Albums contain a whole world built by the artist but, often, one single track can hold the same amount of weight for a listener.

At every turn, we were enthralled by sounds from across the globe and our own backyards  … algorithms be damned, the democracy of the internet and having so much music at our fingertips doesn’t make finding music harder, it just makes opening your eyes and ears easier and more accessible.  factmag

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Middle America One of the most flat-out beautiful songs of Stephen Malkmus’ long career, “Middle America” derives its power from a low-key simplicity: the lovely country-rock arrangement, the pendulum rhythm of Joanna Bolme’s bassline, Malkmus’ disarmingly tender falsetto, that perfect rhyme of “You know you should be blushin’” with “to a hue of Robitussin.” For a guy who’s too often held up as the aging avatar of ’90s indie-rock irony, Malkmus doesn’t sound detached or desperate, but rather warm and wise on this wistful meditation about responsibility. pitchfork

Massage  – Lydia The band’s pared back, minimalist take on jangle pop may be refined in its palette, but the songwriting remains enormously suggestive…”We were going to call the song ‘Can’t And Won’t’ until we realized that Lydia Davis had already used that name for one of her short-story collections. So naturally we stole her name in revenge.” clashmusic

Night Flowers – Cruel Wind “And now you have an epitaph,” sings Sophia Pettit with grace and feeling of loss, this shimmering wide-screen song possess a yearning melody and tumbling percussion that plunges deep into your heart. godisinthetv

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Talking Straight Either the world’s most meandering pop band or its most efficient jam band. Either way, for their purposes, jamming is as much a lyrical strategy as musical one. Over the course of two excellent EPs, the Melbourne quintet has mastered an adrenalized, infectious brand of motorik jangle rock that’s both warmly nostalgic and thrillingly unpredictable. pitchfork

The Fortuna POP! All-Stars – You Can Hide Your Love Forever It was with a heavy heart that the world said goodbye to Fortuna Pop!, one of the UK’s most ardent gardeners of modern jangle-pop. However, in a bit of good news wrapped inside the bad… they’ve slipped out a farewell card from their roster. Members of Allo Darlin, Spook School, Comet Gain, Joanna Gruesome, Martha, The Ladybug Transistor and Pete Astor (among others) come together like the tweest version of Live Aid the world has ever seen and run through a celebratory cover of Comet Gain’s “You Can Hide Your Love Forever.” … The Fortuna Pop! All-Stars version revamps it into a swooning wall of indie pop splendor. ravensingstheblues

Loose Tooth – Keep On a celebration of the Melbourne-based trio’s friendship, a record built on the frameworks of off-kilter jangle-pop straight from the ’90s, wry observation and a democratic approach to songwriting. lineofbestfit

Desperate Journalist – Cedars Pulling at regrets of the heart with a melancholic yet life-affirming performance that trembles up and down the vocal register, to capture tiny moments with evocative imagery (‘frayed jumper’, ‘she kisses him like flypaper’) that encapsulate the romance in the every day and enjoying them for what they are, rather than allowing them to be consumed by anxiety godisinthetv

Famous Problems – I’d Do It A Thousand Times For a decade starting some point in the late 1990s, The Butterflies of Love were the tallest band in the world who walked tall. They wrote nothing but hits, but only hit some of the people some of the time.

Their last album was called Famous Problems – there were no better albums in 2007, trust me on this. This new band Famous Problems is The Butterflies of Love without Daniel Greene, who checks in at under 6’2” so presumably had to go.*

A favourite? Tough call. But if I’m picking one then it’s I’d Do It A Thousand Times. It’s epic, distraught and superbly alive to love’s twin obsessions, pleasure and pain. It takes the classic American songbook to the bar and plies it with whisky until its heart breaks. And then collects a Grammy. Posthumously. didnotchart

Marianne Faithful – The Gypsy Faerie Queen It retells Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from the perspective of Puck, becoming a song of devotion as she sings of following the titular nymph into “the twilight in-between.” It’s a sweet fantasy, and with Cave singing along and his bandmate, Bad Seeds violinist Warren Ellis, adding some gravity to the melody, it becomes an ornate portrait of that feeling of loyalty. rollingstone

Soccer Mommy – Scorpio Rising initiates as deceptively basic, with Allison singing about kissing in a park and meeting up with a crush after dark. And then it starts to unfurl into this story about relinquishing a love you want badly but know you cannot maintain.

