Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past couple of weeks. This time around, we bring you a superb pop-rocker from a Scottish act, a massive slab of dub from a legendary figure, a pair of very different punkers, something folky, and a throwback to industrial’s 90s peak. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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With their single ‘The Mirror’, The Nouvelle Musique share something quite beautiful. By opening with a world of finger picked acoustic guitar lines, there’s a shimmering quality that immediately suggests an influence from dream pop to keep things in line with the band’s previous work, but as things progress, the track takes on a quiet grandness that’s much more of a kindred spirit with English folk sounds of the late 60s. The high toned, flowing harmonies call back to Mellow Candle; the smooth orchestration sounds like a perfect tribute to the short career of Nick Drake, and the otherworldly melody shares an almost ghostly similarity to bits of Shelagh McDonald, and the even more spooked out elements take a side step into the light psychedelic tones of cult US singer Linda Perhacs. Despite being even more stripped down than other Nouvelle Musique tracks, there’s a real heart to this piece that makes it feel incredibly full and immediately satisfying. An essential listen.

Kin Tala’s ‘Howling’ features an incredible arrangement. The bright guitar tones contrasted with a quiet vocal pull influence from classic dream pop, and the busy groove contrasts these more sedate elements with a hefty dose of great indie. Hearing everything together creates a great crossover sound, driven by a rhythm that leans into a world music-ish drum part. The vocals occasionally get buried in the mix, but this too, gives the recording a great sense of character. Chances are, you’ll come away from this listening experience not remembering any kind of chorus hook, but that really doesn’t matter: in a little over four minutes, ‘Howling’ is a track that showcases some absolutely superb musicianship and a sophisticated sound that’ll make indie fans want to dive deeply into other works by this still relatively new act.

Just a few weeks after guesting on an excellent single from Tian Qiyi, legendary bassist Jah Wobble is back with his own ‘Dub In The East’, a taste of his Dimple Discs release ‘Dub Volume 1’. At the heart of the track, you’ll find his signature bass sound working a suitably fat tone, and decades into a career, his playing has lost none of its power to capture a brilliant groove laden sound. As hinted at by the title, though, there’s much more here at stake. Wobble’s huge melodic centre is offset by echoing keyboard lines, reverbed beats and other traditional dub traits. By the time things get underway with the help of an eastern sounding melody via a dense keyboard, the listener is taken deeply into a soundscape that tips its hat to old King Tubby recordings, creating something that feels timeless, but still exciting.

To begin with, it feels as if 16 Volt taps into the dancier end of the industrial spectrum on the brilliant ‘White Noise’. The opening drum loop presents a frantic rhythm, and that’s expanded in such a way that allows an almost baggy drum beat to power a great verse behind a filtered vocal, inspired by a couple of Chemical Brothers tracks that were, in turn, inspired by The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. As things progress, those who’ve previously enjoyed this act’s crunchier aspects won’t feel short changed. The busy verse is contrasted by a chorus where a classic, almost metallic edge breaks through, and set against a distorted vocal, it shares a huge sound that harks back to the industrial sounds of the 90s, and specifically the noisier elements of Die Krupps and Nine Inch Nails’ ‘The Downward Spiral’. It’s a track that deserves to have the volume applied liberally, and for genre fans, it’ll be an instant favourite.

Here’s a superb piece of pop-rock from Scottish band The Painting. ‘Imprint’s intro immediately latches onto a very bright sounding 80s riff, but once the melody finds its feet, this becomes a single that has a very strong contemporary feel at the time of release. A relatively fast, very buoyant riff makes great use of the rhythm guitar which sounds superb when set against an enthused vocal, and a soaring lead bridging the verse and the chorus lends a slightly more epic quality. With a harmony filled chorus, it’s a massively radio friendly track – assuming that’s still relevant in the world of YouTube Music and constant streaming – that’s been likened to Sam Fender, but its possible that lovers of material by Bleachers and ‘Old Souls’ era Deaf Havana will find plenty to love here too.

The current single from US reggaecore act aurorawave really stokes up the excitement for their forthcoming album. The first couple of pre-release tracks presented solidly likeable, fairly summery sounds with a strong undercurrent of 311. ‘Suffocate’ cranks the gears just a little more. The verse’s reggae grooves are a little harder, and a choppy rhythm guitar helps to make the band sound especially tight, but in terms of the crossover sound the band often champions, the real magic happens at just after the minute mark, when the reggae elements are challenged by a massive hardcore riff and guitars that take on a heavy djent tone. With almost immediate effect, the once sunny sound takes a dark turn and aurorawave begin to sound like a band who could absolutely crush everything in their path. And then, in case things are in danger of becoming too metal-centric, the reggae grooves return in even bigger style when guest vocalist Kumar Fyah steps up to the mic and fills the middle of the track with some full on toasting that feels every bit as immense as the track’s heavier moments. In terms of crossover, this is genuinely impressive.

The last time most people heard from US punks Goin’ Places was in 2023, when they shared a cover of the ‘Saved By The Bell’ theme song for an album of punked up songs associated with Saturday morning kids’ TV. They’re back and ready to soundtrack the end of your summer with ‘Imperfect’, a newly written track that really captures their pop punk ethic in a really direct way. Across three punchy minutes, the band throw out power chords against a slightly flat vocal which captures the pleasingly ‘imperfect’ emotion within the lyric. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this comeback single is how much it sounds like peak Mr. T Experience, right down to the one of the dual vocals sounding like someone turning in their best impersonation of the legendary Dr. Frank. Despite taking a very familiar musical route, though, this is great: the music harks back to those classic Lookout albums from the mid 90s, right down to the inclusion of a slightly relaxed guitar solo; the slightly drawled vocal melodies straddle a fine line between melodic punk and punchy power pop, and everything combined results in something that sounds brilliantly nostalgic, despite being brand new for ‘25.

Last up, here’s something with a very different punky slant. Foxy favour a repetitive, Ramones-ish feel on the verses of the brilliant ‘Tonight’, a track which fuses pop punk and garage rock with ease. Ensuring this doesn’t just turn into the millionth rehash of ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, however, the band add some extra flair which works brilliantly. There’s a huge, harmony filled chorus which sounds like a more sugary Donnas, a layer of extra bell-like percussion which brings an unexpected 70s tone, and finally, a round of gang vocals advertising Foxy’s grittier side. In and out in under three minutes, this is a masterclass in garage rock/melodic punky goodness.

June/July 2025