.

Electro-dance-punk/multi-media four piece offer a satirical attack on the modern world, with tracks Selfie Stick Narcissistic Prick Nominate and Twit Machine.

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PATAWAWA – So Late

I am absolutely loving the Nile Rodgers style guitars on this party banger of a track, with one listen you’re instantly transported back to the early 00s with an infectious bass grove that keeps on rolling and rolling. I really do miss dance music with meaningful lyrics, and this track provides exactly that. So far this track is my fave this week, well done Patawawa, with the right push this could be the track that takes you to the TOP.

Patawawa is Nu Disco trio Sam Wilmot, Rory Lovatt, and Beth Garrett, and they were featured as one of NME’s Top 100 bands in 2018.

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PHOEBE COCO – Saturday Night

Saturday Night opens with a wonderful piano solo shortly followed by an 808 kick drum, which makes for a great pair, while Phoebe Coco sings to us beautifully about her Saturday night fight it makes the song even more amazingly strange. I’m a big fan of pushing the expectation of the listener and this song is a prime example of that, out-of-the-blue a harmonica also appears, sending this track into further musical insanity…. I LOVE THIS SONG….

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SUKIE – Fruit

Fruit gets straight to the point and provides us with a calming experience of lo-fi beats and exotic instruments accompanied by sweet sounding vocals, this song actually sounds like summer, if summer was a song it would be Fruit by Sukie. Another short song that had me constantly pressing replay, which then raises the number of streams (artists take note). Fruit is available to stream on all music streaming sites.

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SWINE TAX – Screensaver

Swine Tax do not waste any time on this track and dive straight into action after two bars. This is the type of high energy track you could envision in a Quentin Tarantino film during an epic scene consisting of fast cars, mayhem and beautiful women. Screensaver is classic happy-go-lucky rock at its finest and does not fail to deliver in any way, especially with the ending guitar solo… TOP ONE LADS.

Hailing from Newcastle upon Tyne, Swine Tax is the creative voice of Vince (lead vocals and guitar), TK (bass), Charlie (drums) and Euan (synth and guitar). Over the past two years, Swine Tax have steadily cranked out sharp, deadpan, riff-driven rock music.

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THE PYLONS – Leaving

What an amazing track is my first thought soon as I heard the opening. The Pylons have a squeaky clean sound you tell has been perfected with time, one of the highest quality songs this week, definitely chart ready and I wouldn’t be surprised if next year they have the biggest year of their careers so far. I’ve also replayed this one again again and again (short and sweet).

The Pylons are a 4-piece indie band. Originally from Lincolnshire, the band now live in their house turned home studio in North West London, experimenting with complex harmonies, distorted guitars, synthesisers and sampling.

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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.

Swine Tax photo by Sophie Robson
The Pylons photo by Rob Brook