The cover image of Tokyo Tea Room‘s new album, Feel Forever, is, if you ask me, perfect for the sound of the record. You might look at it and think, “It’s just a photo of crumbled aluminum foil.”, but after you hear the dreamy, soulful psych-pop of Feel Forever, you think, “Oh yeah, I get it.”
Sam Teather‘s opening drum roll of “Hypnotised” is a perfect start to pretty much a perfect record. Beth Plumb‘s vocal style is like hearing dandelion seeds floating on summer winds, and the rest of the band (guitarist / producer / songwriter / jack-of-all-trades Dan Elliott and bassist Ben Marshall) groove like they’ve been doing it since the mid-80s. “Eyes Off You” is a love song you’ll put on every mix you’ll send to a lover from now until the end of time. “Leave You” has Plumb wanting to stay with a lover a bit longer because returning to the rat race is just…so…boring.
“All Night” continues this theme (with a shimmering groove) of wanting to extend the joy just another night more instead of calling it quits. The slow, smooth sound of “Feeling High” is great, with Teather putting down tight, simple jazz beats and Elliott’s synths and keys acting as icing on Plumb’s vocal cake. Marshall shines on “Always in the Sun” as his bass dances along like a happy cat and the band shows off their love of soul.
Elliott’s guitar on “You’re Mine” moves from desert rock to jazz with ease. “Temporary Love” has Plumb wanting a one-night stand to become a several-night stand at least, and “Last Time” has her wanting to seize the moment with a lover before its over and they go their separate ways. “Slip Away” floats us to bed as Plumb encourages us to “Stay inside, the world outside can wait.”
Getting back to the cover image, Feel Forever is as shimmery and reflective as the pictured aluminum. It’s also just as tactile and malleable. You feel it when you hear it as it wraps around and forms to you.
Margate, UK’s Tokyo Tea Room release “Always In The Sun,” the third single from their new album, Feel Forever, out September 18th via Nice Guys. Following the “slinky, funky” (Brooklyn Vegan) “All Night,” “Always In The Sun” has future live favorite written all over it, evoking Random Access Memories-era Daft Punk with its fluid funk guitar, swaggering bass and shimmering synths. Vocalist BethDunn sings about a love so intense and radiant that it completely transforms her life. Almost utopian in spirit, “Always In The Sun” captures all of love’s joys.
Tokyo Tea Room— Dunn, Daniel James Elliott, Ben Marshall, Sam Teather, and Sam Ewens—is a timeless project whose message transcends the music itself. The band arouses passions and emotions, taking listeners on a journey within a tender, comforting bubble. Their debut album, No Rush, established them as one of the most compelling emerging acts in alternative music, resonating with a growing global audience. With millions of monthly listeners and a sold-out debut North American tour, the band are rapidly building momentum, particularly in the US, where their audience continues to expand. With Feel Forever, Tokyo Tea Room are entering a defining new chapter, evolving their sound while staying rooted in the emotional depth that defines their work.
Feel Forever was written and produced by Elliott with co-production by Kristofer Harris, marking the first time Elliot worked with a producer. Of the recording process, Elliot says, “We took a yacht rock approach to the recording, taking our time to smooth all the edges and make something that felt more polished than the last record. Both of us spent hours obsessing over the smallest detail, which felt very apt for this album. The result is something that we are all very proud of, it’s a different kind of Tokyo Tea Room that has come out the other side of it, but it feels right and I hope people enjoy listening.”
Tokyo Tea Room will return to North America this fall touring in support of forthcoming new music. A full list of dates are below and tickets are on sale now here.
Tokyo Tea Room Tour Dates: Thu. Sep 24 – Vancouver – Hollywood Theatre Sat. Sep 26 – Seattle WA – Neumos Mon. Sep 28 – San Francisco CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club Wed. Sep 30 – Los Angeles CA – Teragram Ballroom (SOLD OUT) Thu. Oct. 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Fri. Oct 2 – San Diego CA – Quartyard Sat. Oct 3 – Tucson AZ – Club Congress Mon. Oct 5 – Austin TX – 29th St. Ballroom Tue. Oct 6 – Houston TX – White Oak Music Hall Wed. Oct 7 – Dallas TX – Club Dada (indoors) Fri. Oct 9 – Atlanta GA – Terminal West Sat. Oct 10 – Durham NC – Motorco Music Hall Sun. Oct 11 – Washington DC – The Atlantis Tue. Oct 13 – Brooklyn NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg Wed. Oct 14 – New York NY – Bowery Ballroom Thu. Oct 15 – Boston MA – The Sinclair Fri. Oct 16 – Montreal QB – Bar le Ritz Sat. Oct 17 – Toronto ON – Mod Club Mon. Oct 19 – Chicago IL – Lincoln Hall Sat. Oct. 31 – Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling Festival Sun. Nov. 1 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtwache Mon. Nov. 2 – Berlin, DE @ Mikropol Wed. Nov. 4 – Cologne, DE @ Yard Club Thu. Nov. 5 – Paris, FR @ Bellevilloise Thu. Nov. 19 – Brighton, UK @ Dust Fri. Nov. 20 – Southampton, UK @ The Joiners Sat. Nov. 21 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange Sun. Nov. 22 – Manchester, UK @ YES (Pink Room) Tue. Nov. 24 – Glasgow, UK @ Mono Wed. Nov. 25 – Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club Thu. Nov. 26 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega Wed. Dec. 2 – London, UK @ The Garage
Keep your mind open.
