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.

Note from Del: Welcome to another set of faves! As always if anyeone is looking for airplay on my Islington Radio show drop me an email at del.owusu@gmail.com with an MP3 and bio – clean radio edits only – thank you folks! Over to Neil!

Wow! Is it really February already? Well, of course, it’s my son’s birthday today. 3 days ago, I published the 100th edition of my Trust The Doc blog with guest articles from our very own Del Osei-Owusu, FOTN stalwart Sue Oreszczyn and my close friend of over half a century Paul F Cook so, after his lovely tribute to me, I now get to talk about him as he has once again made the faves.

More of that later though. It is 2025. We are involved in a fluid, often volatile industry where change is a constant, the norm even. Music Artists face some big challenges right now. The failure of governments to make any tangible headway on an international legislative framework to limit the scope and set down rules and ethics in relation to the use of AI in music leaves us operating within an unregulated mess and politicians dabbling with copyright law is not helping the situation. In the UK, lack of progress in restoring arts funding means creative entrepreneurs have limited access to support that encourages them to take risks and create opportunities for nurturing talent.

Independent music needs platforms like Fresh on the Net who support as much grassroots talent as possible with no money and no agenda. I have just begun my eighth year as a moderator and I am as proud now as I have ever been of our team and our efforts. But we are only relevant as long as there are artists out there who are prepared to share their work with us and try to get their music onto our Listening Post. This week, like every week that we are open, 25 acts made it through moderation and our readers have chosen the final 10. It is my privilege to review them. So, with coffee poured, let’s get to it.

AHMED & THE ROMANS – Complicated Mathematics

Manchester quartet Ahmed & The Romans are showing us how it’s done when it comes to getting out there and amongst it. They have been playing a short tour of Italy which ended yesterday and have been featured on BBC 6 Music’s New Music Fix. Before that, they were involved in an all-day fundraiser in Manchester following a little tour around different regions of England. They have also been featured by our very own Tom Robinson on the Mixtape show in 2023. Hopefully 2025 will see them continue to grow their fanbase.

Complicated Mathematics is quirky. Male vocals with a rock and roll-style short echo are manic like Devo in a mash with Posi. The guitars are choppy, trebly and energetic, underpinned by driving bass and drums. The stop-start style adds to the intensity of the track. There are elements of this classic sound that recall The Cramps and even The Fall (not least the BVs), maybe in a jam with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It is also undeniably catchy and full of smart little themes and ideas. All in all, a breath of fresh air.

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

B OF BRIZ – Effboy

Regular readers will no doubt already be familiar with the highly consistent Bristol-based artist B of Briz. She has been building a formidable reputation for matching intelligent, incisive lyrics with striking imaginative backdrops. She has also become a favourite of BBC 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq and Amazing Radio. B keeps her identity something of a guarded secret, preferring to maintain a distance between her other professional life and her music, even down to sporting a mask in photos.

Effboy pulls no punches. The lyric, which is more spoken word than rap, paints a portrait of a guy so twisted in his vengeful attitude towards women that he convinces himself that he is acting out some higher psychological campaign. As always, she picks her words with incisiveness and impact, set against a sparse musical soundscape dominated by delicate piano and persistent beat, adding to the dark and dysfunctional atmosphere of the story line. Superbly done.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky | Bandcamp

BLOFELD SANDS – People

Brand new from Brighton by the looks of it, Blofeld Sands must be pretty happy that Radio X’s John Kennedy has already called their single ‘an instant banger’. They have also very sensibly been down either the Musosoup or similar route and have bagged great reviews from The Zine, FV Music Blog, The Big Takeover and others. They are so new that you won’t find them on Spotify yet unless you use the Landr link to pre-save the track. Their social media is also quite light at the moment but hopefully they will find their way onto more platforms soon. They have made an impactful start so let’s see what 2025 may bring.

