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

Thanks to everyone who submitted in the last week, it was an absolute pleasure listening to the submissions and then reviewing the final ten from a brilliant listening post.

Just to remind you all, if you want to submit a track for my twice monthly radio show on Islington Radio please do so by dropping me an email with a bio and MP3 for consideration.

Tea? Check.
Keys in the ignition? Oui.
Four lit and in the green.
Let’s go.

BAND SPECTRA FT. THE ANCHORESS – Human Reciprocator

This is a good ’un in so many different ways. A mix of analogue synth sounds, a bit of crunchy noise, and some harmonies… This is what you’d expect to see on TOTP in the early 80s – that or its gutsy little brother over on Channel 4 – The Tube! I love the drum sounds on this, it’s frantic, and the synths have a real big feature on this… being a synth head from way back, it’s pleasing to my ear.

Lyrics! Now this is where I’m not sure what’s going on, I reckon that it’s a dig at the ruling class specifically Boris Johnson, especially with the opening verse:

“I’m a trained orator
A skilled manipulator
I was born into the ranks
While you were bred for food banks
Never ever have I ever had to want for anything in my life.”

It could be interpreted that this is how the ruling classes see everyone else, and that you should know your place. Maybe I’m reading too much into it but it’s very much a song that I want to hear more of, and see what else they have to offer.

Band Spectra is the project of Robert Manning, a disabled musician from Southeast England. Using the moniker Band Spectra, and with the help of Arts Council funding, Robert has produced an album of notable collaborations with the intention of celebrating and raising awareness of disability and diversity within the music industry.

The Anchoress is Welsh singer-songwriter Catherine Anne Davies, and she had an album out that Elton John – sorry – SIR Elton John has said is one of his favourite albums of the year. ELTON BLOOMING JOHN you know??? Well. If Elton likes her who am I to argue?

She’s also duetted with Manic Street Preachers.

Nice.

Band Spectra:
Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

The Anchoress:
Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

BLOKEACOLA – Salami Lama

Blokeacola certainly has a way with words.

“You look like something special
But you’re just a greedy seagull
That slipped and fell in curry sauce
We’re building rocket ships
We’re blasting off to space
But we can’t even pick up dog s**t here on Earth.”

I like that line about rocket ships especially and not being able to pick up our crap on the planet we are on, it totally resonates with me. It’s essentially a very angry song!

Instrument-wise it’s based around bass, guitar and drums with a lovely progression. I like the key change in the chorus, it keeps it interesting for sure! And the synth lead too… nice sound.

Blokeacola is described by our Tom as being a superbly psychedelic Welsh artist. He’s got lots of love from BBC Wales, and Amazing Radio.

Doing a little bit of research here, this is what he had to say about the lyrics:

“The title was inspired by McCartney writing to the Dalai Lama, asking why he eats meat. But that’s nothing to do with the song really. The greedy seagull was a seagull mistaken for an exotic bird until they found it was covered in curry.”

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

DICTATOR – Pangolin

The way I see Dictator is that they’re not a band, at least not in the conventional sense, I see them as a collective that’s doesn’t allow themselves to be defined by a specific sound — they can switch from slick hip hop beats to classy indie pop in the space of 3:16. This track comes from their EP Rubik’s Cube – Neil reviewed the title track in Fresh Faves 445.

This starts off with a fab synth sound playing four chords joined by an arpeggiated synth line playing the same chords, Bemz comes in firing on all cylinders over a beat that sits nicely in the pocket, and allows him to flow confidently. He is speaking his truth, and I see this as him releasing some kind of frustration, and facing his critics.

This is the second of Bemz and Dictator’s collaborations on the EP and to say it’s fruitful is an understatement.

I love the video for this. Shot in black and white it shows them vibing off each other in the studio.

Dictator are a quartet from Scotland who are SAMA winners, BBC Introducing Act of The Year, have supported Fratellis, Glasvegas, and The Reytons and look to have a solid future in front of them.

According to his Spotify, “Bemz is a Glasgow-based rapper. Bemz began experimenting with making his own sounds, primarily as a medium of self-expression. Art and poetry were the precursors to his introduction to rap, before blossoming into a lifelong dedication with the artform itself. Bemz’ strengths lie in the honesty within his music. He delivers a very raw, emotionally charged view of life, which never falls into the clichéd trappings that often come with that territory; truth is his asset.”

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

JESSIE REID – Hearts On Fire

The first thing that catches my ear about this song is the atmospheric production, I love the strings on this, the beat is slightly swung giving it the ability to feature triplets in there…

The second thing is the strings; they are played with emotional effect and it gives you goosebumps! I also love the guitar playing on this, nice acoustic flavour.

Now Jessie Reid’s voice, it’s husky and the harmonies she sings really fit well with it, talking of the vocals the arrangement is bang on – it stands out, it has to otherwise you lose the gist of it.

I like the opening verse and chorus:

“Nobody else could keep on my mind,
You’re still the ghost
That keeps me up at night

Too much time without you by my side
Only time will tell
Get us out this hell”.

It just grabs your attention!

