“Tell me something beautiful and really make me feel it“. That haunting refrain at the heart of ‘Tomato Song’ is something that meka achieves within mere heartbeats of first hearing her resplendent vocals. A charming vignette of a little house in a canyon, vividly painted by an achingly gorgeous voice reminiscent of the golden age of singer/songwriters – safe to say I was hooked within the first couple of lines. The bittersweet balladry that follows only served to deepen the love instilled in me by that bewitching opening. Interweaving fond memories of her mother gardening with more abstract flashes of introspective melancholy, the track feels like a rumination on how the darkness swirling within and the beauty around us can overlap and leave a mark on each other. How an idyllic moment may have sadness hiding in its shadows, and how even the deepest depths of brooding may still allow light to shine in through the cracks. In the nostalgic, sepia-toned sounds of ‘Tomato Song’, meka delivers an ode to the hazy border between dreams and reality, beauty and sorrow, meaning and emptiness, and rarely has the in-between sounded quite this entrancing.
top tracks
Top Tracks: Monotronic – Looking Away
Watching the sublime, sun-kissed music video for ‘Looking Away’ hits different in a cold grey February. Those azure skies and golden sands feel like a glimpse into paradise, with Monotronic’s anthemic synth driven indie sound bringing a boatload of Killers energy to boot; the kind that makes it feel like the sky is the limit. What I’d give to be cruising through Joshua Tree in a classic car right about now. Shimmering synths, at max volume, echoing across the landscape. It feels so far removed from where I am right now, so unattainable, that it barely feels real. Like a dream of a dream. Yet I find myself daydreaming about it all the same, imagining it’s me under that sun – much as the video’s central character can’t help but dwell on thoughts of unrequited love. There’s a spark of joy in the wildest of fantasies that no amount of good sense and logic can extinguish. It’s all too easy to be disheartened by reality, but this track by indie outfit Monotronic reminds me how that little far-fetched oasis containing your heart’s desire, the one that lingers in the back of your mind, is a secret slice of paradise that no one can take away.
Top Tracks: FangSlinger – Blood Curse
If a song exists, I can all but guarantee there is a metal version of it on YouTube somewhere. Everything from Drake to Disney has had this treatment at some point in time. Take X and make it heavy. Yet much as I love a bit of metal, nine times out of ten these experiments don’t work for me. Most of the time it feels like a superficial veneer that just doesn’t fit the tone of the song; the two constituent parts just too far disconnected to truly work together in harmony. Up and coming trio FangSlinger aren’t the first to try and fuse the disparate worlds of country and heavy metal, but they just might be one of the best. After all, what better common ground to explore between the two styles than a story about a deal with the devil? An inspired choice! The way ‘Blood Curse’ commits to the theatricality of its tale of an undead outlaw, weaving the same gothic western splendour into both of its converging musical bloodlines, is one of its greatest strengths. From its dark country twang and menacing riffs, to its vivid storytelling and gritty Chris Cornell-esque vocals, this is just the song you never knew you needed.
Top Tracks: OK Go – A Stone Only Rolls Downhill
We’ve not even escaped the clutches of January yet, but our award for best video of 2025 may as well be set in stone at this point. Such is the power of OK Go. Their creativity and determination when crafting enthralling, joyous, mind-boggling visuals is unmatched. They have this uncanny knack for taking an outside-the-box idea, one that seems simple at first glance, and then pushing it to an extreme that requires a level of patience and logistical effort that would drive most people mad. In the case of ‘A Stone Only Rolls Downhill’, the first single the band’s forthcoming fifth studio album And the Adjacent Possible, it takes the form of a mosaic of videos playing across multiple phone screens, each piece working in harmony toward the bigger picture. As it constantly builds in complexity, I’m left baffled as to how long it took them to even storyboard the whole affair, let alone recording the dozens of one-takes and ensuring they all lined up on time. When it comes to music videos, OK Go just operate on a higher plane of existence, and they deserve every accolade going for their boundless ingenuity.
Top Tracks: Hannah Grace – I Grow Up All Over Again
It’s that time of year when many of us are making resolutions and aiming to become better versions of ourselves in the year ahead. Trying to get fit, have a better work/life balance, save money, and just generally get our lives together. It always feels like everyone else already has everything figured out, while you’re out of your depth and struggling to keep up. Still having those moments where you feel like you need an adult’s help, only to realise that you are the adult. It’s just a phase, it’ll pass, one day you’ll have it all figured out… right? The gorgeous new single from Belwood favourite Hannah Grace is the perfect balm for all the anxious thoughts that flow all too naturally this time of year. ‘I Grow Up All Over Again’ is a comforting reminder that you’ve overcome every obstacle on the road that lead to where you are now. Every daunting decision, every challenge you didn’t feel ready for, each period of change and upheaval, you have emerged out of a little older and wiser. Figuring your life out is something that happens day by day, piece by piece, not all at once, and every little victory you achieve along that journey is one worth celebrating.
