We’ve reached the halfway point of 2025, and the digital singles still keep coming! There are a couple of familiar names appearing in this visit to the Singles Bar, but with a mix of genres and the help of a really inspiring cover tune, this selection continues our streak of great submissions. Alongside a country singer reviving a tune that deserves to find a new audience, we’ve got the debut track from a new rock band from Belfast, a semi acoustic piece from an interesting solo venture, a strong throwback to 70s pop-rock, and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.

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The follow up to the poppy ‘Wild Again’, Juliet Lloyd’s ‘Reno Cure’ takes a far more stripped back approach at first. The track’s intro places her emotive voice against a plucked string sound, and even when a few keys start to introduce the expected pop influences, Lloyd’s voice retains a very sedate quality. The quiet verse makes an eventually huge and hooky chorus sound even bigger, and allowing her vocal to rise into a huge arc of sound, Juliet reminds everyone of her superb adult pop credentials. Things don’t rest there, however, and by topping everything with a very retro, twangy lead guitar break with a slight Americana influence that fits nicely with the Nevada themed lyric, everything grows into a perfectly formed arrangement. This is definitely a track that deserves attention, and should build upon Juliet’s fan base.

‘Wasting My Time’, the debut single from Belfast based band Reflect, has a really interesting sound. Its intro sets a few chopping riffs in place that blend the sharpness of a tough indie sound with the off-kilter edge of something further within the art rock scene; the track’s bridge sections introduce a second guitar with an even more abrasive edge, and parts of the chorus share a deep, grumbling bass sound drawn from something a little heavier. This isn’t in any way directionless, though: everything is pulled together brilliantly via an impressive vocal from Tay Layno, moving effortlessly between a melodic verse and a huge sounding peak which really showcases a great emerging talent. With a mood that sounds like a spikier ‘All I Want’ era Paramore in places, this is track that could appeal to a broad spectrum of rock fans and sets this band on a journey with their best foot forward.

Here’s a superb track that values atmosphere and layers over everything else. ‘Nightbird’ by Celeste Corsano refuses to sit easily within a genre: its disjointed rhythm is powered by rock drums; the moments of ghost-like guitar work draw more from the world of Americana, whilst a bright sounding piano leans upon an art rock melody that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old John Cale record. With a band seemingly pulling in different directions, Corsano sets a really cool sound in place, but isn’t about to take a back seat. Her featured vocal runs the full gamut of sounds from spooky almost spoken word tones reminiscent of ‘Whore’ era Dalbello, purer notes sharing a light warble, and even pushing into huge, almost operatic notes. This is genre-bending at its absolute finest, and a deeply uncommercial single that, somehow, sounds better with each play.

Anders L. Rasmussen is known to rock fans as the driving force behind Ohmwork, but his current solo outing trades in the heaviness for acoustic melodies and a strong narrative. Not that ‘10 Years From Now’ is without a dark undercurrent: the way 70s inspired organ lines swirl beneath the track’s busy guitar work brings a different kind of moodiness – and a hint of ‘Heritage’ era Opeth along the way. The organ is offset very effectively by a clean guitar and clean vocal, bringing a sound that should be accessible to most listeners. Whilst the music is impressive in a “less is more” sense, the track is ultimately sold via its lyrical concerns with the passing of time. This sentiment brings an unease of its own, and will share message which will be relatable to most listeners. Everything here is great; Rasmussen’s choice of very natural vocal and really retro production sound gives the track a pleasingly earthy quality despite being rather pared down, and the louder parts of the arrangement add an ominous feel without being too domineering. It might be half a world away from Ohmwork, but there’s no point in having a side hustle if you’re not going to explore other musical interests.

With its steady rhythm and vaguely trippy feel, there are massive echoes of early Mazzy Star and Drugstore running through the musical heart of Caïman’s ‘Dreams Are A Way of Seeing Dead People Again’. A very different, more direct sounding vocal helps this track – the first new offering from the French act in three years – retain far more of its own identity, and Chloé K.Serme-Morin’s slightly aloof tones have a knack for constantly drawing the listener further into her slightly otherworldly universe. At the same time, the melodies here are assured enough to help this number take pride of place among the dream pop scene’s strongest tracks at the time of release. Chances are, you’ll consider this more about mood than immediacy, but if you love the Caïman sound – likened by some as being akin to a French Marika Hackman – then a huge amount of enjoyment gleaned from repeated listens is pretty much guaranteed. This marks a superb return.

It’s been a little lost within a sea of great music at the start of the summer, but here’s something superb from country singer songwriter Joe Bourdet. He didn’t actually write ‘Illinois’ – that would be the under-appreciated Dan Fogelberg, a man who, had his career not been cut short, would deserve to be as well respected as Glenn Frey or Jackson Browne by now – but Bourdet’s own take on the track comes with as much finesse as his own work. The blend of warm bass and subtle steel guitar throws the listener right back to the days of 70s AM radio, and the lavish harmonies layered across a huge sounding chorus here are definitely in the Eagles-tastic mould. It’s all rather lovely, even before a slide guitar break worthy of Joe Walsh takes centre stage, and by turn, takes this cover a little further into the realms of cosmic country. Bourdet’s arrangement may stick rather closely to the Fogelberg original, but a slightly punchier drum sound and those (much) bigger harmonies make the track sound as great in 2025 as the original cut did over half a century ago.

The last time the world heard from

You’ve probably never heard of Iain Hornal, but he’s kept himself busy over the years. He’s toured as a member of Jeff Lynne’s ELO, with Graham Gouldman in the 10cc live band, and been a sideman to Paul Young and several others. He’s also released a couple of solo albums. ‘Positive People’ – the lead number from his third record ‘Return To The Magic Kingdom’ – makes it really obvious why he’s spent a reasonable amount of time as one of Jeff Lynne’s collaborators. The track’s mid tempo is distinctly cut from the same cloth as the material on ELO’s 2019 release ‘From Out of Nowhere’, and the layers of sound applied liberally throughout are also decidedly Lynne-esque. Working within a classic adult pop-rock format, Hornal makes great use of stabbing piano, droning melodies from the guitars sounding like atonal brass, and marching beats. Although almost everything will feel very familiar to the 70s AM radio pop fan, Hornal makes the sound feel a little more his own by adding chunkier guitar lines – closer to the work of Blur’s Graham Coxon circa ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ – and a more natural vocal, which helps the track feel far less shiny than a lot of similar fare. For those who enjoy retro sounding tunes, this is likely to open up a rabbit hole to more great music.

Last up, here’s a slab of very retro metal for the masses. On ‘Crack The Sky’, Vicious Rumors celebrate an absolutely huge, 80s inspired sound. The heavier riffs on the verse very much tap into a sound beloved by Judas Priest in 1982, and an absolute ripper of a guitar solo cements a retro heart that attacks with an unstoppable force. Even when a couple of heavier notes en route seem keen to lean into something more contemporary, a fretboard melting lead keeps everything sqaurely within the old school. Although a few of the more wayward vocals don’t always feel like the best fit here, the band’s all round sense of force should be applauded. Between Vicious Rumors really giving their all, the last album by Accept being one of their strongest, a late career stormer from Scorpions with ‘Rock Believer’, and stalwarts Saxon still packing ’em in on the live circuit, it seems that the “classic metal” sound has truly thrived over the last couple of years.

June/July 2025