The summer is usually quite the quiet one for gigs, and seeing as I was kinda stuck in my home country, I didn't even get the whole jump on a Megabus and find yourself in a sunny/muddy field or overheated venue moment. I stayed home, hit the free gigs (and Guns n Roses' one night in a packed stadium) and listened to the new things that were released, as always. It's a bit more personal, but trying to keep on top of music releases while staying away from social media is a tough one. I haven't perfectly mastered it yet. August, maybe. (I'm not really good at avoiding the socials)

Albums & EPs

I am honestly so, so excited about talking about this beauty that I will leave the "albums first, EPs then" order in the bin. One of my favourite musicians, Mariel Loveland, released an EP under her new project name, Best Ex. It's called Ice-Cream Anti-Social and spoiler alert, it's stunning.

Best Ex is Candy Hearts' poppy little sister. You can tell both have grown up listening to the same stuff and share the same influences, but Best Ex has chosen the eighties influenced keyboards over the fuzzy guitars. The end result is the same in the way that my heart is stolen, big time. Other than that, Ice Cream Anti-Social is very obviously music made by the supremely talented Mariel. Her delicate vocals get along with the keyboards like a house on fire and her lyrics are still the beautiful, honest kind.

In Lonely Life and Someday, Best Ex sing of trying to figure things out, of not knowing what the future is made of, of doing the best we can despite the hard times and dark nights, the frustration and the broken hearts. In Lonely Life and Someday, Mariel has penned anthems for a generation of twenty-somethings who are struggling, every day, to find their way, to figure things out, to do their best. 

The reason why I had fallen in love with Candy Hearts was the way Mariel speaks of love, the way her songs are stories of her life but can easily become the story of yours. In Ice Cream Anti-Social, she's done it again and produced three wonderful moments. February 4th is a lovely acoustic ballad about a long distance relationship, See You Again is the wish of the perfect end to the perfect summer fling and Jellyfish depicts a love that has ended badly, with someone feeling diminished and hurt. ("This is the last time that I will give you my heart again. This is the last time that I will let you walk all over it 'cause I had a life, I had a spine, when I was alone, everything was fine" - let me tell you, this is all too real) The mix between the ukulele, Mariel's vocals and the heartbreaking lyrics could easily make it this EP's crown jewel - but then again, this EP, as a whole, is a shiny jewel, stunning and delicate. 

As always, Mariel's writing is never sugarcoated - on the contrary, it's always honest and real. All six songs in Ice Cream Anti-Social feel and sound like snapshots into her life, right out of her brain and heart and turned into pure art. The beauty of art like Best Ex's music is that it tells a very precise story and yet, it becomes a piece in your own personal puzzle, even though it isn't about you. Ice Cream Anti-Social is wonderful from start to finish, and I already cannot get enough of it. 

July offered us more music made with awesome ladies. After Best Ex, say hello to Milk Teeth's newest EP, Be Nice. This EP is one of this year's surprises for me - I'm not surprised Milk Teeth have done a wonderful job with it, I just was not expecting new music so soon and so suddenly. Be Nice is a wonderful follow up from the band's groundbreaking debut album, Vile Child, and has all the elements that make Milk Teeth the outstanding band they are. There is the very nineties, college rock sound (even though Fight Skirt has punk undertones here and there), Becky Blomfield's heavenly vocals and the unique bass sound, acting as a lifeline throughout the songs. Be Nice is only four songs long ("only" because I'm being greedy and adore Milk Teeth enough to want more) and it is full of anger and passion, it is a little time bomb ready to explode. Once again, the band hits the nail right on the head with the slower numbers - Hibernate is nothing short of a masterpiece. It starts off slow and reflective, I could have almost called it a ballad, but then, there it is - the time bomb explodes and the harrowing cries ("Don't let me fuck it up") turn the beautiful song with the heartbreakingly relatable lyrics into pure, unalterated pain. 

With Be Nice, Milk Teeth show they truly are a gem in this scene, able to be angry and honest and to master a whole spectrum of sound, from satisfyingly catchy to quiet and delicate, and they so it with such grace and talent that it's almost impossible not to get on board. 