People thunders into our lives with a high tempo beat and everything driving forward instrumentally – guitar, bass, drums – while the hook is repeated and is undeniably catchy. There is something of an epic feel to their music. Shades of 86TVs maybe in a jam with The Cardinals. Uplifting, energetic and tuneful Alt Rock, perfectly produced.

Instagram | Facebook | Landr

DEAN OWENS – Burn It All

The Soundcloud link submitted with the track will take you to Scary Biscuits Promotion but I have dug out his own links for you. Dean Owens is an award-winning singer-songwriter from Edinburgh who claims, among his fans, Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh and ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris, legendary Whistle Test host and long-time BBC Radio 2 presenter. His touring itinerary is seriously impressive. Currently he has just (as in yesterday) kicked off a tour beginning in Scotland before an extensive spread of dates across Australia and Netherlands in March and May respectively.

Burn It All begins with quiet strumming guitar before the beat kicks in and Dean’s gritty, distinctive vocal brings a bluesy edge, set against some cool guitar effects and harmonies that help to lift the main hook. The song has an organic feel and quite traditional blues-rock-soul structure, emphasised by some tasty horns and the minor key I – IV – V chord arrangement. It builds nicely and keeps events moving throughout.

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

GRUBBY – Invade Us

Grubby is becoming quite a regular at Fresh on the Net, known as a consistent creator of high quality electronic music tracks. He also uses his own playlist curation to shine the light on other artists’ work. The London artist’s Spotify Artist Profile calls his work ‘electronic music with a soul’. Grubby is also a curator for Submithub and you can access his playlists here.

Very often those Grubby tracks are electro-Drum’N’Bass and so it is with Invade Us. The beat is fast and furious, subject to imaginative use of breaks and mini-interludes while growling sub-bass and female spoken word punctuate events and all manner of other sounds come and go. There is a space vibe here too that adds to the futuristic feel of the track. Packed with ideas and content.

Instagram | Twitter/X | Bandcamp

LOVELY ASSISTANT – Oh Just Go

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s Lovely Assistant are a quartet who say their music defies genre categorisation. They have received support from Help Musicians. The band, who are touring around the North East and North of England from later this month, have been reviewed in Music Local, been interviewed in NARC and had support from BBC Introducing. Their new album, the name of which seems surprisingly hard to uncover (!), is released soon.

There is an edginess from the outset with the way the guitars and bass are produced. The male vocal has a kind of mockney delivery that adds to its laid back aura while the bass is melodic, the drums are crisp and the guitars play some lovely chords and melodic figures. As the chorus approaches, the female vocal grabs centre stage and adds a soul-inflected element while the harmonies that underpin the hook are lovely. This is a track full of clever contrasts, nuanced changes and smart, thoughtful lyrics. And the chorus is goose-bumping.

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube

PAULFCOOK & WITH SUN – I Can’t Look Up

Two very good friends of mine as well as regulars at Fresh on the Net, Paul F Cook, who I grew up with and played in bands with for many years, is a highly accomplished guitarist, versatile composer and a member of the indie-classical-ambient trio Skylon. He is also Deputy Editor of the popular indie music journal Joyzine. Alice Hale is With Sun, impressive singer-songwriter who performs live with partner and cool lead guitarist Stuart ‘Stu’ Readman. With Sun have managed to balance young parenthood with continuing to gig (including at my events) and write new material while Paul moved to the West Country in 2023 but still plays with Skylon alongside multi-instrumentalist Luke Moore and singer-keyboardist Julia. Paul and Alice have been talking about collaborating for some time so it is exciting that they have made good on that promise and it has been worth the wait.

The combination here of Paul’s exquisite and effortlessly light-textured picking guitars and Alice’s distinctive and dexterous voice, sometimes with added harmony, sit at the heart of the track. A delicate harmonica complements these elements while Alice’s lyrics are heartfelt and observational, reinforced by spoken word. The melancholy mood of the music suits the subject matter of the song. We often use words like intimate and intricate when describing singer-songwriters’ works but those words absolutely apply here. Expectations of this collaboration may have been high but they have still surpassed them.

