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

Sheesh not me again! Ha ha yeah sorry but hey, we have new mods on the team now so you are going to see more names and writing styles handling the fresh faves over the second half of 2024. Did someone say ‘second half of 2024’?! Well, it will officially be that in three weeks’ time. A few days after that we may have a new government too. It will be an eventful summer in more ways than one. Still, don’t let the warm weather distract you from voting in that poll or these ones. And if you can persuade others you know to come and browse future Listening Posts and add their choices too, that will be very cool. In the meantime, here are the ten tracks you, our awesome readers, chose this weekend just gone. As always, it is a privilege and a joy to review them for the team. Coffee’s ready so let’s get started.

ALEXANDRA LEAVING – Hardball

Originally from Shropshire in the English West Midlands and now London-based, Alexandra Leaving took inspiration from a Leonard Cohen song. She lists PJ Harvey, Mitski, Wolf Alice and The Kills as influences (a pretty cool combination). She has had support from the BBC Introducing Rock Show, BBC 6 Music, Radio X and other significant media and she has performed live with her band at the likes of The Lexington, Sebright Arms, Signature Brew (for Access All Areas), Strongroom and Folklore, nearly all venues I have enjoyed gigs at myself in recent times. This year Alexandra has been working with producer Michael Smith (Wolf Alice, Noah Yorke, Slaney Bay) at Metropolis (for the mastering) and has produced an EP exploring ‘… the nuances of feminine rage’.

Hardball gets straight into vocals, initially accompanied by a chugging two-string staccato guitar figure. This is joined by long keyboard tones and a half-time drumbeat. You can feel the intensity building as more sounds and harmonised notes are added before a roll across the kit takes the track into overdrive. Following a brief instrumental passage, Alexandra’s voice rises into the upper register, bolstered by harmonies, and everything goes up another notch. The dynamic and textural contrasts are smart and the drop-down at the end is impactful and unexpected; a strong finish to a fine track.

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ALEXYS – Lullaby

On the other occasion when Bristol singer-songwriter Alexys made the Fresh Faves in October 2022, Fresh on the Net mod and reviewer Marina pointed out that it is not very helpful when an artist has no social media and nothing online except a Soundcloud page with a picture of a sheep. He appears not to have responded to Marina’s advice which is baffling if he wants people to find him and hear his music. But it is his choice and it means that is literally all I can tell you about him.

Lullaby is a quiet acoustic track. He picks guitar chords out in a folk style, accompanying his deep register which is reminiscent of a softer-toned Leonard Cohen. The lyrics reference the subject matter of well-known lullabies. The style is very English and traditional and his vocals are slightly conversational. The accompaniment is identical in every verse so no layering or building towards dynamic changes or nuanced contrasts. He even leaves in the odd slip, giving it a very live, demo-like quality. Clearly Alexys likes to present things raw and pure and he remains true to that principle here. Simple and sincere.

B OF BRIZ – Let Yourself Cry

By no means a new face at the Fresh Faves, B Of Briz makes ‘… philosophically-inclined rap to you from the future, for all of womankind and our allies to enjoy with your ears and minds and bodies’. As I noted when I reviewed her for the Faves back in May 2023, she is also described as ‘… a masked rapper’ who, and I paraphrase, can be confrontational, is always honest and, as ‘… a woman on the internet’, enjoys some pseudonymity, not so she can hide but to be fully earnest. She is also a big favourite of the Fresh on the Net team, BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio. B Of Briz is blazing a trail with her unique and lyrically thoughtful approach.

Let Yourself Cry begins with a quiet wordless chant, a single synth tone and a slow crunching beat before the rap vocal takes centre stage. As the title suggests, this is about dealing with the hurts, pressures and stresses that get you down. Her approach is a mix of untempered realism and a nurturing, supportive call to cry on her shoulder. Lines like ‘Nights when you saw the storm outside and shook with fear/Nights when you wish you could dissolve in your own tears’ really get past your emotional guard. This is biting and sparse but it is beautiful too and the little piano figure that repeats through much of the track adds a sweet sensibility to a touching lyric.

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BARSTAFF – OH! CD

Barstaff are a busy band. They recently played Truck Festival preceded by a sold-out show in Manchester plus performances at Dingwalls and Luckjuice Fest and an appearance on BBC Introducing in Merseyside. There is an entertaining Q&A with two band members on their Instagram account. They are described on Bandcamp as ‘a band from Wigan except Josh who’s not from Wigan’! The impression from their social media is that they are a band who comfortably combine having plenty to say with having a lot of fun.

OH! CD is in an uptempo triplet time, driven by energetic bass and drums with some agreeably atmospheric guitars. The song structure is beautifully broken up and this is correspondingly contrasted in terms of sounds and textures. A male vocal takes the lead, delivering a subtly melancholy melody that nevertheless soars and swoops across the mix. References are difficult to pin down as there are echoes of classic acts from across a long lineage here. Maybe very broadly similar territory to China Bears, LAVE, Hard-Fi and others but that might be misleading. What you really need to know is this is imaginatively arranged, pleasingly unpredictable and engagingly tuneful.

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COMING UP ROSES – Why

Since arriving in London from Singapore in 2022, Emily Sera (Bass Guitar, Vocals & Synths) and Darius Oon (Guitar, Synths & Percussion) have been on quite a mission. As well as being outstanding students at ICMP (where I had the privilege of being Emily’s MA tutor), they have recruited London musicians Charlie Wilson (Guitar) and Caleb Blake (Drums). This is their second time making our fresh faves. They have been gigging extensively, including festival stages, appearing in various online media and building an impressive following as witnessed by the two thousand plus monthly listeners they have amassed on Spotify. Exciting times surely lie ahead..