That’s a wise realization for a young songwriter… She doesn’t posture any differently, though; “Scorpio Rising” is littered with references to teendom, like when Allison sings about ignoring “all the missed calls from your mother” and hooking up in the backseat of a car until dawn. They are references that a lot of people, no matter their age, can relate to — small reminders of summer romances that came and went too soon. The most gutting moment in the song comes when the narrator gives it all away as this summer fling starts to take flight, falling for someone who is her exact opposite. “You want warm and I’m something colder/ I’m putting your hands to her heart.”

The lack of resentment in that line makes me feel like Allison has tapped into a level of emotional maturity on this song that a lot of people never get anywhere close to. It’s resigned and sad, yes, but it isn’t bitter. That’s a really hard feeling to avoid when you’re watching someone you love willingly choose someone else stereogum

Lucy Dacus – Next of Kin A personal reflection on grief… “‘Next of Kin’ is the thesis statement of the album,” Dacus said in a statement, alluding to heavy themes including the loss of her grandmother. “It’s a breaking point after a build up of difficult subject matter. It’s a song about accepting fate, forgetting fear, and allowing yourself to be incomplete always.” Spin

Tracyanne & Danny – It Can’t Be Love Unless It Hurts Some artists’ collaborations never gel, while others become dominated by one of the collaborators. But Traceyanne Campbell of Scottish band Camera Obscura and Danny Coughlan of English project Crybaby seem to find the perfect balance, meshing their talents to create songs worthy of a long-time songwriting partnership. whenyoumotoraway

Chorusgirl – No Goodbye No Goodbye tears open with jangling Johnny Marr guitar embellishments. This enjoyable push gets the foot tapping started but carries on in the same way until the charm wears thin. Each member of the band seems to be able to strike out a great “bit” and then immediately get stuck in a groove. That said, the track ends with a surf-rock type guitar flourish worth braving the three minutes fifty seconds for. theweereview

Fightmilk – Four Star Hotel a trashy slice of DIY-punk, exploring a relationships demise, with the beautifully honest kiss-off, “how can I convince you that we’re stuck? A four star hotel we still didn’t fuck”.fortherabbits

Deerful – Bloom Sometimes in life less is more… Sparse electronic instrumental backing underpins a single, fragile voice across seven songs written, live-coded and recorded over a six week period…The songs do not sound rushed, neither do they sound lacking. They express a gently naïve charm over a musical soundtrack that would fit a Sunday morning perfectly but not exclusively. everythingindieover40

Yo La Tengo – For You Too a ragged gem about stepping up to the plate, and, musically, it practices what it preaches pichfork

Hairband – Flying a lo-fi lament to supernatural abilities (“I say goodbye to the feeling of my feet on the earth beneath / and take to the sky”). Populated by interweaving sing-song guitar lines and soothing melody, its warmth invites the listener in; its repeated refrain, “I know a place where we can try to learn how to fly” suggests an anthem for a secret society where everyone is invited. lineofbestfit

Long Neck – Mine/Yours an affirmation of individuality in the face of coupling, a compromise between holding on to what you need while navigating what someone else wants. “I want to say this simply/ I want to make it pure/ I wanna be mine and I wanna be yours,” goes the chorusstereogum

Westerman – Confirmation a balmy and left-field pop gem … offering mindful encouragement to move forward even when it feels impossible. That pathway is mirrored by sirens symbolizing inner tumult, which fade to make way for a bright patina of ’80s synths. Westerman’s optimistic vision is far from naïve, though. He clocks that life in a noisy world can lead to creative impasse but refuses to make that a scapegoat for inaction. (“Blame it on the establishment,” he offers as an option, before reconsidering that excuse as “so boring.”)  pitchfork

The Muldoons – Don’t be Like That Girl Their sound is drenched in history and tradition from Orange Juice to Camera Obscura, from Postcard to Egg Records and beyond… a catchy song featuring jangling guitars and trumpets. I like the way it changes pace during the song catching the listener unaware. recordsilike

Parquet Courts – Wide Awake! “Finds a perfect balance between the humorous, tongue-in-cheek style that the band have always done well with, and a fuzzy, alternative, distorted sound that gives an edge to what otherwise, could have been a toothless comedy record.” clashmusic