[I’ll feel like I’m always in the sun if you subscribe.]
Vacations—the Australian indie rock band of lead songwriter and vocalist Campbell Burns, bassist Jake Johnson, guitarist Nate Delizzotti, and drummer Joseph Van Lier—announce their new album, Pursuit of Anything, out October 2nd on Nettwerk, and release the lead single/video, “Holy Grail.”
Pursuit of Anything captures Vacations at a turning point as Burns reflects on the disorienting, often contradictory experience of growing up, tracing his path from Newcastle (Australia) to Los Angeles and New York—caught between ambition and the more traditional lives unfolding back home. Written by the band and produced by Burns, the album finds Vacations operating as a fully creative force with Burns drawing constant inspiration from his bandmates’ lives and perspectives: exploring how they’re each living out different lives yet share a common experience, all in their own “pursuits.”
Mixed by Beatriz Artola (Geese, Caamp), the result is a richer, more intricate, and emotionally expansive sound. Pursuit of Anything arrives as the band solidifies their place as one of the most globally resonant indie acts of their generation with sold-out world tours, double-platinum certified hits, and over 3.5 billion streams. The record turns inward, driven by the push and pull of devotion to music, relationships, and self-discovery. It is this tension that fuels an earnest, dreamy pop album that feels instantly classic.
This is on display on today’s single, “Holy Grail,” a diamond of a pop song, the sort of music you want to listen to while lying out in the sun. The track is impressionistic and melancholy: “How can I fool myself,” Burns sings in the song’s opening moment. The synths around him twinkle and the song lilts.
“‘Holy Grail’ was based on a stressful Zoom call we had together as a band last year,” Burns reflects. “We were in this period of wanting to write and record new material, but then also being stuck in a loop of unsustainable touring. So many people I know have devoted their entire lives to music, and yet, at times it can feel as if you’re in pursuit of anything just to make it work for you. This push and pull dynamic of something I love so much is fascinating to me. I may struggle at times, but I will always return to it because it brings so much joy and fulfillment and ultimately outweighs any negative.”
Pursuit of Anything is a labor of love, the product of a group of friends who have been making music together since they were barely out of their teenage years. On it, there are weddings, families, reflections on the past, and hope about the future. “It’s about happiness as a feedback loop,” says Burns of the record’s title, “How you keep chasing the next thing.” It’s a record that feels classic the first time you listen to it, it feels like chasing that rush, that sense of self discovery and rediscovery. And it shows Vacations at the height of their songwriting powers. It’s a pop record that takes pop music seriously. Lovely, earnest, dreamy and hopeful as they come.
This summer, Vacations will embark on their Holy Grail Tour across the U.S., Asia and Australia. The run of dates also includes the band’s very own MATES Festival with the third installment taking place at Knockdown Center in NYC on Saturday, June 20th. The all-day, full-building, multi-stage event will take over the Main Hall and Ruins at Knockdown Center, and feature Vacations, grentperez, girlpuppy, Mamalarky, Alex Lahey, Horse Jumper of Love, Thelma Plum, and Winter. Tickets for all dates are on sale and available here.
Vacations Tour Dates: Thu. July 9 – Jakarta, ID @ M Block Live House Sat. July 11 – Perth, AUS @ Freo.Social Sun. July 12 – Adelaide, AUS @ The Gov Thu. July 16 – Brisbane, AUS @ The Triffid Fri. July 17 – Melbourne, AUS @ 170 Russell Sat. July 18 – Sydney, AUS @ Metro Theatre Sun. July 19 – Newcastle, AUS @ The Act at Earp Distillery
It was a sold out night at the Chicago Theatre for this triple bill of 1980s music giants. The crowd was full of Gen Xers and Boomers who were buzzing outside the theatre and giddy once they got inside the place. I saw two people in their twenties there. I’m sure there were more, but they were vastly outnumbered…which is a shame because synthwave is hot stuff right now among the younger crowd. Go watch Stranger Things if you don’t believe me.
