Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have been sent our way over the previous few weeks. This selection takes in a couple of familiar acts – a massively cult Australian band, and someone making yet another return to the SB. As usual, the selection of tunes also explores a few slightly less familiar avenues. You’ll discover a slice of jazzy, downbeat singer songwriter fare, something with a strong soul bias, and even a new offering from a cult post punk act. As with the best previous Singles Bars, we’ve given no bias towards any particular genre, and feel that this particular selection really highlights how much good music has started to emerge now that 2025 is properly underway. Enjoy!

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Chopping guitar lines, a reasonable amount of fuzz and a steady rhythm: just three elements that quickly sell the pointed melody from Cortney Dixon’s ‘You Look Good Naked’. There’s a great tune here – one part power pop, one part old school new wave, one part contemporary indie rock – but everything pales into insignificance once Cortney starts to sing. Throughout the verse, she shares a high tone that curls around the chosen lyric with a huge amount of sass. Things improve further with the arrival of a massive pop inflected chorus where a bigger voice tackles a great hook, creating something that’s immediately catchy. With elements of early Rilo Kiley, hints of Wolf Alice and a genuine desire to make its audience feel good, this is a superb single; one that’ll appeal to fans and new listeners equally.

Take a downtempo groove and a wheezing sax, and you have the basis for an almost timeless sounding slice of soul. Add a solid drum part and a rhythm that shifts between something within the acid jazz world and something that sounds more attuned to 70s fare from Gladys Knight, and you also have an arrangement that keeps the listener constantly interested. Fem Du Lit’s ‘Bankrupt’ is complex without feeling fussy; during the instrumental parts, especially, there’s a confidence in the laid back melodies really shines through. Although the featured sax work is very strong, the lead vocal also has a dominant quality, despite never rising beyond a sultry croon. There are moments here that might remind some listeners of solo work from Ms. Lauryn Hill; others where more than a hint of Erykah Badu’s experimental side peeks through. However you approach it, this creates a great late night listen.

There’s a huge amount of twang running through the centre of Ashleigh Flynn and The Riveters’ ‘Drunk In Ojai’. It isn’t just your standard country rocker, though… You’ll find the country elements offset by an occasional lead guitar with a bluesy feel and a great harmonica stoking up an old school vibe. That works brilliantly alongside a strong vocal from Ashleigh herself, who clearly has a lot of confidence in some relatively unfussy musical hooks. Everything adds up to create a great bar-room workout with a reasonable amount of swagger, much like a late 80s Bonnie Raitt workout with an extra hint of country, leaving the audience with something that’s likeable from the very first listen.

On his current single, ‘Setting Sun’, its clear that The Butterfly Graveyard finds himself within a thoughtful mood and is keen take his listeners on his journey of reflection. The Irish singer songwriter uses this track as a springboard for environmental concerns, and the setting sun is obviously a metaphor for running out of time. Against a warbling bass, he shares an almost equally unsettling vocal which further accentuates the fragility of the piece, and it’s a rather striking performance. Aside from offering the odd trace of Anhoni, or perhaps a half remembered jazz singer, there’s nothing about the vocal that ever feels familiar – it genuinely occupies its own space, musically, conveying a mournful yet strangely hopeful presence. The vocal tones really deserve to be this track’s defining element, but the music is actually stronger. The melody builds up a backdrop of almost soulful adult pop backdrop; there are hints of prog-ish lead guitar, and best of all, a perfectly pitched electric piano, bringing a very 70s flourish to the tune’s inevitable climax. It’s certainly not an immediate hit, but lovers of well orchestrated, lyrical fare will find much to enjoy here.

Ocean Alley are the very definition of “cult band”. Everything they’ve released has been solely on their own terms and their own label, and despite having absolutely no UK hits, they managed to sell out a gig at London’s Roundhouse in 2024 and get a second date added. Their new single presents a stylistic departure since it comes with a jaunty rhythm and a very late 60s feel, and as such, is a lot more entertaining than their typically languid sound. The number rattles along with a reasonable pace, and a layer of surf guitar really adds to the retro charm. The prominent basslines and filtered vocals provide a common link with past works, though, ensuring this – despite sounding a little different to the expected – will be unmistakable to the fans. It’s great to hear them branching out: despite being good musicians, past works have sounded dangerously like a band replaying the same three hazy sounding songs over and over (and over). This, at least, has half a chance of jolting their devoted audience and proves Ocean Alley are capable of sharing more than a half-stoned malaise…

‘Floating’, the current single from singer songwriter Emily Saunders, is a curious affair. It presents a very atmospheric vocal over some very smooth sounds, initially sounding like a weird marriage between a Stevie Nicks ballad and the world of Julee Cruise. Allowing a moment for your ears to tune in, the number takes on a jazzier tone; the bassline dances beneath a dreamy adult pop sound, occasional guitar pierces through the hazy melody and a gentle drum pushes a slow rhythm forward. Naturally, it’s Saunders who steals the show here, and her almost dream pop worthy tones straddle a gulf between pop, jazz and ambient, creating something that – if the mood is right – could take the listener into a world that feels vastly different from the daily humdrum.

A seemingly ever-busy musician, Newquay’s Tooth Gore returns with ‘So?’, and for extant fans, it’s a track that might surprise. The surf rock edges of previous recordings have been diluted, and this time, the sunny feel is supplied by a massive wall of jangling guitars, as if channelling old indie hits from 1990. It’s a stylistic shift that really works, as the uptempo arrangement allows for a really enthused vocal, and that, in turn, powers a really radio friendly chorus. It’s a track that thrives on pulling the best from great influences rather than originality, but this one man band has rarely sounded more engaging.

In terms of singles with a retro alternative core, they don’t come much better than ‘Dancing With Ghosts’ by Pink Turns Blue. On this track, the post punk legends work a sound that’s defiantly 80s. A wall of ringing guitars takes influence from the eras best indie, shoegaze and melodic goth sounds, whilst a solid bass groove beneath the busy melody occasionally rises up just enough to share a really muscular sound. This, too, should make lovers of 80s goth sounds feel drawn to this familiar sounding track. Its huge production values leave nothing feeling rough or muddy, and even a slightly detached vocal feels perfectly pitched. If there’s any criticism here, it’s that the track deserved more than a one line hook, but the musical elements are so appealing, the band just about gets away with that…

February 2025