Why is in a stately triplet time. Emily’s voice floats above reverberant guitars and tight, solid bass and drums. The verses are relatively laid back but everything rises up into a more dynamic chorus. The lead guitar playing arpeggios over fuzzy chords and the general wall-of-sound production in the intro and chorus, contrasting the translucence of the verses, remind me a little of Bleach Lab in a mash with Been Stellar while NewDad bring spices. Coming Up Roses certainly combine a shoegaze-infused dreaminess with a positive Alt Rock energy and their arranging skills enable the track to be nuanced and full of creative imagination. Added to all this, the melody is quite goose-bumping as are Emily’s upper range ‘ah’s in the final stretch.

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DILETTANTE – Fun

Multi-instrumentalist Francesca Pidgeon and her band Dilettante, described as ‘Art Pop from the North of England’, have been on my radar for a while and I have blogged about them previously. It may surprise readers to learn that Francesca is also a member of 6 Music favourites (and one of mine too) BC Camplight. A recent article in Narc magazine also reveals that Francesca is a pretty serious skater. They have had Steve Lamacq come to a gig and record a track for his show on BBC 6 Music and they are playing some cool venues. So Fun arrives in our Fresh Faves at a point where Dilettante could be about to blow up big.

The BC Camplight connection will surprise you a whole lot less when you listen to Fun and appreciate the extent both of Francesca’s musicianship and her creative imagination. ‘I’m not having any fun’ she repeatedly tells us although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the joyous nature of the track. The song passes through several distinct sections, beginning quite translucent with the focus on Francesca’s rich alto tones and some spine-tingling harmonies but adding layers as it develops until the full gamut of buzzing, bubbling and boisterous sounds threatens to explode. The call and response semi-contrapuntal vocal arrangement over the final stretch provides a perfectly climatic finale to a great track.

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JUSTIN SCONZA – There’s That Sound

Another addition to this pleasingly international set of faves, Justin Sconza is from Chicago, Illinois in the USA (as if you didn’t know where it is!!). His Instagram page shows him playing with a band who he gigs with but, in his home studio, it is all Justin singing and playing everything on an 8-track recorder. He jokes about comparisons others have made between his music and other artists who he had not previously heard but professes a fondness for The Beatles and Hank Williams.

The Beatles were actually the first name that entered my head on hearing There’s That Sound. Breezy strummed guitars, penetrative melody and some sweet harmony vocals all pointed me in that direction but then I could also maybe have considered World Party, The La’s and others who, it may well turn out, Justin is also not especially familiar with! Not that it matters. The important information is that this is a refreshing, organic piece of upbeat Pop with a ‘classic’ feel about it that speaks to its timeless aura.

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PRAWNS – Lavender

Norwich Synthpop duo Prawns have been getting amongst it with live shows and radio play while also finding time to post a series of covers of well-known songs done in their own style on Instagram. May saw the release of their EP Cracker and the video for Lavender went live in the past few days.

Kicking off with some warm sweep chords and a tidy little synth bassline, Lavender has a funky feel, emphasised by Gregg’s upper strings guitar figure. Cara’s voice is soft-toned and nimble with a yearning quality. They drop instruments in and out of the mix, retaining a clear translucence while also building clever little contrasts that keep things flowing. The main hook is expressive and catchy and the combination of upper register funky guitar and deeper synth tones works well with Cara’s beckoning, engaging vocals.

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SAM REDMORE – Home (feat. Dele Sosimi)

Judging by how he has organised his Soundcloud profile, I would say Birmingham’s Sam Redmore is pretty excited to be collaborating with Nigerian Afrobeat legend Dele Sosimi and who wouldn’t be? Dele Sosimi is based in London these days, still performing with his bands but also teaching at a university here. Sam is also no slouch of course. With recent performances at Repercussion, Green Belt Festival, Fabric and Don Letts’ show in Nottingham plus appearances on Craig Charles’ show on BBC 6 Music and the Spotify Fresh Finds playlist, he has been a busy guy just lately.

Home is a lilting Afrobeat-infused track with a Calypso-like bassline in syncopated triads, sumptuous percussion, sweet vibrato strings and agile picking guitars. The vocal chants with voices an octave apart immediately grab me by both ears and the plethora of little nuances that keep events fluid are a demonstration of the musicianship and expertise at play here. Dele’s deep, delightful and soothing tones are as appealing when he sings as when he provides spoken word. The pair complement each other well and the track has a lovely balance of Afrobeat traditions and modern production ideas. This should have bums wiggling and hips shaking all summer long. I also recommend diving into Sam’s Instagram to see videos of Dele and Sam jointly and separately discussing their collaboration. Heartwarming stuff.

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THEE MARLOES – Mungkin Saja

Hailing from Surabaya in Indonesia, which I think is a first for the Fresh Faves, Thee Marloes have spent the past year playing live and honing their sound as they wrote and recorded their latest material. May saw the release of their debut album Perak by the Big Crown label. According to the Bandcamp page for the album, there are three members – Natassya Sianturi on vocals, Sinatrya Dharaka on guitar, and Tommy Satwick on drums – although there are more of them in the live pics and there is a pic of Natassya playing a keyboard. Their sound mixes ‘… local culture and music with influences of Soul, Jazz and Pop’.

Mungkin Saja blends a funky undercurrent driven by syncopated jazz-infused drums and staccato bass with some choice chords and picking guitar play. Against this fluent, flowing light-textured and organic backdrop, Natassya’s vocals, sung in Indonesian, are nimble and have a soulful edge. This is a breath of fresh air, lovingly conceived and instantly engaging. I very much hope we wil be hearing more Thee Marloes tracks at Fresh on the Net once the three months is up from being a fave this week.

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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.