Technically, this EP has been released on the 30th of June, but what the hell - it will count as a July release, sorry. With Sainte, Taylor Jardine goes from We Are The In Crowd's cheerful pop-punk to catchy pop that's bursting at the seams with colour and energy. Eyes Are Open does a wonderful job of opening smile, and wave - it is explosive and carries a "now, this is what's up" sentiment about. This song (and EP) are positive and full of live, and they strangely make you want to grab life by the horns. The more upbeat songs in smile, and wave (Technicolor, With or Without Me, Feels So Wrong) are little pop-rock bombs and hits in the making. They perfectly showcase Jardine's unique, slightly broken voice and the ease she shows in going from deep to higher notes. They are also the perfect representation of the general feeling in smile, and wave - there is something very empowering about this EP. A lot of the lyrics are about people who have deceived you and, as a consequence, not wanting to be burdened by their lives, wanting to get out of it and make it on your own. These words scream independence and power, if you ask me. This EP, as a whole, is the musical version of the voice in your head that says you have had enough and you deserve better.
smile, and wave is a brilliant, boisterous start to Sainte's career and I am very excited to see what the future holds. It's a very positive piece of work, a colourful collection of perfect summer tunes with meaning and feeling.

Before I listened to Always Lose for the first time, I only knew three things about The Gospel Youth. A, they supposedly are from Brighton (even though their Facebook page says "South Coast"), B, everyone loves them to the moon and back and C, they kind of belong to the UK pop-punk scene, but not really. By the end of the album opener, I Will Deliver You to the Fireflies, I know another thing : love at first sight is real, and I have just experienced it.
The piano reminds me of one Andrew McMahon, the general nostalgic feeling of the lyrics has something of Deaf Havana, and I don't know about you, but I call this a match made in heaven. All throughout the record, there is a classic pop-punk vibe in the English's sound, and at the same time, The Gospel Youth are not a band who are trying to revive something that belongs to another decade. There is a lot of nostalgia and sadness in the lyrics, yet the end result is strangely comforting. Always Lose, in all its beauty, sensitivity and purity, feels like it could be the perfect soundtrack for any moment you could think of - a rainy day, a road trip in the summer, a sweaty gig in a basement, it all works. This album is, overall, perfect, with outstanding drums, soaring vocals and satisfyingly nostalgic lyrics, and it is a breath of fresh air. In the space of half an hour, Always Lose and The Gospel Youth have given me music to fall in love with, to fall for with all my tiny little heart. I might just go ahead and call Always Lose one of the best albums I've heard this year, a stunning piece of art considering it's only a début album. I suppose that's what love at first sight does to you.



This month, you should also listen to Silverstein's newest record, Dead Reflections, Oceans Ate Alaska's new album Hikari. If you fancy magic, Manchester Orchestra's A Black Mile to the Surface exists, and if pop is more your thing, Lana Del Rey is here with Lust for Life.

The playlist

• This month's playlist will, of course, include a bunch of Linkin Park songs, as a forever thank you to Chester for everything he has created as a musician and done as a human.
• The All-American Rejects coming back with two new tracks, Sweat (a personal favourite) and Close Your Eyes.
• The Xcerts signing their come back with the ¨uber-catchy Feels Like Falling in Love. I think I have run out of words to tell the world to give them a listen. This band feels like home in all its glory to me.
• In Hearts Wake have chosen Nomad as their new single, and the position taken for the music video is that moshpits aren't just a boy's game. This is another thank you, because us girls need bands like In Hearts Wake to stand up with us against those boys who think they're the kings of the pit. We're here, we matter and we can hold our own, please and thank you.
• New tunes from Don Broco, Neck Deep, Arcane Roots, August Burns Red, Knuckle Puck, Stick To Your Guns, Couterparts, PVRIS, Enter Shikari, and new singles from Courage My Love and Waterparks.
• Seaway announced they were coming back with their sophomore record, Vacation, out on September 15th. There's a new single, the excellent Apartment, featuring a lot of feelings and dogs.
• One of my favourite bands, Four Year Strong, have announced a new record, Some of You Will Like This, Some of You Won't, composed of new songs, rarities and unplugged golden oldies. The (I'm sure) beauty is out on September 8th. The lovely The Wonder Years have also announced a new EP, Burst & Decay, which will include reworked versions of some of their songs.
• Another friendly reminder that you should pay attention to Muskets' fuzzy guitars and catchy tunes. Chewing-Gum is a great tune.
• Stray From The Path have a new album out in September, too, and to keep us all waiting (and moshing), they have released a single entitled Goodnight Alt Right. By far their most controversial single to date, Goodnight Alt Right stands up against nazism (as we all should, really) in the most aggressive way possible.
• New Australian pop-punk in the form of Stand Atlantic. The outfit is soon going on tour alongside New Found Glory.
• A little bit of lovely acoustics with Trash Boat's Brave Face for Idobi and The Maine's Bad Behaviour.