Top Tracks: Gabrielle Aplin – Go Be Free
Christmas is a time of togetherness. A time when we show our appreciation for those we love, a time to look back on all the twists and turns of the past year which led us here, and a chance to slow down, enjoy life in the moment, and simply be. That kind of celebration of connection is captured wonderfully in Gabrielle Aplin’s new track ‘Go Be Free’. Rekindling the bittersweet introspective folk of her English Rain era, this latest track ponders on the circles of life and our place in the natural world around us. “Starlings float upon the air we breathe” has to be one of the most affecting reflections I’ve ever heard on how we’re just one small piece of a far bigger picture. The whole track plays as a gorgeous musing on how the things we lose come back to us in the end, in some form or another. How we make peace with the leaves falling in autumn, as we have faith they’ll return in spring. ‘Go Be Free’ feels like Gabrielle at her absolute best; the most wonderful early Christmas present I could have asked for.
Top Tracks: Bleach Lab – Drown
“You look so pretty when you cry, Makes them wanna break your heart to watch you die inside” – talk about opening lines that hit like a freight train. But as anyone who has had their heartstrings plucked by the band’s magnificent debut album can attest, London dream pop outfit Bleach Lab have an uncanny knack for that sort of thing. Taking the dark empty feeling gnawing at your insides, finding the right words to describe that sensation which walk the line between beautiful and devastating, and ultimately delivering them adorned in effervescent melodies bright enough to banish the gloom. The band’s superb new single ‘Drown’ sees them detail the daunting prospect of trying to break the cycle of a toxic relationship. Clinging on to the person that keeps on hurting you, convincing yourself that the heartache is worth the highs. Scared to take the plunge into a world without them, and deciding that the pain is better than feeling nothing at all. From its driving rhythm section and dreamy haze, to Jenna Kyle’s stunningly bittersweet vocals, ‘Drown’ is yet another triumph from one of the most emotive and assured new bands around.
Top Tracks: Lily Kershaw – Pain & More
I remember watching a video essay about horror soundtracks, and how they often feature the most beautiful music as a way of relieving tension. It remarked that the counter to horror wasn’t music that was bright and joyous, but rather sounds that were calm and peaceful. A brief moment of respite like the eye of a hurricane. In some strange way this song reminds me of that philosophy. The title track of Lily Kershaw’s latest album, ‘Pain & More’ lives in the shadow of heartbreak, full of a wistful yearning for brighter days. Yet the antidote for that pain isn’t a balm of grand overwhelming joy, the days that Lily longs for aren’t the greatest days of her life. Instead the remedy for heartache lies in simple pleasures, the kind often taken for granted. The true best days of our lives are the unremarkable ones we forget about. The song’s lyrics speak of merely having enough fuel in the car and money in the bank to get by, its video a nostalgic reflection on a quaint afternoon at the arcade. The sparse bittersweet arrangement and Lily’s bright Joni Mitchell-esque vocals offering a peaceful oasis, the eye of the storm safe from the horrors of heartache.
Top Tracks: Coda Nova – Symmetry
This latest track from Atlanta based prog metal outfit Coda Nova is a prime example of a song practicing what it preaches. ‘Symmetry’ tells the tale of scientists pushing the boundaries of discovery, and the dangers of letting scientific advancements reach realms that humans aren’t ready to meddle with. Asking whether progress truly progress if it means doing more harm than good. Though its lyrics are left vague and open to interpretation, the track’s philosophy is mirrored in its arrangement. Much as I love the prog space, I’ve seen many a band stumble over their own ambition. Losing musicality in their pursuit of complexity, not realising when they’ve pushed too far beyond the boundaries. Though Coda Nova exhibit plenty of ambition here, between the intricate guitar work, atmospheric breakdown, and seamless shifts between different sections, the band at all times feel grounded. With ‘Symmetry’s soaring vocals, reminiscent of Coheed & Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez, and its earworm lead riffs combining to form a killer chorus, it’s clear that the band knows what works. Returning you to the highlights at precisely the right moment without ever spiralling out too far.
Top Tracks: Julia Logan – Moodswings
As a child, autumn was my favourite time of year. The horizon awash with amber hues, the streets paved with the gold of fallen leaves. Watching those leaves swept up in the swirling wind and imagining them dancing to my own whims and designs. When I grew older, discovering music as I went, the sound I began to most associate with autumn was that of Nick Drake. The intricate meanderings of his acoustic guitar and the bright tenderness of the piano evoking the swirl of leaves, yet with an undercurrent of melancholy that hits harder as you grow older and reckon with autumn being a time of unrelenting change and encroaching endings. I see that same melancholic fall vista conjured in Julia Logan’s ‘Moodswings’; in piano notes as cool as October rain, and folk guitar that weaves like the breeze through increasingly barren branches. Yet true to its name the song shifts in tone, rather than linger in wistfulness. In the sweetness of Julia’s vocals on the endearing chorus, and in the whimsical lilt of synths in the song’s latter half, I hear hints of the playful autumnal magic of my childhood, once forgotten, begin to peek through the cracks.
Belwood Music 