Jessie is a singer/songwriter from Shropshire, she’s gained kudos from our Tom Robinson, Chris Hawkins, and has spent the last four years honing her art.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

LISSY TAYLOR – Healer

Strong indie rock number this one! Lissy Taylor’s vocals coming flying confidently at you and it’s refreshing, she reminds me a bit of Rumours-era Stevie Nicks, specifically Dreams, but with a little more oomph. Everything about this song is crafted beautifully, I especially need to shout about the drum playing because it builds the song really well — there’s use of the ride in the beginning, to great effect. I like the guitar playing too, there’s a bit of a delay on it, and it chugs on nicely, the musicianship really shines through on this.

Lissy is from Stoke-on-Trent, she moved to the US in 2015 where she began songwriting and performing. She returned to Manchester to study at BIMM and graduated with a 1st Class Honours degree in Songwriting in 2020.

She’s also had BBC Introducing record of the year from BBC Stoke three times in a row this year, and has been shortlisted for Radio 1’s Live Lounge.

I am not even going to spoil it for you but there’s much more to come from her!

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

POCKET SUN – Take Your Time

The first thing that caught my ear is the synth lead, very prog rock sensibilities, but that’s about as far as the comparison goes with this, as it’s as far removed from prog rock for the rest of the song as you could get. The delicate harmonies are gorgeous, really close, there are some jazzy parts in there too the solo part from 0:56 onwards where the bass and synth go together playing an octave above each other is well played!

Pocket Sun’s Twitter states they are a quintet from the South West of England, their sound is rooted in synth wave and psych pop, they’ve got some exciting things coming up – a gig supporting Cousin Kula in October at Thekla, tickets for which are on sale now. They’ve also gained love from BBC Introducing in the West, and rightfully so!

This is my one to watch.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

PSEUDOMAIA – I Was Wrong

If this is a demo, I’d like to hear the full result… This is so delicate, and Pseudomaia’s voice is really lovely to listen to — it’s a whisper, but it doesn’t get lost in the overall mix. The instruments around her voice are well put together, layered perfectly – there are those who would sneer at home recordings, even after the runaway success of Billie Eilish who won a Grammy recording an album in her brother’s bedroom, Pseudomaia embraces this unashamedly and I will applaud her for it. It’s a fab track!

I can’t find much about Pseudomaia online, but what I can find, it says she’s making emo tunes in the bedroom as her coping mechanism.

Official | Instagram | YouTube

RENEGADE BRASS BAND – Supernova Feat. Franz Von

Big horns! Big percussion and drums! Bars for days! Of course it’s got to be Renegade Brass Band! This is just one of those songs that makes you just want to groove – it’s got a tenor (maybe baritone??) solo sax that comes in at 2:06 and there’s a three note stab that I had to rewind three times before I got it at 3:17, the drum fills around the toms at 3:38 KILLED it! Wow. This tightly arranged – it should be – eight horn players, a turntablist and two percussionists… brilliant! This is a joy to listen to!

This is my track of the week.

Renegade Brass Band are from Sheffield, this is the second track from their EP Bottle This Fire to be featured in the Faves as Neil reviewed Maybe Tomorrow in May this year. Their energy is infectious!

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

THE DIONYSUS ENSEMBLE – Constant

Straight off the bat, this is beautiful…

There is a lot going on here, and I’ll try my best to break it down.

First the piece opens with a harp and possibly pizzicato strings, setting the rhythmic pattern at the beginning. It’s emotive, and as someone who gets goosebumps from strings being played right now I’m tingling.

The piece builds up, going at a good tempo, the key signature being C major, and in common time, the progression is very contemporary, even though using classical instruments, it reminds me of a film score but since this is not a symphony orchestra it’s a string quartet plus harp and clarinet… it just gives you that epic feeling.

Honestly I can’t even begin to describe how uplifting this is. Very heart stirring get up and go music.

This is part of a three part suite, and this is the first track. According to their EPK, The Dionysus Ensemble had this to say:

“The Dionysus Ensemble were fortunate to gain National Lottery funding to commission female Scottish composer Seonaid Aitken to write a new suite for them for the Platinum Jubilee. Their ensemble for this project is string quartet, clarinet and harp.

“Change has become a constant” – HM Queen Elizabeth II

(2002 – Golden Jubilee speech to parliament)”

This has become very poignant given the events of the last few weeks.

I have history with the Dionysus Ensemble, having interviewed Leonie Adams about a project that was recorded with musicians and singers from around the Commonwealth during 2020 and the outbreak of Covid. Please do check out Simple Gifts and New Every Morning.

Check out my interview with Leonie Adams here.

This also gets my chef’s kiss for production value and overall composition.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

USE – A Billion Years

To close out this week’s Faves we have a great bit of experimental electronic sounds, I like that solid clap/snare they’re using in the intro, the drums sound great. The big count off really sells it off for me, and I like the way the vocals are putting together, this track comes with power. My favourite line in this song is:

“The mic is hot but the truth is lava,
Who you gonna trust when it comes to drama?”

I don’t know… it just stood out to me.

USE stands for Untitled Social Experiment, they are Daniel James Smith and Krystall Scott, Daniel is also known as T.O.L.D. and has been making music under that name for some time. Krystall has done painting, sang in choir early on, and after modelling in recent years, she made her return to music when teaming up with Daniel to form creative art.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Bandcamp

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.