So it’s been a minute and a couple of hours since I’ve had the chance to write any blog posts, let alone songs of the week (sometimes life happens). That said there’s been a tonne of songs I have been meaning to blog about. So without further ado here are a few which are top of mind right now.

Sykes – Best Thing

I often muse about how I find new music and my discovery of Sykes is another chance to do so because of all people in the world I have to thank Kopperberg Cider. Seriously.

Let me explain. On June 24th there is a pretty epic gig happening at this year’s Urban Forest in East London. Kal Lavelle, Nizlopi, Leddra Chapman… it’s the kind of line-up dreams are made of! Sat between these stellar names I’m more than familiar with was a picture of  three incredibly irreverent looking cool-kids. Sykes. No idea who they are. Given the line-up they’re playing with the least I could do is give them a listen…

…within about 30 seconds of hearing the aptly named, Best Thing,  I had downloaded every Sykes song I could find! Best Thing is playful, it’s addictive  and it’s topped off with some sonic sprinklings of 80s magic. Discovering Sykes was a mini blessing in a long week. Looking forward to following their music and crossing my fingers they feel an urge to visit San Francisco.

Iraina Mancini – Ghosts

This is a very still, atmospheric piece of music. Iraina’s voice sounds so raw, so vulnerable, like it has been drowned in 105 cigarettes. It oozes and aches over a sparse, yet intense production.

I love the way the song creates a visceral vision, “Blood red strains, you smell on my shirt, pick my glass, it was full whenever you’re close, cos no one can stop me dead, than when I’m loving you instead.” It reminds me of a Tarantino-esque movie. The femme fatale sat at an ancient, empty, dusty dive bar nursing a half-glass of bourbon. It’s the song playing before we find out she’s just brutally murdered her former lover in a blood-thirsty fit of love drunk rage!

This is such a great record, I love the way it subtly builds and grows. When Iraina’s voice begins to powerfully whimper as she hits the high-notes towards the end it all becomes quite spine-chilling. Great, great, record full of broken emotions and shattered bourbon glasses!

Izzy Bizu – DIAMOND

So I was actually going to post Adam & Eve. I’ve been listening to it for a bit, I like its catchy summertime retro vibes. So I go to find the link and accidentally click next as my PC crashes and switches to a new tab.

This unfamiliar beat begins to play. The video for Adam & Eve was only recently released so I am expecting this super-chilled beat to change; must be an intro for the video version. It doesn’t. Izzy starts singing in a way I have never heard before; its emotional, its mature, its as if she’s spilling out years of deeply guarded thoughts and feelings. My face winds up, my head is rolling with the music, “I really do believe that there’s more than just this universe for you and me…” she sings. I stop. I absolutely stop doing whatever it was I was doing (I forget now I was so engrossed in the music) and give this song my undivided attention for the next three and a bit minutes. Wow!

The Sun Days – Busy People

The Sun Days debut album is getting closer (June 5th to be precise) and I for one am hella bloody excited. Busy People is their latest single and it offers a darker lyrical tone when compared to the wistful, dance-or-die indie-pop they’re known for. “Can you keep a secret, I tried to kill myself last night,” Elsa Fredrickson confides to begin what is a much more intense record than the loveable tales of youthful indecision on You Can’t Make Me (Make Up My Mind) or Don’t Need To Be Them. By the end the guitars are gleefully flying everywhere and the carefree nature is there in the music, even if the words are a bit more profound.

Once again, The Sun Days nail it. Alongside Robyn Sherwell, right now this is a band which can do no wrong as far as my ears are concerned. I am very much looking forward to the morning of June 6th and spending some time with their album!