Back in 2024, Beauty In Chaos released ‘Made of Rain’, a brilliant single featuring Ashton Nyte that blended the melodic air of 80s goth with a slightly heavier chorus. A year on, the number has been reworked in an “almost acoustic” format, and it is absolutely gorgeous.
Max Rael’s ‘The Enemy Is Us’ is one of 2025’s most interesting albums. Its blend of often melodic electronica and synth based sounds with spoken word, confessional lyrics is really striking. It has taken Rael’s experimentalism with Decommisioned Forests somewhere more accessible, but without feeling remotely in tune with the mainstream.
As part of the album’s ongoing promotion — this really is the kind of album that’ll only reach it’s audience through committed word of mouth — Max has shared a new video for one of the record’s more accessible tracks.
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar. This time around we bring you sounds ranging from the ultimate tribute to 90s alternative, to an Americana infused track bristling with harmonies, to a strange synth based workout that blends spiky rhythms with a sly humour. There’s a number with a terrific bassline, and even an underground act outdoing a legendary power pop band. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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With ‘Gilded Echoes’, Scotland’s Silver Dollar Room released one of the best albums of 2024. The band’s sound wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, but they clearly recognised the value of taking influences and using them very effectively. With strong call backs to Bush, an influence from early Smashing Pumpkins, and nods melodic post-grungers like Moist, the material adopted a solid sound throughout, and with the aid of various thoughtful lyrics – often touching on themes of mental health – a familiar sound still had a great relevance at the time of release.
In 2024, Pale Wizard Records did the unthinkable. They pulled together a bunch of underground rock bands and had them each contribute a track to a 50th anniversary tribute to Sparks’ career defining ‘Kimono My House’. Since none of the bands had much in common with Ron and Russell Mael’s distinctive and visionary sound, it shouldn’t have worked. With that record, Pale Wizard managed to pull off the even more unthinkable: they not only masterminded a very different take on an old classic, but they had the balls to know it would work on its own merits.
A year on, could they achieve similar greatness by asking some of the same faces to put their own stamp on Pink Floyd fan favourite ‘Wish You Were Here’? In terms of tall orders, that’s positively gargantuan when none of the clientele come from the school of prog rock. The featured artists don’t even have a “classic” sound in most cases. Nevertheless, everyone gives the material a square go, for better or worse.