As they near the end of their UK and European tour, Leatherette are back with their latest single ‘Delusional’, the follow-up to the cathartic breakup anthem ‘Itchy’.
‘Delusional’ is a powerful song that explores the complex emotions of yearning for connection while feeling disconnected from the world around you. A song for those caught between the urge to dance and the desire to leave without saying goodbye. The track encapsulates the struggle of wanting to fit in with someone you love while feeling like an outsider in their world.
Musically, ‘Delusional’ weaves together elements from different eras and genres, fusing the gritty sound of ’90s alternative rock with modern influences drawn from hip-hop and electronic music. The result is a dynamic and engaging sonic experience that reflects the longing for connection and acceptance.
After testing the songs live during their second album Small Talk tour last year, they decided to record them spontaneously at home, in messy rooms and using cheap instruments (including unlikely ones such as mandolin and bouzouki).
“Being eternally dissatisfied, but also tireless explorers, we decided to return to our origins, seeking the expressive freedom that can be found in DIY”. The result was then entrusted for mixing to the usual collaborator Chris Fullard (Idles, Boris), and for mastering to Maurizio Baggio (The Soft Moon, Boy Harsher).
ASTARI NITE is delighted to announce the release of their vivid & unapologetic new video for the track, ‘Unisex Games’.
The video and single for ‘Unisex Games’ can only best be described in the words of ASTARI NITE’s vocalist, Mychael: “’Unisex Games’ was written as a sort of tongue in cheek to the max song. I mean, relationships often find an invasive way of telling you how you’re going to spend your time whether you like it or not, right? So, make it worthwhile, have an imagination or get a hobby and try your luck at painting. For what it’s worth, anyone I’ve ever come across has helped define my unusual ways to this very day and for that, I will always be thankful.”
Regarding the music video for ‘Unisex Games’, Mychael goes on to say: “The start of the year was a f**king horror story. My therapist recommended doing something amusing and so I did. My bandmates met me at my hotel, and we played pretend for an hour or two making the ‘Unisex Games’ music video. There is a certain kind of magic that takes place when you can find comfort in the people you surround yourself with. Being obnoxiously silly comes naturally for the four of us. The happiness that is displayed in the video may help some people put a smile on their face for a moment during these chaotic times. This is why I chose to release the video a few weeks before the actual single that comes out on March 14th.”
Pale Blue Eyes have announced details of their third studio album. New Place will be released on the band’s Broadcast Recordings label on 7th March. The latest single, ‘The Dreamer’ is out now.
Watch ‘The Dreamer’ video here:
Guests on the album include two musicians who have featured in the PBE live line-up – Tom Sharkett, music producer and guitarist with W.H. Lung, and music producer and musician Lewis Johnson-Kellett.
“The new album comes with a new landscape,” says Matt…“I hope the result is uplifting. The album reflects the end of an era and embracing new beginnings. But when we were unpacking in our new house in Sheffield we found an old slide projector that had belonged to my mum and Dad. We spent hours looking through the old 35mm slides and decided to use one for the album cover. The album arrives on the back of extensive and emotional transit, a record of time reflecting on a lifetime of memories – but now beside a world of new beginnings.”
The album will be released on classic black 180g vinyl, limited edition transparent blue 180g vinyl and CD. There will be an exclusive limited edition with Rough Trade that includes a clear 180g vinyl + bonus 7”. There will also be an exclusive signed print for anyone who pre-orders their copy through DRIFT record shop in Devon.
The band have announced a full UK tour for April 2025:
Thu 3rd – Thekla, Bristol
Fri 4th – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Sat 5th – Room 2, Glasgow
Sun 6th – Bodega, Nottingham
Tue 8th – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham Gorilla, Manchester
BERRIES have released the official video for their power-pop tune ‘Narrow Tracks’, taken from their self-titled sophomore album, BERRIES, which arrived in the autumn of last year.
In their new video for ‘Narrow Tracks’, Berries splice fuzzy live footage together with shots of lead vocalist Holly Carter ripping up jigsaws, devouring books backwards, and walking the pavement like a tightrope in her crimson Converse. Each shot reflects the indecision and doubt that runs throughout the song’s lyrics, with many playing in reverse or at an unnatural speed.
“Doubts tingle with the facts, like passing trains on narrow tracks,” the band sing as the video cuts to live shots of the band performing at their BBC Introducing session earlier this year. The new release also acts as a lyric video, layering handwriting-style text over each shot.
