Featured at the Singles Bar this time around, you’ll find a couple of familiar names. You’ll also uncover a world of eclectic sounds ranging from jazz, to light country, to calypso. There’s also a really quirky piece of pop and an almost unrecognisable cover tune to be found amongst the eight picks. With submissions still coming in at a frightening rate, we’ve certainly not been short of musical choices, but we feel that these definitely represent some of the most interesting sounds to be found at present. As always, we hope you discover a new audio treat or two along the way.

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At the beginning of 2025, vocalist Emily Saunders released ‘Floating’, a mellow single that fused pop elements with downtempo rhythms and a jazzy vocal, resulting in something that sounded like the bastard child of 90s acid jazz and chill out sounds. Her follow up track, ‘Sideways’ is actually a reissue of a tune that spearheaded a digital EP in ’24, and is even more interesting. The immediate use of scatting vocals throws the listener deeper into a world of jazz, and Emily’s subsequent curling lead further evokes the jazz sounds of the past. In contrast, the bright sounding music feels very contemporary: harder rhythms pull further in an acid jazz direction, even sounding like something Red Snapper might tease with in one of their softer moods; the flowing bass comes from a late night perspective, and the main hook almost has a pop-ish flair set against a busy drum part. In the centre, there’s Emily, effortlessly shifting between soft, melodic passages, wordless scats and almost theatrical sounds. As an exercise in vocal gymnastics, it’s certainly impressive. Those who “get” this will absolutely love it.

A soft, waltzing piano requires an equally soft voice, and the combination of both is delivered to perfection by Avery Lynch on ‘Think About It’. The exquisite ballad lays her emotions bare as she works through various relationship issues – seemingly drenched in sadness, rather than any feelings of bitterness – and it takes all of about ten seconds before she’s pulled in the audience for a massively sympathetic ear. The quieter elements of her performance draw from a world of twenty first century singer songwriter fare, although some older listeners might hear a faint echo of Holly Palmer’s reedier tones from farther back in the past, but wherever this minimalist piece goes, Avery sounds one hundred percent open and honest. Occasional acoustic guitar fleshes out a simple melody and a subtle hum is introduced for an unexpected hook, but it’ll certainly be the piano lines that leave their emotional mark here. Lynch’s piano ballads have been winning over listeners since the lockdown period, but in ‘Think About It’ she may well have shared her best and most heart-wrenching number to date.

Still Traffico’s ‘Two Birches’ presents something of an unexpected curveball. The lyric concerns two people who discover they’ve been turned into trees on a slip road just off the M6 motorway. That’s certainly a departure from most of rock’s lyrical concerns – save, perhaps, some of prog’s weirder practitioners. It’s certainly not the kind of fare you might expect from an indie rock band, and it’s all the better for it. From the outset, the band couple the lyric with an impressive musical backdrop that sounds like something from the second Gene LP fused with the riff from The Smiths’ ‘What Difference Does It Make?’, and the way a semi-floaty vocal melody sits slightly uneasily against a busy rhythm definitely reinforces the quirky subject matter. For those who don’t always want their listening to be bogged down with a narrative, this’ll work just as well, as the interplay between the guitar and drums creates a really busy, really captivating backdrop throughout, an a high toned voice taps into some classic 90s indie sounds. With a fat bassline making an appearance at the eleventh hour, this is a single that’s genuinely packed with great vibes.

With the help of strong 70s influences and a 90s tinged production, the current single by Riiver Brukes has the potential to attract the listener’s attention immediately. After the intro – an impressive combination of jangle pop guitar work and buoyant bassline – this retro pop-rock affair doesn’t quite go where you’d expect, however. Once Brukes starts to sing, something that once felt familiar transforms into a landscape of the genuinely quirky. Their lead vocal is likely one of the oddest you’ll have encountered in some time. It hasn’t been pitch adjusted, but there are helium tones and a dominant warble that’s often more about character than traditional melody. Given time to adjust, there’s an enjoyable pop sound flowing throughout ‘Deja Vu’ and a wantonly kitschy keyboard solo will seal the deal for anyone who’s already half sold on this retro workout.

Sicky has previously promoted his work under the Britpop banner, but ‘Cousin Billy’ takes an unexpected detour from a standard guitar-oriented sound. A slow, droning intro coupled with a spoken vocal ushers in a rather downtempo mood; a sharper groove allows for the main hook to be shared with a mechanical fervour, and once the guitars take centre stage, everything feels closer to post punk. Except, that’s not entirely cut and dried in terms of style, either. The howling vocal might fit closer to an art rock sound, and the introduction of horns takes the track off somewhere else entirely. Despite being a melting pot of ideas, there’s also a focus, and by the time Sicky hits upon the chorus one final time, there’s a feeling of something that’s not only very interesting here, but also surprisingly catchy.

On her earlier single ‘Sweet Georgia’, Tawny Ellis hit upon a classic America sound. ‘Bottom Line’ adopts more of an MOR singer songwriter mood, but there’s still a lot to enjoy. The track’s blend of electric piano and stately sounding drum part anchors a great melody, and despite the tempo and main melody seldom changing throughout, the tune is a massively enjoyable one, which shares a retro heart, yet still plays brilliantly to a contemporary crowd. As expected, of course, it’s Tawny’s performance that’s the star of this show, and from the outset she adopts a forlorn tone and stretches the melody to allow for a wealth of longer notes which show off a great voice with ease. With a whole world of old style, mellow radio friendly vibes coloured with a slight country twang, this track is a genuinely rich listen that should appeal to Tawny’s fans and new listeners alike.

Mad Caddies man Jon Gazi is a pioneer of a sound he calls “rockalypso”, and that fusion of styles comes across brilliantly on his current single ‘Statia’. He and his band hit upon a classic calypso groove almost immediately here – instantly bringing a ray of musical sunshine rather more effortlessly than some of his peers – and within that, the mix of horns and rhythm guitar sounds superb. From the rockier end of the scale, you’ll find a couple of blues toned lead guitar parts that, much like the main musical thrust here, are too melodic for ska-punk, but certainly have a common feel with some of the Caddies’ latter, more pop infused material. What really counts here, though, is a really infectious hook, and Gazi delivers that with absolute gusto to ensure that this track has a hugely memorable quality. For those who’ve enjoyed the latter day Mad Caddies work and still find themselves wishing that Johnny Cakes & The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypso hadn’t squandered their considerable talents on a lot of vulgar tat, this is a must-hear.

Last up, here’s a drastic reworking of something very familiar. Electronic band Clubdrugs have taken the Portishead classic ‘Sour Times’ and given it a massively unsympathetic overhaul. Gone is the steady rhythm that seemed to underscore the mid 90s, along with the sultry vocal and prominent bass. In their place comes a hard edged snare that sounds like a tribute to KMFDM and a busy pulsing synth, coupled with a vocal that’s been buried in a world of industrial tinged fuzz. With everything also delivered at twice the tempo, it’s not really until the chorus hits that this obviously sounds like the old Portishead number at all. Even then, it feels so, so different. As things progress, keyboard bleeps that call back to Bentley Rhythm Ace cut through the wall of sound and, eventually, a sparse moment or two allows a warbly synth to take centre stage before the big hook returns for the inevitable climax. This wanders between cool, frightening and unexpected with a huge amount of glee, but Clubdrugs definitely get a gold star for inventiveness.

March 2025