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.

A word from Del: Thanks to everyone who submitted tracks last week, top calibre as always! If you want your tracks to be considered for airplay on my Exile FM show, please send me an email to del.owusu@gmail.com with your bio and audio files. Clean radio edits only. Also, please read Neil’s comprehensive guide about how we put together the reviews, trying track down artist information is a pain, please have mercy on us poor moderators and provide the relevant information on your soundcloud and/or socials. Thankyou!

Neil: Welcome to another weekend’s faves as voted for by our readers. As I write, Autumn is still struggling to properly set in. The week gone by saw me involved in some long days but, even travelling home at night, it was too warm to keep my jacket on! If only the world around us didn’t feel so cold and dark so much of the time. Music is often my antidote to the hate, violence, corruption and greed that has been so much in the ascendancy in recent times. Us musicians have always tended to have little time for the petty prejudices of those who leech on division and scapegoating. I like to think of Fresh on the Net as an environment that is largely free from such influences and the strength and diversity of the music we receive and filter through to the Listening Post each week is a reflection of that. Here goes then with this week’s winning tracks.

AMELIA & THE HOUSEWIVES – Summer’s Over

Self-described as ‘… a band from Brighton who take fun seriously’, Amelia & The Housewives are becoming serial fresh faves, this being at least their third time. Brighton features heavily on their Instragram page and in the video for this track, and you can see them there on 20th December at the lovely Hope & Ruin. September saw them bag airplay on John Kennedy’s iconic X-Posure on Radio X. There is also a video of the band playing The Prince Albert (where Sherry and I concluded our tour in July). Amelia & The Housewives, as far as I can see, have two [female] singers and three [male] instrumentalists on guitar, bass and drums and all the live footage suggests they are a bundle of energy on stage.

Summer’s Over is melodic, jangly and has a ‘classic’ feel with hints of sixties powerpop mingling with mid-eighties indie. The bass and drums are punchy and provide the perfect foundation for the decorative guitar, vibrato keyboards and irresistible vocals and backing vocals. The lead singer on this track has a smidgen of Polly Styrene about the tone, although not the style, of her voice which is poppier and less dramatic. Maybe a little of Kirsty MacColl in a mash with Harriet Wheeler too. Influences are difficult to pin down but it feels like they have consumed a vast canon of everything from The Shangri-La’s to The Sundays and from Blondie to The Big Moon and concocted a fresh, engaging sound that you simply have to love.

Linktree | Instagram | Twitter/X

COURTEOUS THIEF – Rooftops

North Welsh Indie-Folk singer-songwriter Courteous Thief is no stranger to Fresh on the Net, having been a fave on past occasions going back to 2020. He has also had support from BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Introducing, BBC Radio Wales and even the in-flight playlist on British Airways. He is a hard working live performer with 7 gigs in Wales in the next month and a half alone and 2025 has seen him playing live all over Wales and North West England.

Rooftops is dominated by two key features; CT’s voice and shimmering acoustic guitar. His voice is naturally very youthful, poppy and puts him, oddly perhaps, in territory not a million miles from Ed Sheeran, James Arthur and maybe even a little of Jacob Alom. But his style is more folky and organic than these artists. All the same, Rooftops is notably hooky with its slightly breathless vocal technique and crisp beat. I can hear this on mainstream radio and popular playlists. The production really complements the song and performance too.

Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube

EMMA FRANCIS – Surrender To Love

What an intriguing individual Emma Francis turns out to be. A music and instrumental teacher and multi-instrumentalist (whose exploits include playing the handpan which would delight my good friends Rosie Bergonzi and Sue Oreszczyn), her Instagram features her playing both classical and jazz clarinet and piano and she describes herself as a ‘multi-reed player’. She has performed in Milan and this weekend saw her performing in South Woodham Ferrers (in Essex) with the Sid Bolan Band. Unusually she does not appear to be on YouTube other than Tunecore sharing the track and cover art for the new single.

Surrender To Love certainly demonstrates Emma’s classical influences. Soft arpeggio triplets on the piano are soon joined by mellow, melodic clarinet. The piano builds dynamically as acoustic guitar and deep strings add to the track’s evolution. It stays in a minor key, mostly built around a VI – VII – V – I chord structure. There is a striking middle section where the clarinet is double tracked momentarily before solo clarinet takes off into its upper register and single piano chords add to the continuing arpeggio triplets, representing the dynamic climax of the piece. The final stretch sees the clarinet in all its registers and Emma lets rip a little with some lovely flourishes. It is so refreshing to have a track like this in the faves.

Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp

GABBY RIVERS – Leave Me Alone

Talented young singer-songwriter Gabby Rivers, from Suffolk but now residing in Norwich (Norfolk), has been on my radar for some time. Especially so since I saw her play an impressive, invigorating live set at Andy Little’s unique aRTy Barn in Nettleden back in 2022 which I reviewed in Trust The Doc at the time. She was 19 then and a year later she was enjoying her first play on BBC Radio 1. Wind the clock on and she has just been playing Wild Paths Festival and supported Bag Of Cans at Norwich Arts Centre. Gabby has some exciting live shows in her itinerary for the remainder of the month too including an in-store at HMV and a London show at the New Cross Inn (just down the road from me).

