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

ATTENDANT – Patriot Parade

Attendant are London-based alt rockers who write songs with big riffs, memorable hooks and darkly comic lyrics. Patriot Parade is a track from their debut album State Of Disarray, due out Friday 21st June.

Vocalist Andy Walker tells us that each song from the album is: “a subplot, featuring a cast of mostly unpleasant people. The lyrics lampoon these characters in protest at the societal ills they represent.”

This is the opening track on the album, and what a start. It has all the “in yer face” elements a great bass-driven rock track should have. Well, it certainly woke me up, wrapped me around my functional office chair (good for back support) and had me bouncing up and down, hanging on their every word.

Attendant tell us that Patriot Parade is an anti-racist protest song, satirising populist demagogues and their followers. A bass-driven track that continues to build while mashing elements of punk, alternative rock and Brit-pop together.

Get your tickets early for their gig at the Hope and Anchor, London on Saturday 22nd June.

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BABY MAKER – No Watershed

Not much to tell you about Baby Maker, and typing ‘baby maker’ into Google certainly doesn’t help me, actually it throws up lots of things that have nothing whatsoever to do with this band.

There is a YouTube channel with the track and picture of someone sitting in a bath, with a shirt on, tapping on a laptop. Oh my, I find myself wanting to write taplop — don’t blame me, it’s the bath scene cover art making me do it.

Released 29th February, No Watershed was popular with this week’s listeners and if you take a moment to listen you will understand why — it vocalises fervently those restless nights where you think you are screaming, but you’re actually not. We’ve all had those, right? Those nights when you just want the stuff going on in your head to stop…

This track is well produced and would certainly sit well with many a BBC 6 Music show.

You just have to hope that Baby Maker gets some respite from their pressures and finds time to write a bit about themselves on social media. Why? Because we want to know you, you are good, very good, tell us more please.

YouTube

CIARA O’NEILL – Woman

Ciara O’Neill is a Belfast-based singer-songwriter who was a RTE Radio1 Folk Award Nominee for Best Emerging Artist in 2022. Woman is from the EP of the same name and the EP launch show is at Linen Hall Library, Belfast on 24th May. Book your tickets now!

As soon as the vocal came in I thought, I know that voice. True, it is unmistakeable, and it would make you sit up and take notice even if you had never heard Ciara before. I realised Ciara is the vocalist on the brilliant song Bubble Gum by Matt McGinn.

Ciara says: “Woman is an exploration of the beauty and complexities of being a Woman in modern society. Looking at myself, my own female relatives and those Women in history who have lived lives in the shadows, it’s about having a desire for more, not feeling the need to conform to expectations placed on us, and allowing ourselves to be visible and speak our truths.”

It’s a superb track that carries us along on a womanly wave of want with the need to be recognised. It does seem that we take a few steps forward only to find that, while going about our everyday chores, we’ve fallen back by a few more. The history is there as a reminder and Woman’s History Month is a great time to release such a song.

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CLT DRP – Until You Showed Me

CLT DRP are Brighton-based feminist electro-punk trio with Annie son vocals, Scott on guitar, and Daphne on drums. With elements of punk, electronica and heavy pop, Until You Showed Me was released 28th February 2024, and is taken from their second album Nothing Clever, Just Feelings released on Venn Records.

Annie Dorrett says: “Femininity is a word that has haunted me my whole life, whereas Masculinity is something that I’ve longed for. Until You Showed Me is a love song to my current partner for making my gender fluidity something that they nourish and make room for rather than dismiss or ignore…”

The track has a strikingly watchable video and, although already full of energy, the film gifts the track even more strut. It’s directed and edited by Sam Morris at Avocado Baby Film and featuring Oli Hopkins, El Murphy, Mikey Squire, Daphne Koskeridou, Annie Dorrett, Erin Munn, Phoebe Bentham, and Gaëlle Croguennec.