Paul F Cook: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | Bandcamp

Alice/With Sun: Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | Bandcamp

RETROPXSSY – Hitting Different

Eleanor, aka Retropxssy, scarcely needs introduction. She is a favourite of the Fresh on the Net audience. She is also THE most electrifying solo live performer (with live DJ) I have seen in grassroots music as witnessed by her breathtaking show for our Fresh on the Net Live festival on Day One in London. I have had the pleasure of putting her on at a couple of previous live gigs and she owns the audience within minutes of taking to [and frequently leaping off] the stage. 2024 has seen her continue to consolidate and build on her reputation and 2025 can be a pivotal year for her.

Hitting Different has a cinematic quasi-Disco feel to the looped synth strings figure while the beat is half-time and adds a layer of energy. As always though, it is Eleanor’s vocal delivery in that distinctive, daunting, dominant tone that holds our attention as she sets out her stall. Then, a minute and a half in as we are hanging on her words, it ends suddenly and without warning, reminding us that she makes her own rules. 90 seconds that are worth making the effort to hear.

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

ROSIE BERGONZI – Spring Hope

Another good friend of mine, I first met Rosie Bergonzi when I had just started my PhD study as a composer at Goldsmiths, University of London and she was the 18 year old percussionist in an ensemble I had composed a new work for. I was instantly struck by the ease with which, despite inadequate rehearsal time, she mastered the challenging parts I had scored. Within what seemed like a very short time, she was playing the BBC Proms with the Chineke! Orchestra and adding both percussion and piano skills as a band member for the likes of Neneh Cherry, Celeste and others.

Rosie has also, over this past decade or so, become one of the UK’s premier exponents of the Handpan, a 21st Century instrument that has elements of steel pan and gamelan, and what she has achieved both as an individual artist and as an ambassador for this wonderful instrument, has been extraordinary although arguably less so if you know Rosie and know what a tirelessly positive and hard-working musician and teacher she is. I have had the pleasure of Rosie playing both as a solo artist and as part of the duo Boubakiki (with saxophonist Joe Steele) at my live events. She is now becoming a serial fresh fave which suggests happily that our readers are also getting to know what a unique and exciting talent she is (although her first time was actually with her Black Lives Matter inspired rap track I’m Not A Hashtag).

Spring Hope provides our first taste of pre-seasonal optimism. But then perhaps it means that hope springs from the music. Either way, hope is something we need a fresh supply of right now. In her instantly recognisable and inimitable style, Rosie uses the Handpan to build arpeggios and stress the fluid harmonic language while cleverly bringing out an attractive and striking melody. As such, she is able to simultaneously achieve an aura of mysticism and an agreeable tranquility. Beautifully played and composed. Well of course it is!

Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bandcamp

SHAPES LIKE PEOPLE – Ambition Is Your Friend

Female-Male duo Shapes Like People are husband and wife Carl and Kat Mann from Wiltshire in the English West Country. They have an album out in March called Ticking Haze and the new single has been picking up airplay on some cool indie radio shows. Carl spent a couple of years playing guitar for Kylie Minogue and both of them are clearly experienced, accomplished performers. It is a thing that every time I review the fresh faves, there is at least one track I can’t believe I overlooked when voting. This weekend, it has been this one by Shapes Like People!

Ambition Is Your Friend has a little of Teenage Fanclub in a jam with Haley Bonar while Mazzy Star bring flavours about the shimmering pop guitar jangle and goose-bumping vocal harmonies. They have also been compared to R.E.M and I can hear why. Kat’s vocals lead the line here and they have an easy chemistry coupled with evident ability to pen a gorgeous melody. From the moment this kicks into action, it is irresistible. ‘Don’t punish me for trying’ they sing. Oh how I can relate to that hook! Moreover this is melodic, bright, breezy but punchy Alt Pop with a dash of Americana. Lovingly crafted and expertly executed.

Instagram | Facebook | Threads | Bluesky | YouTube | Bandcamp

PS from Del: 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 – 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.