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

AIMING – Calculations

Aiming open our Faves with Calculations. Layering soft vocals over a driving rhythm, this track was a favourite with both our readers and moderators alike this week, jointly topping the Listening Post with Dal.

As a new band, there is very little information out there right now — “Scuzzy electro-shoegaze from Yorkshire. Better than it sounds” reads the bio (can’t argue) and that’s about all I can tell you, except that there appears to be three of them, and you can catch them playing The Crescent in York along with Savage Mansion and Martha Ffion on the 22nd of February.

Instagram | Bandcamp

AMETHYSTS – Lunation

Suffolk dream pop duo Amethysts return to our Fresh Faves for the first time in yonks (2015) with Lunation. Taken from their New Moon EP released last November, Lunation layers gentle harmonised vocals, atmospheric synths, guitars and dramatic beats into a two and a half minute track, like a glimpse of moonlight between clouds. According to their interview with Fame magazine, the EP as a whole is “about the journey of becoming new parents and the amazing ways it changes your outlook on life”. This track along with the New Moon EP is available to buy and stream now.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X

CLOBBER – Council Estate Of Mind

Names matter, and London punk / hardcore band Clobber really do hit you hard in Council Estate Of Mind, which gets in and out in under two minutes and still finds the time for an impressive bass guitar solo. For in-person moshing and almost inevitable hearing loss, catch them at the Manchester Punk Festival at the end of March, and The Underworld in Camden Town at the end of April. Council Estate Of Mind is widely available to stream and buy now.

Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bandcamp

DAL – Dartmoor National Park

Dal describe themselves as a Jazz/Hip-Hop trio based in South London, and this track is taken from their first album, The Dartmoor National Park Tapes, which they say “forms a story of their time spent living and recording music over the pandemic, deep within Dartmoor National Park.” As mentioned above, Dal jointly topped our Listening Post this week with Aiming, and you can get this, along with the EP and more of their work, on Bandcamp now.

Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp

GEMMA CULLINGFORD – Early Hours

Gemma Cullingford was formerly one half of Norwich band Sink Ya Teeth, and bass player in early 2000s art rock band KaitO. Early Hours is taken from a series of compositions from 2012, which Gemma revisited in 2023 using her experience since then to produce the songs as they were intended when first written. Those songs were inspired by some of Gemma’s own family’s Super 8 film from the 70s and 80s, which she’s edited together to create her debut short film HOME, out later this year. The songs themselves will be released on an EP this coming April.

Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | Bandcamp

GNAWA STATE 7 – Sossadi Manayo

Gnawa State 7 describe themselves as “an electronic music collective, formed in Marrakech, with the aim of creating a new fusion of sound system culture and traditional Gnawa music […] that takes the listener on a deep journey into the music and stories of the Gnawa.”

This track, Sossadi Manayo, is their debut single, a flawless demonstration of that, and one of my personal favourites this week. You can stream and buy this track on Bandcamp and pretty much everywhere now.

Instagram | Bandcamp

J.CHAMBERS – Fields Feat Qyor

I like to see an artist climb the ranks. Manchester MC and dub poet J.Chambers has appeared on our Listening Post a couple of times before, but has now made our Fresh Faves with Fields. J.Chambers’s voice and poetry reaches out and grabs my attention in ways few can. This track also features a soaring vocal solo from Jamaican artist Qyor, which really elevates things towards the end.

Recorded in Tuff Gong Studios, Kingston, Fields is the introduction to Homecoming, an upcoming project exploring, culture, identity and peace due out this Spring, and you can watch a version of this song on YouTube too. I look forward to hearing more!

Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | Bandcamp

MOONPOOLS – Never Mind

From Basel, Switzerland, five-piece Moonpools bring more dream-pop / shoegazey vibes to our Fresh Faves with Never Mind, which went down very well with readers and moderators alike this week. Never Mind is taken from their upcoming EP Hide And Seek, due out this April. If you happen to be in Switzerland, you can catch them playing m4music Festival in Zurich next month. Never Mind is available to stream and buy now.

Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube

NOTHING ON TV – All About Love

Nothing On TV sound like they’ve been around forever, in the best possible sense, and that’s probably down to the calibre of the people involved, something which I’ve only now bothered to find out.

So, Nothing On TV is an “international conglomerate” featuring Scott Cryer and Rob McDonald from Canada (who also play together as Dirt Farmer), Jesper Eriksson (Sweden), and Liverpool’s Jim Pearson, who many of you will know from countless appearances both here on Fresh On The Net and Tom’s BBC Introducing Mixtape over the years. The story goes that after years of mutual appreciation, a global lockdown pushed them into “a full and frenetic period of full blown interstellar collaboration” leading to their first collection of songs, Remote, released August 2021.

All About Love is taken from their forthcoming mini album Transmit. I love the way we come in late on this particular story, with the opening line “I don’t trust me anymore”, how it meanders around all those thoughts, so you’re never quite sure what’s next (while keeping you in the moment), and how it then leads to a satisfying conclusion — songwriting and storytelling all in one. Transmit is due for release on February 16th.

Facebook | Twitter/X | Bandcamp

SIR ARCHER – Heed The Call

Rounding of our Faves this week is Sir Archer, a “6-piece supergroup” from Sydney, with Heed The Call, a finely polished piece of funky pop that also went down very well with our readers this week.

I can’t tell you a great deal about the band, except that it seems they’ve been going for a few years now, and to highlight the very Aussie names of the line-up: Lukey on vocals, Tommy on keys and vocals, Tiz on percussion and vocals, Ricko on drums and vocals, Beebs on bass, and Jimmy on guitar… and vocals. If you happen to live in the land Down Under, you can catch them at various dates over this month and next. If not, then you can stream Heed The Call in all the usual places now.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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.