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

A word from Del:Hey everyone, another outstanding listening post this weekend which reflects in how the faves worked out! Thanks to everyone who found time to come and vote. A couple of personal requests: Artists, please come and support each other on the listening post at the weekend, you will find among our readers artists like yourselves that voted for you. Pay it forward!

Secondly the mods work really hard to review your tracks on a very quick turnaround time, it baffles me how quickly they get through it so please respect them and tag the correct social media accounts – in this case my instagram is @platinummind and the FOTN instagram account is @fotnblog

Also please pay attention to the rule that now you have made the faves you have to wait 90 days before submitting another track, otherwise your track will be removed and you can resubmit at a later date.

As always, if you’d like to have your track featured on my Exile FM radio show please send me an audio file and bio to del.owusu@gmail.com with a bio. Clean radio edits only! Thankyou!

So.

Tea hot? Oui.
Do I have biscuits? Don’t be silly. Of course I do. Bourbon.
Headphones charged? Si.
Four lit and in the green.

Let’s go.

ANGELS OF LIBRA – I FELL IN LOVE

That drum intro is unmistakeably inspired by the incomparable Benny Papa Zita Benjamin. This has Motown written all over it, especially at the height of their Detroit era, you hear woodwind – specifically the flute, which is quite a rarity in pop music nowadays. They are missing a trick there!

Lyrically this is about being surprised about falling in love – you get caught up in the big brown eyes, and all the cliches about love coming true – no matter where you turn there’s always this reminder that you’re in this situation and it’s inescapable. I feel this deeply because I was 14 when it happened and her eyes were blue. I still think about her to this day.

There may or may not have been a song written about her..

Angels Of Libra are from Hamburg, and were formed after a recording retreat in Denmark. I LOVE this…

The long hot summers of years past are captured in this song, and for this reason this song gets my chef’s kiss.

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AROUND ABOUT DUSK – The Swarm

Another song that garnered lots of votes is this little number, which calls upon instruments that again you rarely get to hear in today’s popular music scene. I hear an accordion, with a double bass and it’s making me want to get lost and dance. I don’t know how but it’s nice and soothing to the soul! The trumpet solo and clarinets really add to the party atmosphere of this song. It speaks of a mystical woman who can cause nature to reverse itself but at the same time, be part of nature.

Around About Dusk are from Bristol, a quintet who list New Orleans jazz as one of their influences, it’s made me think of Blues Brothers 2000 when the Blues Brothers go to New Orleans and encounter Eryckah Badu who plays Queen Mousette a voodoo witch this scene is very cool as you have some of the greatest blues musicians gathered together for a jam session… I may need to dig this out of the archives!

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BLOODY TOURIST – Goodbye 79 Ft. Tessa Rose Jackson

Time for some indie pop from Brighton’s Bloody Tourist who I suspect took their name from a 10cc record – if so, that’s a pretty solid reference! This is low key, it starts like as if you’re listening to a talkback from a mixing console where the engineer or producer is talking to the artist in the recording booth. This plods along nicely, I like the choice of drums on this it’s not overpowering. The funny thing is the bassline comes in way later in the song, which takes your focus in that direction, it’s a lesson in how to get your listener to zoom in at certain points, there’s a lot here to tease your ears!

On reflection, being a duo consisting of an Englishman who’s half French, and an Irishman, living in Brighton they probably feel like strangers in a a strange land, but Brighton is a creative nexus so maybe they feel drawn to it. In any case they’ve got the attention of Lauren Lavern and Emily Pilbeam and their first gig was a secret set at Glastonbury 2023.

Bloody Tourist? I’ve got my eye on you.

In other words they are my one to watch.

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CHIMA ANYA – The Call

Right we need to put some respect on this name. This is Chima Anya – hold on let me correct myself DOCTOR Chima Anya’s return to the fresh faves, and he’s done a LOT. I mean, he’s been on Britain’s Got Talent (Yes, yes I yelled at my tv). I’ve interviewed him in the past and he remains one of my favourite discoveries on FOTN.

This song is a look at when you get the dreaded call about a loved one. In the lyrics, he talks about his boy and spending time with him, and then it flips about how the call’s from his partner’s sister and how her father’s had a stroke and she can’t get hold of his partner. The two contrasts aren’t lost on me, spending time with your family is really important I know this from experience.

For me, this is Chima putting himself in the shoes of those he’s probably had to call in the past, after all these people are just as human as you and I. They feel it as keenly as we do.

This track is full of passion, and a confessional in that these are things that he needs to get off his chest and it’s delivered sensitively which is typical of Chima’s style.

Chima is an artist from Oxford/London of Nigerian/Romanian heritage, a medical doctor, and a very lovely dude to boot. Welcome back to the faves my brother.

