“My mind is like a map of every word I’ve said, reaching far and wide like a spider’s web“. It’s not often the opening line of a vibrant dance track leaves me feeling philosophical, but Megan Dixon Hood pulls off just such a feat with her kaleidoscopic new single ‘Mind’s Eye’. I was introduced recently to the writing of Victorian inventor Charles Babbage; long story short he pondered how every word we speak, every move we make, influences the air around us and makes a lasting yet invisible impression on the world. He thought that if you could somehow track every particle, you’d find a record of all those words and actions – and perhaps, with such a high level of understanding, you may even figure out what comes next. In reality, the highest level of understanding we have is of ourselves. No one knows the journey we’ve taken, the choices we’ve made that led to this moment, better than we do. As such, no one knows our own future better than us. ‘Mind’s Eye’ is a track all about trusting your gut, as the answers we seek are within us from the start. Buoyed by mesmerising synths, Megan’s soaring Aurora-esque vocals, and the energising refrain of “you know who you are“, we find this reminder: manifest the future you want, and reflect on the winding path that led here, in order to find the way forward
top tracks
Top Tracks: Tyler Edwards – Since You Came Around
Call it what you will – naivety, optimism, being a hopeless romantic – but I’d like to believe there’s such thing as love at first sight. Sometimes when you meet someone there’s just an instant connection. Perhaps you have so many shared interests and experiences that you end up talking for hours and yet it feels like minutes. Or maybe you’re on the same wavelength to such a degree that you can say everything you need to and be understood with just a glance. Every so often we meet someone for the first time and it feels like we’ve known them all our lives – it only takes a small push to turn that initial spark into something deeper. The flipside however is that sometimes such meetings are with people who are only in our lives for a fleeting moment. To my mind ‘Since You Came Around’, the new single from Nashville based singer/songwriter Tyler Edwards, feels like the soundtrack to a Before Sunrise style meeting of two soulmates for the first, and last, time. With a dreamy, introspective and bittersweet quality that reminds me of The Paper Kites, it’s the sound of finding love, knowing it will slip through your fingers, and deciding to make the most of the one night you have together as at least that memory will last forever.
Top Tracks: Lucifers Beard – Out For Blood
It’s nice to do a deep dive into a song. To sit with it a while, unravel its deeper layers. See how different your tenth or twentieth listen will feel compared to the very first, after you’ve had time to pick up on the song’s nuances and form some semblance of a deeper connection. ‘Out For Blood’ is not one of those songs. This isn’t some slow burner to sit and ponder, rather, true to its name, it is a song that goes straight for the jugular. There’s no room for introspection when you can’t hear your own thoughts over the sound of the blood pumping in your ears. This track from solo project Lucifers Beard (10/10 band name, no notes) paints a thin veneer of southern grit overtop the kind of Royal Blood style no-holds-barred hard rocker that just chews you up and spits you out. Between the phenomenal gut punch bass tone, squalling guitar solo, and the brief psychedelic interlude that leaves you just enough time to catch your breath, this little gem is a delightful find for fans of Queens of the Stone Age and King Gizzard.
Top Tracks: EĐĐIE – The Spark
The hardest part of a break-up lies in the sudden onset of the unknown. Not just in practical terms; the constant stream of changes to how you spend your days now that you’re spending them without that someone by your side. Far beyond that, the most painful and confusing part is the realisation that you didn’t know what was in the other person’s heart quite as well as you thought you did. The doubt and uncertainty dig their way ever deeper through your brain like a tree root through soil. What was the moment where their love first began to falter? Was there a way that you could have kept things together? These and more questions that all leave you shaken, and rarely ever come with reassuring answers. ‘The Spark’ channels that frantic pondering about how it all unravelled into an introspective anthem awash with 80s sensibilities. This track from Pennsylvania based artist EĐĐIE, taken from his latest album Grieving Hour, deftly balances the rawness of heartbreak with memorable melodic hooks and stunningly slick production.
Top Tracks: lotusbliss – Heaven To Me
I sometimes wonder if my Spotify stats read like the listening habits of a crazy person. The kind of person that will sit and listen to the same single song on repeat for interminably long stretches of time. The way I see it, if I’m to write about a song and do it justice, I need to know it inside and out, even if it takes hours. Many songs do not fare well with that level of repetition; it becomes such familiar territory that your brain just coasts by on autopilot. But then you have songs like ‘Heaven To Me’, that unveil their secrets gradually, sounding as fresh on the 50th listen as they did on the first. This track from sibling trio lotusbliss, taken from their new EP Deafening and Silent, feels like the audio equivalent of a mirror maze. Weaving an illusion which make it seem like it stretches on forever. From the deft intricate drum work, to the understated synthscapes flickering in the background. With angelic vocals reminiscent of Nothing But Thieves’ Conor Mason, and guitar that both squalls like a gale and twirls gently like a falling snowflake. Every listen becomes a fresh adventure well worth embarking on.