It’s true, this track didn’t hit me between the eyes straight out of the inbox blocks, but now? I love its confidence, it’s swagger, its throb, two minutes in you just know you’ll be hitting repeat, REPEAT! I’ve listened lots and have to thank the other Mods for making sure I didn’t miss this one.

CLT DRP tell us that live “They’re a force to be reckoned…” I’m persuaded! Go see them. 22nd Mar – Joiners, Southampton, 23rd Mar – Revenge, Brighton, 30th Mar – Reverie Festival, Bristol, and visit their website for dates in Leeds, Cardiff, Dublin, Belfast, Ipswich…

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DOVIAK – The Courtyard

James Doviak is a musician and producer. For the last decade the Manchester-based musician has been best known as the enigmatic guitarist in Johnny Marr’s live band, as well as working as a co-producer on his recent run of top ten albums and helping to craft hits like The Messenger, Easy Money and Hi Hello.

The Courtyard, released 27th February, is the first in a series of new releases from DOVIAK with an EP expected in early 2024.


The Listening Post gods are truly looking down on me today, I was supposed to be reviewing next week, but had to change at the last minute — this set of Fresh Faves is socking me right smack in the face with its diversity, professionalism and just pure musical joy. The Courtyard doesn’t just stand out, it cries out, “Love is a lonely heart”, “Now it’s midnight in the courtyard… I pin a rose onto your scar…” 


Three minutes and eight seconds of a potent indie beat that just doesn’t let you NOT listen to its lyrically lyrical lyrics, so good it’s got me talking gibberish, oh just turn up the volume, ignore me.

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HANA LILI – Basement

I can see that Hana Lili has been reviewed a few times here on Fresh Faves (hardly surprising, she is exceptionally talented) and the previous reviews all tell us that Hana Lili is from a small town in Wales (one reviewer wondered which one, I looked, I can’t find it), her first language is Welsh and she is classically trained in the flute. I would really like to tell you more about Hana, the ‘About Me’ page on her website says…

“Hey, how are you doing? MGMT: MARK@LOADINGTALENT.COM”

Yep, that’s it, but never mind, this track speaks for itself. Released 23rd February, Basement had instant impact and went straight into my initial shortlist. It combines an addictive dynamic vibe with sensitive lyrics that place Hana’s feelings firmly on her sleeve. She throws herself at the track with an honesty that requires you to listen. No, that’s not it — it compels you to listen. Packed to the rafters with emotion, a striking track indeed. Hana will keep making the Fresh Faves with music as excellent as this, and will undoubtedly leave future Fresh Fave reviewers wishing they knew more.

Hana is playing venues at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton between 15th to 18th May.

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NAOMI IN BLUE – Broken

Naomi In Blue is Naomi Larsson Piñeda, a British-Chilean award-winning journalist who covers social justice, culture and the environment in the UK and abroad. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, Al Jazeera, and Wired, among others, she is also the former senior editor for the politics section of gal-dem, the award-winning media company committed to sharing the perspectives of people of colour from marginalised genders.
 
Naomi turned to songwriting as another way to tell stories, reconstructing what we understand a singer-songwriter to be. Naomi tells us that she, “Blends sharp storytelling with experimental soundscapes, Naomi in Blue questions the constraints of genre and takes us beyond Americana to a cinematic sound that’s post-country.”


Broken, released 27th February, is powerful, raw, aching. The singer does not want to be a broken woman — this is repeated over and over again in an attempt to convince of something that is, possibly, already a fact. Betrayal weighs heavy and the dark air serves to emphasise this, but broken? No, she isn’t broken, she absorbs her own pain but makes her mother cry and the menace in her voice cuts.

See Naomi live at the EP launch Tuesday on 30th April at SJQ, London, N16.

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THE POWDERED EARTH – Matilda (Featuring Mića Williams)

Gloucester-based writer/producer duo George Moorey and Shane Young are The Powdered Earth. George’s past work focuses on collaborations and community music projects. His portfolio includes several albums, National Lottery-funded projects and more. He created the SPACES project with funding from Arts Council England.