See how I was scared about 2017 because most of my favourite bands had released new albums in 2016 and I didn't know who would be here for me this year? Be still, my little heart. There's plenty of new music for me to dig my teeth in.

ALBUMS & EPs

After finishing the Asymmetry era on a high, we all knew Mallory Knox had the ability to make a big, ambitious rock record to match their big plans. Well, they’ve just gone and done it, and at the same time, they topped every expectation I could have possibly had. Wired might just be the Cambridge boys' best record, and I have no doubt that it’ll become my favourite anytime soon. It’s got everything I love about Mallory Knox’s music. It’s got ginormous choruses I cannot wait to lose my voice to in festival fields and packed venues. It’s got the perfect harmony of Mikey Chapman’s and Sam Douglas’ voices. It’s got a pure, unfaltering energy, from start to finish. It’s also got so much more than that. It’s got riffs all over the place, and let me tell you, Giving It Up into California into Wired is one hell of a way to start a record. Wired is urgent and fast paced, it’s all killer and absolutely no filler - and it’s not just your average big sounding rock record either. It’s got groovier vibes (For You, Come Back Around) that remind me of Oasis at times. The lyrics are more sensitive, more personal, even. Better Off Without You (Citalopram), dealing with bassist Sam Douglas’ anxiety, has to be one of Mallory Knox’s best songs while being one of the most truthful and honest. Wired is the record I wanted Mallory Knox to make without even knowing it.

Today, they’ve been announced as Thursday headliners for 2000 Trees, and recently, they have been added to two major tours (Simple Plan’s fifteenth anniversary tour for No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls and Enter Shikari’s European stint for the ten year anniversary of Take to the Skies), and I can just feel that Wired is the record that’s going to take these boys to the next level.

Before this, I had just heard of Can’t Swim - mostly because they will be touring Europe alongside Real Friends in April, and only in good terms. The release of their first full length, Fail You Again, in March, seemed like a good reason to finally give a listen to their music. From the get go, I find Fail You Again catchy and energetic, and Christ, I absolutely adore Chris LoPorto’s voice. At times soft and at others gritty, it is unique and stunning. Fail You Again feels like the calm and the storm all at once, with songs that are explosive (All the Moves We Make Are in the Dark, We Won’t Sleep) and others softer and more delicate (Quitting), but it’s Stranger that wins it all and embodies that feeling all at once, starting off slowly only to hit you hard in the chorus. The lyrics deal with the loss of someone (Friend, Molly’s Desk), of oneself and are a journey to find yourself, it seems. Fail You Again is a wonderful début album, and on this one, I’m glad I trusted everyone around me.

Another début album has been given to the world in 2017, courtesy of London based Counterfeit. The band has been making waves recently, and it’s safe to say their first full length, Together We Are Stronger, had been long awaited. It’s one record that does not disappoint. From start to finish, there is no dull time, and every song is energetic, catchy, very in your face and yet, it’s more than that. The best explanation for that is the stunning Lost Everything, grand and soaring all throughout… and rendered unique by the mix of strings and vocalist Jamie Campbell-Bower’s screams. Together We Are Stronger is a record full of urgency, the songs are short and fast paced and it feels like a bomb exploding in your face with every track, every beat of the drums, every riff, every word. It’s an album that manages to surprise you one last time by closing with its slowest, most delicate song, the beautiful Letters to the Lost. Let me tell you, Together We Are Stronger is one great album and most importantly, one I want to hear performed live.

One of the albums I was most excited to hear this year was Sorority Noise's You're Not As ____ As You Think, and I have not been disappointed. Songs about death, guilt, mental health and a friend's suicide. On paper, it sounds very bleak, doesn't it? And yet it's a record that is infinitely comforting, and full of light. It's the way I have always felt about Sorority Noise. Every time I've seen them live, it's how I felt - like something had exploded all around me and for a short amount of time, I wasn't alone, and someone got it. This is how You're Not As ____ As You Think feels, too. It's beautiful and sensitive, positive and honest, and I am extremely grateful we have a band like them to deal with mental health issues in such an honest way. Depression isn't pretty, anxiety isn't just being awkward. Mental health issues are ugly and uncomfortable, and a song like Disappeared depicts it in such a truthful way it hurts and yet, it makes you feel less alone. You're Not As _____ As You Think is an open window into frontman Cameron Boucher's mind, and it's one we desperately needed if we intend on breaking that stigma and make mental health issues valid.