Nap Eyes – Dull me line “A downtrodden track about feeling directionless. “It’s a dull me line/ Running abandoned racetracks in my mind/ Dull me heart/ Heavy with bored and lazy disappointment art,” Nigel Chapman sings, a litany of self-conscious errors” stereogum

Moderate Rebels – Beyond Hidden Words “a song that’s somehow simultaneously broken and euphoric” fortherabbits

US Girls – MAH “Has that swirly glam, glitz, disco-dance, driving-with-the-wind-in-your- hair-in-the-landscape kind of music I never knew I wanted but feels like home” Jess from Vital Idles

Vital Idles – Like Life “a bit warped, a bit angular, and a bit brutal, but shaped with clear inspiration and intelligence.  It is punk music, not in the commercial smash and scream sense, but rather in the all-important conception” whenyoumotoraway

Oslo Oscillator – Newlands “A cordial, mid-tempo indie ditty that babbles forth, airy and unpretentious, like a ride in an open top old-timer, seeing landscapes, colours and life passing by. But at more listens, you will notice some covert chords that give away an underlying current, that is picked up at 1:36 and suddenly throws us off course, into a jaw-droppingly gorgeous maelstrom of melancholy and bittersweet string-phonies.” Fadeawayradiate

Spiritualized – A Perfect Miracle “Begins like a love song but can only maintain the façade for so long. Each chorus arrives only to dash the dreams of the preceding verse: “My mind is a mess and I’m needing you less,” Pierce sings. This is how getting older sounds to him—various dependencies sustained and withheld and severed, all swirling around you, all at once” pitchfork

Tomberlin – Seventeen “a gorgeously honest song that tugs desperately at the heart strings” thelineofbestfit

Say Sue Me – Old town “Navigates the restlessness of wanting to leave home while also acknowledging the parts that maybe aren’t so bad” stereogum

Goat Girl – The man “It begins with a fast, 1980s jangly guitar lick that moves into a honky-tonk barn rhythm on the sparse, spacious verses. It’s singer Clottie’s yelping vocals that secures the song in this depraved saloon setting. “I bite my lips and taste my hips,” she cries, longing for a departed lover before a crescendoing eruption of squalling guitars and clattering drums. Quick and sordid, “The Man” is an encouraging racket for a band on the rise” pitchfork

The Goon Sax – We can’t win “Captures the slow erosion of a relationship due to conflicting desires and eventual despondence. Singer and guitarist Louis Forster stumbles over his words, saying one thing and then subsequently canceling it out with a contradicting sentiment. “You told me you wanted to spend some time alone,” he mumbles. “I understood, I just wanted you here.” It’s the all-too-familiar struggle between what the heart wants and what’s best for it. Forster’s words sound especially helpless when draped atop anemic plinks of piano and broad brushes of acoustic guitar. By the time drummer/co-vocalist Riley Jones swoops in with her sweet lilt, the fate of the song has been sealed; she merely repeats Forster’s words, leaving the relationship in the same rut we found it in. As the title suggests, things don’t work out for the doomed couple; the music ceases suddenly, like a stalemate ending a game of chess.” Pitchfork

Young Romance – Dark of my Shadow “A timely reminder of just how good the classic drums and guitar combo can still sound. The drums clatter and crash, providing much of the energy to the track, while the soaring guitars add crunching, somehow detached textures to proceedings. Claire’s vocals, always a huge part of Young Romance’s melodic charm, sound better than ever; it’s all in the minute details, like the perfect jump to a higher note as she emotes, “oh it’s easier to see you, remember that you fell, now I leave you in the dark of my shadow”. fortherabbits

Nah… – Summer’s Failing “It feels like walking into a candy shop…every song is just as sweet as the next, though of course, I have my favorite” austintownhall

Melby – Reject “Swedish group Melby only tend to release material when they are absolutely, completely happy with the results.” Clashmusic

Illuminati Hotties – (You’re Better) Than Ever “Something as mundane as a pair of socks triggers a nugget of wisdom: “All my favorite socks are getting holes in them / All my favorite people got a load on them.” In other words, handle the things (and people) you love with care. The world is rough on them” pastemagazine