Alison Moyet started the night sounding and looking fabulous. Her backing band was sharp, especially her guitarist who subtly put down some slick riffs for those paying attention. Moyet was all smiles throughout her set, telling stories and expressing her thanks to the crowd. She played a good mix of stuff from her solo albums and Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S. for some weird reason) records. “Changeling” and “Only You” were lovely, and ending your set with “Don’t Go” is always a power move.
The modern version of Soft Cell was up next. Marc Almond is still on lead vocals and personality. David Ball died last year but not before they finished a lot of new material for their upcoming record, Danceteria. The new lineup came out right away with “Memorabilia,” the B-side to their first single, “A Man Could Get Lost,” which they also played. It was a weird new wave switch from Moyet’s sultry disco set, and I loved both. “Nostalgia Machine” (a clever takedown in 2022 and now) and “Out Come the Freaks” were other standouts, and, of course, they ended with “Tainted Love” to get everyone on their feet. They mentioned they’d be back in the spring to do a full show.
The Human League came out in full synthwave force with “The Sound of the Crowd” and “Mirror Man” with lead singer Philip Oakley quieting any curiosity about the strength of his voice right away.
Here comes The Human League…and the Mirror Man.
“The Lebanon” was a good highlight, and even stronger in 2026. An interesting moment was when I spotted a couple slow-dancing to “Human”…a song about infidelity. There’s a story there, I thought.
The League is only human.
“Love Action (I Believe in Love)” is already a great song, and it’s even better life. The same goes for their mega-hit “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.” Their encore included “Being Boiled” (their first single) and “Electric Dreams,” a collaboration Oakley did with Giorgio Moroder.
They had a fun energy for the whole show, including multiple costume changes for Oakley, Susan Sulley, and Joanne Catherall, good visual effects, and Oakley prowling around the stage like some mysterious wizard. They’ve said they plan to keep touring as long as people want to see them and they’re healthy enough to do it, so get to a show while you still can.
New York producer, vocalist, and DJ Vitesse X shares her take on Filter’s late-’90s alt-rock classic “Take A Picture,” out today via Music Website. The track follows her recent single “Memori,” her first new music since the release of her acclaimed second album This Infinite.
On her version of “Take A Picture,” Vitesse X pulls the song out of its post-grunge radio-rock context and into something hazier and more suspended. Built around trip-hop-leaning drums, atmospheric production, and the song’s unmistakable melodic center, the cover draws out the melancholy beneath the original’s sense of escape while bringing it into Vitesse X’s own dream-pop world.
Of the track, Vitesse X says, “I was listening to ‘Take a Picture’ in the car in the winter, deep in some heavy emotions. I was feeling really detached from the current state of music and exhausted by the demands of the modern world. When the song came on, I was immediately transported back to a feeling I had completely forgotten existed. A time where life felt tangible and simple and pure. It was honestly transcendental. I opened up my phone notes to remind myself to make a cover, and a month later it came to fruition.”
Vitesse X has spent the last several years shaping a sound that sits between dream pop, breakbeats, club music, and alternative electronic production, becoming a quiet reference point for listeners drawn to shoegaze-adjacent electronic music, soft-club nostalgia, and left-field pop. Her 2024 album This Infinite expanded that world further, with KEXP calling it “a fantastic set of glistening synth-pop” and Pitchfork previously describing her debut Us Ephemeral as “transportive” and “engineered with precision.” She has since continued to connect across indie and electronic audiences through touring, collaborations, and a growing visual world.
Check out “Take A Picture” and stay tuned for more music from Vitesse X coming soon.
In 2025, No Joy released their 5th LP Bugland. The project of Jasamine White-Gluz, had long been a critical darling, but their 2025 album was a new high water mark. Produced by the heralded Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz, the album earned a Best New Music designation from Pitchfork, who called it “a perfect album for our current shoecraze…Bugland is full of more textures, more ambiance, more chunky ’90s guitar. It crushes like a giant box of Gushers,” with further praise coming from Bandcamp,FADER, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, AV Club, Hearing Things, FLOOD, and Exclaim, and last week was nominated for the Polaris Prize.