The band explain the themes of the song:
“’Narrow Tracks’ is a song for anyone who struggles with OCD. It speaks of those tingling doubts, the constant stream of dark thoughts and the longing to be able to do the simplest of tasks, but ultimately it’s an optimistic track. It’s about fighting back and finding strength to keep those thoughts at bay.”
The video arrives just ahead of BERRIES’ support slot with Xtra Mile Recordings label mate FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS. The band will join Turner and co. at their Wolverhampton Wulfrun Halls show on Tuesday, 18th February.
This March, BERRIES will also embark upon a run of shows in celebration of International Women’s Day. The three-date tour kicks off at Bodega in Nottingham on 5th March, before BERRIES take their jagged rock sound to Birkenhead and London in the days following. The full list of live dates can be found below.
LIVE DATES 2025
18 Feb – WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Halls (w/ Frank Turner)
5 March – NOTTINGHAM Bodega (for International Women’s Day)
6 March – BIRKENHEAD Future Yard (for International Women’s Day)
7 March – LONDON Signature Brew (for International Women’s Day)
With the US cult act Psyclon Nine currently midway through a North American tour, ‘Devil’s Work’ is the second boundary breaking single to be lifted from their forthcoming new album. Possessing a similar brooding, menacing quality to its recent predecessor, ‘I Choose Violence’, both songs are included on And Then Oblivion, set for release on 21st March 2025 via Metropolis Records.
Melding elements of Industrial Rock, Metal, Deathcore, Ambient and Trap, band leader Nero Bellum has previously stated that his modus operandi is “to break as many genre limitations as possible, while staying true to the concepts and imagery that Psyclon Nine evokes.”
‘Eddy Derecho’ is the first single from Chicago-based sonic collective Evidence of a Struggle’s second album, Eddy Derecho, which will be released in the spring of 2025.
W P C Simmons V (Rev. Billy), Matt Walker, Alan Berliant, Solomon Walker, and John Airo have worked for most of 2024 weaving a dense tapestry of sonic, musical, lyrical, and visual observations of what’s happening in our world now, what’s happened in the past and what may happen in the future.
Rev. Billy says, ”The music and videos we’ve created for this record have really helped us make sense personally, and as a collective of what’s going on in our world, how it’s effecting and affecting everyone regardless of their race, religion, color, ability, or socioeconomic standing. Maybe our music can help us recognize a better way to approach the idiocy happening in this world. The wars, inequity, inequality, pain, suffering, anger… maybe it can help everyone else really look at themselves a little closer and not become part of the problem.”
Gothic Rock / Darkwave act THE AWAKENING presents ‘Haunting’, the latest taster of their eponymous album, out now on vinyl, CD, digitally and various limited-edition formats via Intervention Arts. With a music video in classic black-and-white format, ‘Haunting’ follows ‘Mirror Midnight’, which has amassed over 1.1 million views, establishing The Awakening’s return to its dark roots.
Now US-based, The Awakening was formed in Johannesburg, South Africa in the late ’90s as the creative expression of vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter ASHTON NYTE, anointed as ‘Johannesburg’s Bowie’ for his widely varying musical styles and theatrical performances. He calls this single “a celebration of old-school Gothic Rock, with a suitable dose of Post-Punk swagger and a wink at the camera. It’s probably the most whimsical song on the album. I wanted the video to capture some campy Horror B-Movie goodness, and I am very happy with the result”.
Finnish stoner rock titans KAISER have just released another thunderous new single from their forthcoming second album 2nd Sound, which is set to be released on March 7, via Majestic Mountain Records.
Titled ‘Awaken Monster,’ this new track premiered at Decibel Magazine, who praised the track stating: “With a sound that stands tall and proud in the center of the sun-baked desert fuzz/soulful British electric blues/thunderous doom thrash Venn diagram, the trio from Helsinki come out swinging with their latest work.”
The band had this to say about the track: “This song was crafted in the wake of the world reopening after the long, isolating shadow of the Covid era. It captures the essence of reclaiming all that was lost or deferred during those times. More than just a song, it’s an anthem about awakening from a state akin to death, to truly live once more. It’s about the rebirth of experiences, the joy of connection, and the triumphant return to life’s vibrancy that we feared might be gone forever.”
Formed in 2013, the band — Otu (guitar/vocals), RiQ (drums), and Pex (bass) — has steadily carved their own path through the Finnish rock scene with their signature sound, influenced by the likes of Kyuss, Sleep, and High on Fire.
European post-punk stalwarts Pink Turns Blue present their new single ‘Dancing With Ghosts’ and accompanying video, confronting the agonizing reality of toxic relationships, those soul-draining connections we often share with the people closest to us. It’s a raw exploration of the struggle to escape the "ghosts" of the past and the arduous, but ultimately liberating, journey toward self-preservation.