On the 24th of March, I woke up to Northlane pulling a Beyoncé and dropping their fourth full length, Mesmer, as a surprise. And what a brilliant surprise it is indeed. It's catchy all the way through and yet it is technical. It is very atmospheric and yet heavy at times. Vocalist Marcus Bridge has one of the most wonderful voices I've ever heard and his cleans are heaven to my ears. It seems Northlane have found the perfect balance between all the elements I love in metal, blended them together and made the one hell of an album with it all. The lyrics, whether they are about the way we relate to our planet (Solar) or the loss of a loved one are clever and beautiful, and the more personal songs (Heartmachine, Fade, Veridian) are written in a way that can speak to everyone, they're made relatable without being a cliché. It's no secret that Northlane's history has heavily been influenced by Architects, and it's no surprise they would write the late Tom Searle a tribute, and it comes in the form of closer Paragon, an absolutely stunning piece of music that absolutely broke my heart. Overall, there's a positive energy in that record, a sense of wanting to change things but in a very peaceful way. There's something so organic and pure about Northlane that I am loving more and more every day.


Coast To Coast's The Length of a Smile is the best surprise I've had in 2017, in the way that I don't know what I was expecting, but everything has been blown out of the water. This is an incredible EP, full of nostalgia, and Coast To Coast are a band with a wonderful sound. You can hear the pop punk roots, sometimes, but to me, in sound, they're closer to a band like Deaf Havana and no, it's also not Deaf Havana meets pop punk either. It's something that I can't quite describe, that has taken me by surprise and that I have a lot of love and time for.

I used to really, really like Ed Sheeran. I heard You Need Me, I Don’t Need You on the radio, once, before + was released, and I fell for it, hard and headfirst. I saw him live following this, I even met him. And then Don’t happened and I jumped off the bandwagon. Sheeran just released is long awaited third album, Divide, and it’s not the album that is going to make me jump back on the bandwagon. The singles are alright, and there are some good tunes here and there, but it doesn’t really do anything for me anymore. I’ve got to a point where I would probably singalong and not change the channel/station if he came on the radio/TV, but that’s about it. I can’t say Divide is a bad album, it’s alright, not album of the year but not bottom of the industrial sized bin either, but… some lyrics are downright embarrassing, though. In Shape of You, Ed and the girl he has his eye on (whom he probably met in the eighties seeing as a jukebox was involved) go to an all you can eat buffet and, well, they’re “thrifty” so she fills her handbag with food. And they say romance is dead.


So, I've listened to Creeper's Eternity, In Your Arms. And I can't say it's a bad album, because it clearly is not. It's dramatic and vivid, it's cleverly written and it's technically impeccable. You could totally make a musical out of it, complete with dance numbers, and knowing my love for musicals and dance numbers that is a compliment of the highest form coming from me. But apart from the objective, I think I just don't get it? I have no idea what just happened to me. Maybe I'll get it sometime.

MY NEW FAVOURITE ACTS

We'll start with something that is, indeed, all new. Sainte is born from the ashes of We Are The In Crowd, and it's basically WATIC's vocalist Tay Jardine's new musical project. It's absolutely everything I adore in pop music, it’s catchy and and it makes you want to dance in your living room. The music videos are brightly coloured and pop arty and they fill my heart with joy and cater to my love of colour block and brightly coloured make up. Sainte have only released two songs as we speak, Technicolor and, more recently, With or Without Me, and I cannot wait for more music.

The best thing about attending a lot of shows on the same tour can be support bands - outside of seeing your band of choice several times, that is. Going to five shows out of With Confidence's Better Weather tour brought Canadian outfit Safe To Say in my life. They quickly moved on from "the band I'd love to see in Brighton because they'd fit in so perfectly there" to "the band I cannot get enough of" - only me to go see a band for their sugary sweet tunes and to leave a fan of the emo, alt-rock, darker support. I cannot recommend Safe To Say enough if you're a fan of having your heart ripped out of your chest because feelings.

THE PLAYLIST

This month’s playlist includes :