At the end of May, No Joy appeared at first edition New York’s Total Bummer fest and next month they’ll make an appearance at the legendary Roskilde festival. Ahead of that appearance No Joy is announcing a new EP entitled Big Life, Big Leaf, which is a further collaboration with Fire-Toolz, who just released her first LP on Warp Records. The EP will be released on August 21st on Hand Drawn Dracula, and is being announced with its title track, which was co-written with Japanese Breakfast and Sky Ferreira producer Jorge Elbrecht.
White-Gluz says of the track:
“This was a demo I had that we never got around to during the Bugland sessions. In 2024 I brought it to Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, Sky Ferreira), who I have a long history of writing with. We really love exploring the absurd, combining musical ideas that shouldn’t really make sense together – it felt great picking up where we left off after 2020’s Motherhood LP. Bringing the song back around to Angel Marcloid (Fire-Toolz) more recently (post-Bugland LP sessions) made perfect sense to me; both Angel and Jorge have insane musicality and melodic imagination. Angel is a brilliant pop producer, she has a knack for shaping where a song can take you emotionally. Tara McLeod (Kittie) rips on guitar as usual, continuing to bring this heavy-but-effervescent energy.
“Lyrically, I wrote and recorded these vocals in one take during an emotional time this past spring. I was exploring the boundless pain one feels when it is time to say goodbye to someone or something. It is also during those moments that it is important to remember, ironically, to have joy. To mourn is also to celebrate.”
South Bay based singer-songwriter Billy Azurdia is releasing “Solamente En Mis Sueños,” on July 7, 2026. The genre bending single will be the 3rd and final release before his upcoming full length album. A danceable and ambitious departure from the straight forward tenderness of “Contigo,” “Solamente En Mis Sueños” showcases Azurdia’s confident versatility, blending city pop, folk and shoegaze.
Azurdia delivers a distinct 3-act anthem that begins on a sparkling dance floor, followed by a chromatic build that releases into a massive, distorted crescendo. The lyric and emotional component describe a chance meeting, that while beautiful, leaves one with a heart full of longing and bittersweetness. The finale explodes with fuzzy guitars, and dreamy synths, as Azurdia belts “Dejame aquí, puedo verte sonreir” (“Leave me here, I can see you smile”).
Billy Azurdia has been writing, producing and releasing music from his solo projects and as a contributing member of multiple Los Angeles projects, including Mind Monogram and Jane Astronaut, since 2011. His most recent work is an arrival as an indie folk writer, blending earthy grit and shimmering whimsy.
“Solamente En Mis Sueños was an opportunity for me to explore unconventional structure, danceable rhythms and blending it with the singer-songwriter styled indie folk that I’ve been producing these days. I’ve had the desire to explore city pop for a long time and I love songs that don’t ever return to a previous section, like (The Beatles) Day In The Life. I ended up with something I’m really excited about.”
“Solamente En Mis Sueños” will be on streaming platforms July 7th 2026.
Music is what initially brought atmos bloom — Tilda Gratton and Curtis Paterson — together when Tilda auditioned to play bass in Curtis’ band at the University in Manchester.
Seven years on from those rainy nights rehearsing in Trafford, the duo, now life partners living in London, are set to release their most compelling record yet. Everythingness was born out of a series of balancing acts, the journey through youth and young adulthood, chasing adventure while longing for home and falling in love with the city where they found this home, yet still needing to escape it in order to think and create. The record maps the duo’s journey through these themes whilst staying true to what initially brought the two together. It’s set for a July 24th release via Spirit Goth.
Following last month’s release of “Everything,”today they share the new single for “Closer.” It plays into the hazy, half-lucid magic of the band’s formula.
On “Closer,” the band share:“‘Closer’ explores self-love and finding peace with yourself and your inner child, whilst also missing past versions of you that no longer remain.”
atmos bloom’s first musical venture together: a psych-rock-shoegaze outfit inspired by bands such as Sonic Youth, Pavement and julie ignited a love for being in a band and making music. Their debut album Flora was born as the pandemic began to ease and restrictions in the UK were starting to be lifted. The record reflected this new beginning, a shining, shimmering record of hope that felt like an endless summer, with just a glance over the shoulder at the troubles left behind. As a result, Flora was inspired by jangly bedroom and dream pop, such as Alvvays, Beach Fossils and Cleaners From Venus.
On this second album Everythingness, a much different time is represented, a time with more uncertainty, painting a clear picture of the state of flux the duo found themselves in. The flow of the record reflects the endless cycle of feeling up and down and the sudden changes we all experience. From hope, self-realisation and sufficiency to fear, loneliness and unbearable pressures. The most positive and joyous parts of the album are met with the darkest and most lost. Even within individual songs we find ourselves plunged into a landscape that’s unrecognizable from the one where we started, only to be dropped back in and end at the beginning. Neither the ups nor the downs linger for too long and the overall message of the record is left up to the listener.