Top Tracks: Picture Parlour – Face in the Picture
At first I didn’t get the hype behind Picture Parlour, but all that changed upon seeing these rising stars live. Seeing their style, energy and stage presence in the flesh, it suddenly made all the sense in the world why they were generating such buzz on the live circuit. Somehow that intensity didn’t quite get captured on their first couple of singles. ‘Face in the Picture’ is the first time that a studio recording has been able to show the quartet at the height of their powers. This title track from their debut EP, out 14th June, effortlessly outdoes the Arctic Monkeys at their own game. Katherine Parlour’s unique croon is bursting with soul, Ella Risi’s earth shaking guitar dances around cinematic orchestration; the whole damn affair feels like an event. All about how the echoes of the past, and the wounds once thought healed, continue to haunt us, ‘Face in the Picture’ feels like a ready-made Bond theme. The ideal track for a suave secret agent struggling to outrun their past, or for making the rest of us feel like we can take on the whole world.
Top Tracks: Luvcat – Matador
The romantics among us hold firm to their faith that the sheer force of love can move mountains. We know our own hearts, we know how deep the well of devotion and passion inside runs. Yet not all hearts are created equal, and some will remain closed and empty despite all our best efforts to spark something within. ‘Matador’ plays as a cautionary tale about how hoping your love will be enough to fix or change someone will only lead to you getting hurt by their games. Instead of smoothing away the rough edges of a person that isn’t right for you, like a river eroding stone, those sharp edges just keep cutting deeper the harder you try to hold on. This stunning debut single from Luvcat, the new project from Belwood favourite Sophie Morgan, pairs plaintive soulful romanticism with a dash of Nick Cave-esque gothic macabre. With an off kilter beat that reminds me a little of ‘Stagger Lee’, ‘Matador’ superbly uses its evocative lyricism and Sophie’s ever alluring vocals to weave a graphic tragedy about a love gone to waste.
Top Tracks: The Howl & The Hum – Same Mistake Twice
If you could relive your life, what parts would you change? I’m sure we’d all love to take back our missteps, forge a new path, and live out the idea of our best life. Thing is, that wouldn’t be your life, and it wouldn’t be you leading it. Not really. Our mistakes define us just as much as our triumphs. They both give us the push we need to learn and grow, and help us determine our resolute lines in the sand. ‘Same Mistake Twice’ feels like a journey to accept the necessity of the messy parts of life, even as they’re still in the process of falling down around you. The latest single from The Howl & The Hum, now a solo project for singer/songwriter Sam Griffiths, is home to the same heady cocktail of devastating introspection and biting wit that we’ve been missing since 2020’s Human Contact. The title track from the forthcoming album, out 6th of September, ‘Same Mistake Twice’ delivers a non-stop barrage of tattoo worthy lyrics as the energy builds towards a triumphant Springsteen-esque climax. Feeling somewhere between a wake to mourn the perfect faultless life that never was, and the freeing absurdity that comes with accepting the emotional bombsite that exists in its place, the song’s unique approach encapsulates everything I love about The Howl & The Hum.
Top Tracks: Fiona-Lee – Mother
The best art offers a window into the artist. Some insight into how they see the world, what drives them, or into all the pain, or joy, or what have you, swirling just beneath the surface that gets channelled into the art they create. And much as a window may appear as a small portal containing an entire world beyond, occasionally you come across a song that manages to feel somehow bigger on the inside. With her debut single ‘Mother’, Fiona-Lee not only offers a glimpse directly into a towering tumultuous hurricane of frustration, fear, anger and defiance, but also corrals it into shape in order to capture a entire story within the fleeting runtime. Inspired by her experiences with a dubious and controlling former manager, the track begins as a wavering cry for help, a sense of helplessness and isolation, before the driving beat kicks in as the pain and frustration begins to boil over. The energy and passion continue to build, empowered by white hot ire, all culminating in a raw and cathartic climax reminiscent of Sam Fender at his best. In pouring so much of her heart and her experiences into the track, this incandescent debut single shows a clear picture of Fiona-Lee; a fiercely talented artist with a bright future ahead.
Top Tracks: Natalie Shay – All The Time
I think in the wrong hands ‘All The Time’ might have been very different. This fangirl anthem, detailing an intensely passionate celebrity crush, could easily have veered into more obsessive and parasocial territory. But in the capable hands of Belwood favourite Natalie Shay (who at this point has rattled off more big effervescent bops than I’ve had hot dinners!) this spirited new single instead feels like the sweetest daydream. An unrequited love for some artist oblivious to your existence, but whose music seems to know you better that you know yourself. It plays like some glorious fusion of Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ and Phoebe Bridger’s ‘Punisher’ – equal parts confidence in the connection, and perceived compatibility, that you’ve built up in your mind, and terror at the thought of meeting them, being lost for words, and watching the dream shatter before your eyes. With the way this story of longing interweaves with Natalie’s uncanny knack for crafting infectious indie pop melodies, you can’t help but root for her pipe dream coming true.
Belwood Music 