As a drummer, Shane has made records with some great names including Nick Lowe, as well as playing on albums by The Christians and touring with the likes of Jools Holland and Squeeze. This collaboration with George has allowed him to step out of his comfort zone, debuting as a singer and lyricist.

Matilda has Mića Williams: lead vocal, Charlotte Ayrton: ukulele, Charlie Campbell: electric/nylon string guitars, Phil Campbell: piano, Darragh Cullen: bass guitar, George Moorey: acoustic guitar/organ, Jaelee Small: backing vocals, Shane Young: backing vocals/drums. Dub Catalyst horn section: Caz Chandler: trombone, Andrew Farrington: trumpet, Alexander Govan: saxophone.


Wow! What a line up and it shows in shedloads in the listening.

The song is inspired by the reminiscences of Matilda, who came from Jamaica as a member of the Windrush generation. Arriving in Gloucester for the first time and, upon seeing the chimneys on houses as the train pulled into the station, Matilda imagined them to be lots of little factories. Then, as the British winter took hold, she realised that people had coal fires in their homes.


A superb track. I love it when a track tells a story and paints that story so richly that you feel it, see it. It reminds me of the stories told at Johnno Casson’s, aka Snippetcuts, Warm and Toasty Club.

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VANESSA VAN NESS – True True Shot

Vanessa Van Ness is a British American singer/songwriter, producer, and guitarist who has been featured on BBC Radio Introducing in Oxfordshire. True True Shot was released 16th September 2019, and has notched up over 100K streams, it’s an infectious track, that could easily weave its way through a True Detective series — if you have watched any those you will know where I’m coming from, perhaps this is hardly surprising as before pursuing music Vanessa worked in film and television. Also interestingly, well I thought so, she would often volunteer as a disaster responder between film shoots.


I love the beat, the foreboding, the guitar introduced at two minutes in and the darkness, ah yes, the divine darkness. I am not alone in loving True True Shot, as it was our listeners’ favourite track this week.

The song feels like the script for a short film, let the opening lyrics set the scene…

“Back in ’94

There was a storm

And it hit me hard
Storm rider, black beauty

On the boulevard

”Ey honey, are you shoot’n?

—I get it tight

Straight straight shot

Are you shoot’n?

—It’s what I like”

Vanessa has a number of newer tracks you can listen to and I politely suggest that you do.

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WORLDCUB – Back To The Beginning

Worldcub are brothers Cynyr and Dion Hamer. Their musical journey began under the name ‘CaStLeS’, taking influence from 70s/80s McCartney and DIY ‘Fantastic Man’, William Onyeabor. They produce material from their home studio on the hills of Eryri, splicing together elements of surf guitar music, kraut-rock grooves and hypnotic psych-tinged Cymru vocal harmonies.


They’ve gained much air time having been noticed by BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Wales and Cymru, also earning their debut performance slot on the BBC Introducing stage at Reading & Leeds Festival. They have an extensive run of live shows under their belt including festivals such as Liverpool Sound City, Liverpool Psych Fest, Farmfest and more. 
Worldcub are now looking to release new music in 2024 along with Calvin Thomas on bass and Jasmine Roberts on guitar.

Back To The Beginning was released 20th February. The track is propelling, pushing and, dare I say it, would be a great track to jog or cycle to, I don’t do either BTW, although I do find myself dancing around the kitchen singing back to the beginning, back, back, back…


It’s a fitting title, Back To The Beginning, as once you finish dancing round to Worldcub, what I fully expect you to do with this outstanding batch of Fresh Faves is start listening to them all over again.

Get your tickets for Focus Wales, Wrexham 9-11th May 2024 to see Worldcub do what they do so well — playing live!

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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.

Vanessa Van Ness photo by Hannah Leder