Pip Hall – Mary “Still remarkably young, the songwriter can step outside of her personal situation, finding a common truth that we can all relate to. Need some evidence? Try new single ‘Mary’, a bruising yet affecting account of youthful innocence, and growing up.” clashmusic

Phosphorescent – New Birth in New England “The most significant things can happen at the most insignificant moments. With a sultry swing, and a relatively joyous piano melody, the track chronicles Houck meeting his new love in a random bar in New England. As Houck tells it, he was “sittin’ at a bar in New England I was thinkin’ bout another beer,” when the lady playing the piano said “don’t I know ya Honey?” In a classic Houckian line, he admits his instant attraction saying “Hey well the very first time I laid eyes on you/ Your mama burst into tears.” The rest, as they say, is history, the sparks of this initial meeting flying out through this upbeat and practically tropical tune.” thefourohfive

Hurry – Jamie “The guitars, as always, are purposeful and punctuating, but its the way they wrap the vocal melody in and out of it all, not to mention the underlying melancholy that allows them to find new levels of warmth.” goldflakepaint

Comet Gain – If not tomorrow “If there’s one thing that can be counted on from Comet Gain…, its that any release will be rife with earworms. Furthermore those earworms will burrow their way into your life until they become new favorites. Membership changes, labels change, even styles change… the band always jangles, but they’re willing to ping-pong between camps that employ the sound. They’re post-punks with a pop heart, indie rockers with a ’77 punk sneer in their back pockets, and this new single-sized offering is the latest bit of pop-strummin’ goodness from their ranks.” ravensingstheblues

Worst Place – Square Eyes “A love letter to spending nights in front of the screen with your current squeeze” fortherabbits

Color Me Wednesday – Tinfoil Lets take Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, a film laced with post-modernism and cliche. It gives a narrative that can only really be understood through pastiche and shared cultural imagery or things a viewer can recognise and understand. ‘Counting Pennies In The Afterlife’ by Colour Me Wednesday is a record that does the same job. It disintegrates Rock (rock history) and remoulds it into something else entirely. threesongsandout

Jetsteam Pony – Self-Destruct Reality “They toy with us, delivering a thirty second guitar intro, meandering through your speakers. Then the rhythm section jumps right in, and let’s face it, you’re immediately hooked on this track. The guitars have a jagged edge, but the song has this sugary sheen that’s leaps and bounds above any other purveyor of pop music at the moment.” austintownhall

The Wave Pictures – Roosevelt Sykes “Lifting its name from the legendary bluesman, also known as The Honeydripper, Roosevelt Sykes is The Wave Pictures at their most toe-tappingly wonderful. As David explains, the track is, “an African pop party in the vein of Zimbabwe’s The Four Brothers and The Bhundu Boys but done with absolutely no puritanical slavery at any kind of authenticity or even accuracy”. Twelve-years and countless albums in, The Wave Pictures gentle sonic evolution continues apace, even if they’re now writing records about overthrowing our machine overloads because they beat Lee Sedol at Go, they’ve never sounded this much fun.” fortherabbits

Store Front – Go for broke ““It’s hard to go for broke, especially when you’re broke,” Spiegel sings sweetly — and, yes, she’s got it right. The track is bright and calls out for toe-tapping, but with the wink of those darkly realistic lyrics. “You’re convinced you’re equipped, and even more so when you’re slightly lit,” she quips. “But honey at least we can split the rent.” Real life woes have rarely sounded like so much fun. Time

Fontaines DC – Boys in the better land “a potent Dublin state of mind that very few contemporary Irish bands have, or indeed care to deploy” irishtimes

Lawn – My Boy “Lawn’s music is an almost overwhelming blend of style and influence, their components learned and borrowed then bent in to puzzle pieces that, in conclusion, present a distorted mosaic rather than any solid, readable image. The album’s accompanying press release talks of the Kinks and British 60s pop, but there’s something beautifully intangible about their sound; those aforementioned influences warped by the temperature, by the stickiness and enchantment of the Mississippi that passes so close by, informing more than it knows.” Goldflakepaint