Leave Me Alone is a song about dirty old men trying to hit on Gabby. From the opening fuzztone guitar riff, I’m hooked by the energy and attitude and when Gabby mixes an intense, passionate vocal performance with some really interesting and deliciously dissonant chords, I’m sold. The chorus is great and the little coda at the end is the icing on a freshly baked, spiced up and flavour-filled cake. This might well be her best single so far. Onwards and upwards.

Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube

HADDA BE – New To The Office

South London’s Hadda Be have been keeping busy with their live dates, often returning to Brixton’s indie music mecca The Windmill, a place where the likes of Black Midi, Mary In The Junkyard and many others first got noticed. They have been getting out onto the international stage, playing gigs and festivals in New York and Paris.

A chunky bass riff introduces New To The Office, joined by tough drums and jagged guitar stabs before the [female] vocal comes in, semi-conversational and slightly sarky in tone. The chorus cleverly moves into half time and single chords to emphasise the contrasting melody. As the track develops, the guitars become heavier but the arrangement is subtly nuanced to keep the dynamics going up and down. The influence of the edgier end of the Post-Punk spectrum is clear but this has a very contemporary feel too, putting it broadly in a ballpark that includes Dream Wife, Honeyblood, Potty Mouth and others. Its energy is infectious too.

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

LMP THE RAPPER – Run Away 2

LMP The Rapper has defied one of the unwritten rules of Hip Hop by choosing an artist name that describes what he does! Although his origins are somewhat enigmatic on his socials, he has had support from BBC Introducing in Hereford and Worcester so we assume he is a West Midlander. His live itinerary recently took in Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club and he has removed a load of material he had released, looking to make a fresh start.

Run Away 2 mixes an earnest staccato rapid-fire rapping style with melodic content, set to a melancholic minor key instrumental backdrop, introduced by an appealing arpeggio piano and ambient synths and sounds. The lyrics are self-reflective and take on a triplet time rhythm style. Elements of R’n’B give this an edge. It is essentially Pop but dark and dreamy in nature.

Linktree | Instagram | YouTube

PALE – Dreaming

Based in London, Pale have been quietly building their catalogue. Recording for Spirit Goth Records, they have had a couple of previous singles out before putting together their first EP. Accordingly, there isn’t a great deal that I can share with you about the band’s background but I suspect we will hear a lot more of Pale in 2026.

Dreaming, taken from Pale’s EP Nights, has an epic sensibility, driven merrily along by robust bass and drums underpinning pretty, decorative and melodic synth and guitar. The latter provides some attractive single spread chords while the former brings long legato tones. The [male] vocals are yearning and agile, wrapping sweet tenor tones around a striking melody, aided and abetted by spacious reverberant production. The dynamic contrast between the more laid back verse and the full-on chorus works well. This is ambitious Indie Pop with definite Dream Pop leanings and I love it.

Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bandcamp

POOL CLUB – Changing Tides

From the Kent East Coast, Pool Club are an all-male quintet who are building a reputation for their live shows, taking place around the Dover/Deal/Folkestone area. They have a cool website with plenty of information about the individual band members and the band’s up to date activities. Inspired by a classic mix of Indie music past and present, they have fashioned an epic sound through their combined songwriting talents.

Changing Tides gets straight down to business with power-driven, rock solid bass and drums underpinning the intertwining lead and chord playing guitars and colourful keyboard. The vocal has a sense of longing and the backing vocals add to the cinematic sensibility. Within a very short time, the mix of the big melody with the repeating keyboard figure and the spacious instrumental arrangement and production have me hooked. The ‘doo doo’ backing vocals are very effective too. This is going to be on replay in my head for days now. Influences are not easy to name but there is an unmistakably eighties feel to it. At the same time, their sound is fresh and contemporary and this is a song you will want to hear again as soon as it ends.

Official | Instagram | Facebook

SONNEN BLUME – Satellite

Staffordshire-based Sonnen Blume is described on Instagram as ‘A collection of pop songs I’ve written over the past decade or so! I’m so happy people can finally hear them’. Satellite was written in Manchester in 2022. So this looks like an intriguing project that is quite a few years in the making. I think Sonnen Blume is Donia Ivy but the information on her Instagram page is vague on identity.

Satellite is a jaunty kind of Pop Rock track in a major key with a buoyant instrumental arrangement and a memorable hook. Her vocals are upbeat and sung in a crystal clear tone. The structure of the song and the dynamic built-up going into the chorus underline her experience as a writer. What sounds like a synth bassline is chugging and drives the track along based predominantly on root notes, locked in with the drums while more synths add melody and colour. Her vocal harmonies round off a well executed and expertly produced track.

Linktree | Instagram | YouTube

VANESSA VAN NESS – Crumb Giver

Based somewhere in the Oxford area, singer-songwriter Vanessa Van Ness describes her music as ‘Beat Driven Pop’. She has had regular support from BBC Introducing and is a returning fresh fave too. Vanessa has been working to build her Spotify profile and currently has a staggering 33K monthly listeners.

Crumb Giver is, as she says, beat-driven pop with a solid 4/4 beat driving this along and Vanessa’s slightly sarcastic semi-spoken vocal commanding centre stage while a staccato semi-quaver synth riff plays behind her. The subject of the song is berated for how little they give in return for Vanessa’s commitment, hence ‘you’re just a crumb giver’. ‘I ask you for a slice and you cut me a sliver’ she sings. There’s also some classic punky lead guitar that comes in later in the track. Energetic Electro-Punk pop to wake you out of your slumber.

Linktree | Instagram

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.