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DANIEL KINDE – GONE

This starts off with a pulsating synth and low vocals that kind of leave you cold, it’s just the melody, plus the mind warping pitch bend – but then the sudden break at 0:34 introduces a single kick, before everything gets introduced, my favourite part of this track is the way the drums sit comfortably with the bassline, a great melody choice there by the way!

The lyrics stay with you by the way because they’re very simple:

For the sake the same one
Before I started, started breathing
You don’t want it , You can’t see
You talk about it, cant count on me
Fight on
Fight on
Or you’re going to fade off
Gone
Gone
Gone
Gone

All in all this is very haunting hence the cold feeling. definitely would listen to this again happily!

According to his soundcloud bio: Daniel Kinde is a UK-based producer and composer crafting emotionally charged, rhythm-led music that blends the raw with the refined.

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J.CHAMBERS – Liberation

Time for some hip hop infused reggae this next one comes to us from Manchester based J.Chambers, this starts off with a horn section that comes and goes throughout the track over a dubby bass, the signature piano chops of a reggae groove as well the foundation of the classic one drop groove. There is tape echo too which is part of the whole reggae groove, and I’m here for it!

This is a protest song – in a world where flags are being flown everywhere, J.Chambers fuels the fire by saying be the change you want to see in the world – I had to look up who that quote was originally attributed to – My thinking was that it was Mahatma Ghandi but it’s not. I could be entirely wrong but I reckon the first line is a reference to the injustices visited upon the Windrush Generation that’s come to light recently:

Still a chant down Babylon,
System say we’re vagabonds,
But do they know their history,
Miss me less its facts You chat upon.

The reference to placards being carried may be references to the protests being carried out by the far right as well as the Gaza protests in central London. This reminds me of when The Specials released Ghost Town back in the 80s and how it documented the UK at the time. This is not a surprise to me as reggae and hip hop have long done this, the word from the street – The reason why this resonated with me so much is because for Black History Month a colleague spoke about Dub Poetry and how that’s been a way for so many pioneers like Linton Kwesi Johnson, the late Benjamin Zaphaniah, and Jean “Binta” Breeze to be able to get their message across. It’s given me food for thought.

This is a collaboration between J.Chambers and Qyor an artist from Jamaica and this is from their forthcoming EP.

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JOSALEIGH POLLETT – Radio Player

Salt Lake City you say? Well this is new territory for us! This is a song that calls upon analogue synths and pitch bends giving it a real 80s feel, the beat is off kilter and the sounds are ethereal – guitars both acoustic and electric provide a great backdrop on this – what I really like about this song is the way it changes effortlessly and subtly – the drums sneak up on you fading gently and make you feel as if you’re within the track. It’s very disconcerting but given that this is inspired by the classic film Poltergeist I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

I really like Josaleigh Pollett’s voice. That’s the stand out here, they have a fragility to their tone which really stands out coming from a folky vibe to a rocky edge, this reminds me a little of Alanis Morrissette except less sweary and no irony.

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NEEV – PUT A RECORD ON

Slowing things down a little this is a new one from Scottish born London based artist NEEV. This acoustic guitar led but layered with gorgeous harmonies, the call response in this track made me smile, you could almost hear a chamber choir over this.

The traditional folk story telling is here, you are given the image of someone dancing with their partner – music to me is very much a social thing, I use the question “What are you listening to?” as an icebreaker and it’s how conversations get started for me, it’s very social and this is a social setting for this song:

“When you told me things were bad
I lost all the words I had
But ultimately you began to know
Yourself your needs your worth move slow

So we danced we danced we danced we danced
Put a record on with my man.”

Simply put music heals…

Now hold that thought of what the key is for this song because this is going to become very important. I love when this happens.

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SUNFLOWER THIEVES – Already Taken

Oh I cheered when Sunflower Thieves showed up in the inbox last week….They are back! Already taken is acoustic guitar led with the addition of an analog drum pattern passed through a filter – all this puts the vocals at the front, and the lyrics simply ask how do you let go of something that’s already taken? Good question. In a world where reminders are everywhere this is a thinker.

Already Taken is a song which is reflective, and I guess a bit of a confessional, and is very on brand for the group that brought us “Sirens”.

Oh by the way.

The key?

Neev’s last chord is the first chord in this song.

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YOJI – CABIN IN THE WOODS

To close out a fabulous top ten, we have a track that starts off all mysterious, and flips the script on wanting to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city to find comfort in isolation – this song is all about escaping to civilisation! I like that, it’s like coming out of a cocoon to be yourself the lyrics beautifully illustrate this and made me arch my eyebrows.

This is a great R&B track, the chorus is catchy the kind you want to drive to in the night. Beautiful work!

Yoji is a soulful pop/R&B singer-songwriter from Suffolk, based in London, whose full name is Yoji Munuo. She has released several singles and EPs including her debut album Expolorations In Emotions and has also performed at the O2.

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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.