Gruff Rhys – Selfies in the sunset “If we are truly doomed, Rhys offers the grim reassurance that we’re too narcissistic to notice. Atop the chipper, ivory-tickling saunter of “Selfies in the Sunset,” Rhys and guest vocalist Lily Cole sardonically serenade each other about posing for a few last snaps in front of a “blazing red” mushroom-cloud backdrop, milking the apocalypse for Instagram likes. In the unsettled universe of Babelsberg, this is the way the world ends—not with a bang but a self-satisfied finger tap.” pitchfork

Ruby Gill – Your mum “The main line Gill repeats is “I’m sorry I don’t cook like your mum” but it’s clear that the undertones of this pain are about more than just home-cooked food. Still the way, she uses this argument to release her insecurities both sarcastically and genuinely are breathtaking. With just an electric guitar and a powerhouse voice gone soft she sings, “I know I don’t cook like your mum but I’m trying to love her son.” Offering her voice, story and self-doubt wrapped up in a song, Ruby Gill has truly given us something of value and substance. thewildhoneypie

Everything by Electricity – A Place to call my own Fronted and written by Yulia, who grew up in post-Soviet Siberia in the ’90s, ‘Place To Call My Own’ mirrors dark memories of exile and alienation. Yulia tells us how she was “blacklisted” and found herself sequestered with behavioural problems, amongst peers who were involved in crime and hard drugs. The track explores “escape” and finding solace in London to freely express herself. lineofbestfit

Foundlings – Your sister “the sort of jangling 1980’s indie record that’s equal parts The Wedding Present and Night Flowers. Amber’s soaring, distant, almost Cocteau Twinsish vocal is the star, as tom-heavy drum beats rumble beneath jagged, jangling guitar lines.” fortherabbits

J Mascis – See You At The Movies “a lovely, open-hearted song that punctuates Mascis’ rich, acoustic strums with some lightning-strike electric solos” consequenceofsound

Carbon Poppies – Rain on my face a special song – a cover of the B-side of a 1966 single by British group Shape and Sizes – their only single. It’s a delicious example of psychedelic sixties pop with majestic choruses and evanescent reverb roughtrade

Lost Ships – Best Laid Plans ” a wonderful way to pass the time, and, like me, you’ll feel charmed that these are out there in the world.” austintownhall

En Attendant Anna – The Violence Inside “their winsome sound mixes C86 jangle with garage rock rattle, topping it all off with the sweet peal of a trumpet” pastemagazine

Anna Calvi – Don’t Beat The Girl Out of My Boy “a song Calvi wrote while reflecting on the way in which children are introduced to gender stereotypes so early on in their lives. “It’s a song about the defiance of happiness,” she explains. “It’s about being free to identify yourself in whichever way you please, without any restraints from society.”” consequenceofsound

The Belafontes – Gemini “I really need a dose of sunshine right now and this pop single from down under does the trick despite the pouring rain outside” recordsilike

The Age of Colored Lizards – If you want me back Two tracks that err on the nosier side of shoegazing that encompass everything you want in fuzzy pop songs recordsilike

Strawberry Generation – Coffee “a superficially simple exploration of getting the dating game right, delivered with an underlying exhilaration and urgency that is utterly contagious….capturing the excitement of everything pop has ever meant to your personal history YET AGAIN.” emmas-housemusic

Holy Tunics – Cardinal “the scrappy, romantic jangle kings of New York” bigtakeover

The Ocean Party – Off and On “RIP Zac Denton from Australian indie band Ocean Party.

The purveyors of quality Australian indie pop were struck with a deep tragedy … when band member Zac Denton died suddenly due to complications surrounding a cyst on the brain. At just 24, Zac was

much loved, and had a remarkable and prolific career, recording 10 full albums with The Ocean Party, Ciggie Witch and Pregnancy.

The band have made the download of their brand new eighth album, Oddfellows’ Hall (Emotional Response Records) available for free. They would love it if you honoured Zac’s passing by sharing his music with your friends… the work of six life-long friends who enjoy the connection and comfort of being able to dissect their life experiences together through their music.