Do we enjoy the light whilst we’re in it, cut loose in the dark and embrace the unpredictability? Or do we live in fear of the uncertainty that’s around the corner, unable to embrace either the light or dark for fear of a sudden shift. The record ends with a clock-like rhythm, representing the perpetual cycle we find ourselves in, unstoppable and uncontrollable, all encompassing – Everythingness.
Without the restraints of trying to make a particular record, the pair unleash a wide range of influences, all explored through an honest and personal lens on this self recorded and produced work. In particular, bands such as DIIV, Ulrika Spacek, Deerhunter, Broadcast inspired Everythingness, without betraying the duo’s foundation in both psych-rock-shoegaze and jangly bedroom/dream pop.
The album’s artwork and themes reflect the environments in which the album was crafted – a patchwork, a collage, intersecting aspects of life and the world, and the journey to find our place within it.
For two decades, Desire have been making music for romantics. Created by Megan Louise and Johnny Jewel, the Montreal group emerged from the shadows of underground synth-pop to build a world entirely their own — where beauty lingers, heartbreak glows, and every song feels like the beginning of a love story.
Later this year, Desire return with Physical, their fourth studio album. Led by the euphoric first single “Summer Skin,”out today via Italians Do It BetterPhysical is a record about attraction, freedom, pleasure, movement, and being completely present while life is happening.
Windows down.
A favorite song playing at exactly the right moment.
The feeling that summer might never end.
“Summer Skin” opens with the sound of light from our nearest star dancing across the water. Yesterday is here to stay…That cyclical motif echoes the past lives we all carry with us, but each day is new & anything is possible. Summer brings us a recurring romantic optimism. Let’s celebrate & live in the moment. If the world feels like it’s ending…Turn the radio on & dance. Drip Drip…” – Johnny Jewel“Summer Skin” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43bfGZEfKTo
Written between continents, airports, hotel rooms, backstage corridors, and late nights at home, Physical captures the moments we spend our lives chasing — and the memories we carry long after they’re gone.
Since “Under Your Spell” became one of the defining musical moments of Drive, Desire have quietly become one of modern synth-pop’s most beloved cult acts, soundtracking fashion runways, bedrooms, films, dance floors, and late-night drives across the globe.
Desire return with their most immediate and intimate work to date.
“Physical is about falling in love with life again. The people around you, the music you’re listening to, the sunlight on your skin, the moments you wish could last forever.” — Desire
Desire are also set to tour Europe later this year with all dates listed below.
Tour dates: 15 Nov — Prague — Bike Jesus 17 Nov — Copenhagen — Hotel Cecil 18 Nov — Berlin — Frannz Club 20 Nov — Groningen — Simplon Poppodium 21 Nov — Rotterdam — Rotown 23 Nov — Brussels — Beursschouwburg 24 Nov — Lille — La Grand Mix 25 Nov — London — Colour Factory 27 Nov — Manchester — White Hotel 28 Nov — Glasgow — Stereo 30 Nov — Paris — Petit Bain 01 Dec — Grenoble — L’Ampérage 02 Dec — Bern — Dachstock 04 Dec — Ravenna — Bronson 05 Dec — Rome — Monk 08 Dec — Zagreb — Mochvara 09 Dec — Belgrade — Zappa Baza
We’ve reach the top ten albums I reviewed in the last five years. It gets more difficult to make these lists as the numbers grow smaller, but here goes.
#10: Yard Act – The Overload (2022)
These post-punkers seemed to come out of nowhere and hit us with multiple sharp singles from their debut. The whole album was witty, biting, and wicked.
#9: King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – PostDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (2023)
Part-thrash metal, part-environmental activism record, all great. The title and cover image alone let you know you’re in for a wild time, and King Gizz pull no punches on it.
#8: DITZ – Never Exhale(2025)
A whole post-punk album about tension – a topic that post-punk does very well, as do these Brits. The cover image conveys the sense of the record and, like the music, puts you on edge and keeps you there.
#7: Aaron Frazer – Introducing… (2021)
Stepping out from his main gig with Durand Jones and The Indications, Frazer dropped one of the best soul records of recent memory and probably got a thousand date offers just from the first couple tracks.
#6: Gum / Kenny Ambrose-Smith – Ill Times (2024)
This dynamic Australian duo created a cool, electro / dance-rock record that tackled grief and uncertainty. It made you want another one from them right away. I still do.
Who made the top five? Come back tomorrow. It was a tough call, but I made it.