This is the third offering from their forthcoming album Black Swan, a term used for an unexpected event that, in retrospect, is rationalized as if one could have prepared for it. This record is set for release on limited edition vinyl, CD and digitally via Orden Records on February 28.
Earlier, the band shared ‘Stay For The Night’, a celebration of the postpunk – goth rock – darkwave community, and the lead track ‘Black Swan (But I Know There Is More to Life)’, the album’s only ballad, which delves into profound questions about existence, life’s purpose and the beauty of the world.
Today made up of Mic Jogwer (vocals, guitar), Paul Richter (drums) and Luca Sammuri (bass), Pink Turns Blue – named after a Hüsker Dü song – emerged in 1985 in the first generation of gothic rock. Their debut album If Two Worlds Kiss advanced the darkwave sub-genre while becoming a seminal post-punk album. Emerging from the fear and uncertainty of a divided Cold War Germany and inspired by Joy Division, The Sound and The Chameleons, they have since released a dozen full-length LPs and have become known for their trademark blend of post-punk, alternative rock and new wave.
Mic Jogwer shares, “An exclamation to escape a complicated relationship, ‘Dancing With Ghosts’ is a song about our difficulty of breaking out of an unhealthy bond. Some last a lifetime – and are not good for us at all. They suck all our energy, never give, always take. And whatever we do, it’s never right and never good enough. And since it’s often our best friend, mother, or sister, it feels like we owe them something, but every time we try to do something good for them, we just feel miserable and used. There is no easy way out, because whatever we do, we lose. These spirits will haunt us forever unless we challenge them and eventually manage to leave them behind. We’re Dancing With Ghosts.”
Watch the video for ‘Dancing With Ghosts’ here:
AA
TOUR DATES
Apr 04 Hamburg, Germany @ Fabrik Apr 05 Münster, Germany @ Gleis 22 Apr 11 Leipzig, Germany @ Moritzbastei Apr 12 Cologne, Germany @ GEBÄUDE 9 Apr 25 Stuttgart, Germany @ clubCANN Apr 26 Hannover, Germany @ Musikzentrum Hannover May 09 Rüsselsheim, Germany @ Das Rind May 10 Bochum, Germany @ Bahnhof Langendreer May 16 Bremen, Germany @ Tower Musikclub May 17 Berlin, Germany @ Lido May 23 Nuremberg, Germany @ Club Stereo May 24 Munich, Germany @ Hansa 39, Feirwerk Jun 28 Izegem, Belgium @ Cultuurhuis De Leest Aug 28 – Philadelphia PA @ Milkboy Aug 29 – Brooklyn NY @ AMOC – Brooklyn Made Aug 30 – Boston MA @ Sonia Aug 31 – Montreal QC @ Casa Del Popolo Sept 4 – Toronto ON @ Baby G Sept 5 – Detroit MI @ Smalls Sept 6 – Chicago IL @ Bottom Lounge Sept 7 – Columbus OH @ Rumba Sept 10 – Nashville TN @ East Room Sept 11 – Atlanta GA @ The Masquerade Sept 12 – Charlotte NC @ Snug Harbor Sept 13 – Orlando FL @ Conduit Sept 14 – Miami FL @ Gramps Oct 31 Whitby, UK – Whitby Pavilion Theatre
The final pieces are slowly unveiling: Italian metal band Benthos are releasing their third single “As A Cordyceps” while revealing details for their upcoming sophomore album From Nothing, which will be released April 11th, 2025, via InsideOutMusic.
From Nothing offers a profound reflection on the meaning of life while exploring positive and negative imprints left by mankind, and how they have shaped entire societies in various aspects – artistic, cultural, and social.
The band shares about the album:
“We’ve poured our hearts and souls into From Nothing, and we’re beyond thrilled for you to hear it and connect with it in your own way. Creating this album encouraged us to experiment with new sounds and take risks that pushed our creativity to personal new heights. It’s been a wild ride, and now we’re finally ready to share it with you.”
‘As A Cordyceps’ follows on prior released singles ‘Pure’, and ‘Fossil’ which mark the first pieces of the upcoming record. The third single shows spaces where boundaries between humanity and nature blur in a symphony of wrath. Musically exploding with intensity and chaos while captivating all the same, ‘As A Cordyceps’ reinforces what listeners can expect to hear in the new album and showcases that From Nothing will present a journey worth listening to.
Aural Aggravation 