With each member approaching landmarks in their life the album can’t help but reflect a cross section of late twenties anxieties, excitements, freedoms and losses. At the point of recording the lives of the six members were in neat contrast: expectant parenthood versus dissolution of a long term relationship; commitment to new ideas of the self versus returning to a foreign country twenty years since emigration; living in your car versus finding your place.” louderthanwar

Bonny Doon – A Lotta Things tackles the one thing we can all relate to — wanting to be better, wanting to figure everything out, but falling short because we’re human. From lamenting habitual tardiness to recognizing a feeling of unhappiness, “A Lotta Things” uses simple, subtle strings and a whole lot of twang to deliver home a folksy reminder that everyone has their struggles thegreyestates

Holy Now – I Feel it All is about an unwillingness to compromise, to grow up and stagnate and close yourself off to possibilities thevpme

Nation of Language – On Division St Sure, you can hear certain landmarks in their sound. OMD, Human League, early Simple Minds, A Flock Of Seagulls, Tears For Fears, New Order — there are bits and pieces of them, and others, in various facets of Nation Of Language. But the intriguing quality about Devaney’s songwriting is his way of colliding these influences, so that you might hear a bassline reminiscent of New Order but it’s surrounded by competing elements. The end result is that, unlike other moments of ‘80s revivalism, you can’t point to any one source for a particular Nation Of Language song stereogum

Forth Wanderers – Not For Me Forth Wanderers’ greatest skill is bonding Ben’s glowing guitar arrangements to Ava’s gut-wrenchingly direct lyrics and melodies, and “Not for Me,” the album’s first single, is the band at its tightest. pitchfork

Courtney Barnett – Sunday Roast the riff for which she wrote when she was 13. In spite of its juvenile origin, it happens to be the best song on the album, one of those floaty, detached melodies that evoke standing, spaced out from jetlag, on one of those horizontal escalators you get in airports independent

The Golden Dregs – George on Jane his storytelling and wordplay always remain central to his craft austintownhall

Belle and Sebastian – Best Friend I had been eagerly awaiting its release, not only because Belle and Sebastian are one of my favourite bands, but because I had known for some time that it would contain a song my sister (Carla J Easton) had co-written with Stuart Murdoch! The song, titled Best Friend, also has Carla on lead vocals!

I was super excited when Carla told me stories about going to Stuart’s flat to write and bounce ideas off each other and loved when Carla went into the studio and told of how the band were so impressed when she nailed the vocals.

And then there was the wait……… Carla sent me an unmastered version of the song, but I was sworn to secrecy……and I pretty much kept schtum … I was immensely proud when the song came out to the world at large. It is a beautiful flowing song with a gorgeous melody, containing observational, poignant and humorous lyrics. There are strings, handclaps and Stuart Murdoch on backing vocals. And like all the best Belle and Sebastian songs (and there are many!), it all sounds rather effortless – the groove and the flow… it seems and feels so natural. everythingflowsglasgow

Hatchie – Sleep a song so gloriously youthful, it feels ready-made for a big movie montage. In fact, if this glittering, 1980s-inspired jam was used in any of the pivotal musical moments from a Molly Ringwald flick, all of the teen joy might shine even brighterpitchfork

Aiden Moffat & RM Hubbert – Quantum Theory Love Song all life is within this exquisite album from cult-pop necromancers Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert: sex, death, multiverses, fortune, abandonment, leggings. Jeggings thequietus

Yuno – No Going Back as promising as it is optimistic and though the singer may not know what’s coming next, there’s a sense of certainty surrounding the track that assures us there’s nothing but good things ahead thegreyestates

Dirty Projectors – Break Thru features sunny flickers of guitar that would’ve blended in at an overpriced New York coffee shop circa 2009 pitchfork

Why Bonnie – Practice shaped by a dark undercurrent which isn’t immediately noticeable, the track presenting a bright exterior which seems to shrivel over repeated listens, making way for something tense, eerie even, as the song and the sentiments within niggle away, slowly revealing more each and every time goldflakepaint

Maths and Physics Club – Broadcasting Waves They have always had the knack for concise and interesting expressions, whether sweet or bittersweet, and are not shy about interjecting self-deprecatory humor.  However, the added years have provided a well-earned depth of experiences to layer into the sweet-sounding confections whenyoumotoraway

Valve – The Happening Joy Division-y loose-string bass, deadpan choral vocals, gnomic weirdsome lyrics, and is that a melodica on a loop? This is the most hooky track from an EP of hooky tracks, by a perfectly strange and experimental band who also have a harpist and a machine to emit delicious smells when you go to hear them play thequietus