This visit to the Singles Bar shares one of our most impressive track selections in a while. Among the eight picks, we’ve got some fine soul-jazz sounds, a brilliant piece of retro power pop, the return of a genuine British legend, along with a clutch of underground singer-songwriters who really deserve your attention. For those who still associate Real Gone with our hard rock and metal content, there’s something great for you here too. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
*
Heavy Bloom’s ‘AIEW’ first appeared online at the beginning of 2026, but is getting an extra promotional push as we get ready to head into the last days of summer. Opening with a light jazzy guitar, the track sets out its smooth style very quickly, and after bringing in a warm sounding funk bass, the band hit a slow groove that’s really assured. The music is excellent, falling somewhere between one of the Chili Peppers’ slowest, slowest jams and a prime slice of acid jazz from 1991, but it’s the vocal that really shines. Throughout the track, Jeanie Marinella hits full cry, allowing her performance to dominate, but never in an intrusive way. From the first note to the last, she shows a great melodic strength. In terms of funk and soul with a slight nod to the pop-rock crowd, this is flawless. For those who missed it the first time around (which likely accounts for a lot of folks), you owe it to yourselves to take a listen as soon as possible.
It’s astonishing to think it’s been five years since Colin Moulding shared ‘The Hardest Battle’. The XTC legend has finally returned with the similarly homespun ‘Want It Bad’, a track that plays like a demo of a ‘Mummer’ era number. Although the budgetary restrictions are very obvious, Moulding’s knack for a great pop melody shines through, with layered vocals lifting a tune that’s fairly simple, while also allowing for a world of “ba ba ba”s to reach for that ultimate earworm. It would be great to hear Moulding approach music with the full bells and whistles again and the kind of perfection heard on ‘Skylarking’ and ‘Oranges and Lemons’, but a couple of spins shows how this didn’t necessarily need much more to pull in the fans; those vocals and pop hooks work well enough to win over the old guard. Those people will still recognise Colin’s love of the pastoral, and of English roots, leaving behind a recording that sits comfortably alongside the performer’s other (sporadically shared) solo recordings.
Following the excellent ‘Tucumcari Tonite!’, David Haerle has returned with the slightly more reflective ‘Carolyn’. A slightly more guitar driven track, this clings onto David’s knack for easy pop-rock, but brings more of an old fashioned bluesy tone to the fore. Not that the results are especially bluesy, but a prominent guitar solo definitely helps everything to lean a little further in that direction. The richness of the music is matched well by a smooth vocal which, although impressive throughout, really comes into its own during sections that show a strong influence from a couple of The Doors’ mellower offerings. This might take a little longer to embed itself compared to a couple of David’s earlier tracks, but it’s good to hear him trying something a little different.
Singer songwriter Mark Ciani opts for a massive 90s influence on his recent single ‘Fault Lines’. Beneath a slightly fuzzy post-grunge sound, the music captures a strong power pop influence, delivering bouncing riffs at a mid tempo, setting a great atmosphere in place. Ciani’s slightly grubby sound carries faint echoes of Death Cab For Cutie and Ben Kweller, while retaining a lot of its own character, and the steady beat proves to be a perfect foil for a lighter vocal that’s shared throughout. By the time the arrangement reaches its peak, Ciani shares a layered vocal against a wall of retro guitar sounds, creating something that feels so uplifting it’s impossible to ignore. Although the bulk of the music draws from thirty years earlier, the chosen lyric concerning a veteran returning from Ukraine to a US he sees as broken couldn’t feel any more cutting at the time of release. This mightn’t necessarily break any new musical ground, but it’s a great listen.
By kicking off with a heavy, groove-laden riff, Dunfermline’s Stay For Tomorrow grab the attention in record time. Then by adding a slightly spiky yet clean vocal, ‘Nonsense’ manages to cling onto a dirty sound, but present something accessible. The arrival of a huge “ohhh” driven by harmony vocals adds something even more melodic, yet everything retains a tough edge that really works. This is far deeper than mere recycling of 90s sounds, too: in keeping with some of the band’s previous recordings, the lyrics dealing with mental health struggles and a need to stay strong feel very much in tune with the positivity and inclusivity that drives left leaning music fans in 2026, bringing a sense of importance without preachiness. With a groove that never subsides and a very Scottish feel to the vocal, this is a track that feels distinctive in its own way, and should really help Stay For Tomorrow carve out a bigger space for themselves within the rock underground.
A mid tempo and heavy strums provide the heart of ‘Open Mic’, the current single from Sweetbreads. As immediate as the music seems, though, it isn’t the track’s main focus. Driven by pain themed lyrics, this Americana meets indie folk workout throws the listener into a world where an incident in a bathroom stall involving ketamine leads “unspoken words shift like tectonic plates” and how “carrying a heavy load” comes with “no easy fix”. Storm clouds make their presence felt as a metaphor for depressive thoughts, and Sweetbreads leads their audience through a world where the musical strains of old Indigo Girls numbers collide with the brutally honest lyrical barbs of contemporary songwriters like Lana Del Rey. Sometimes, this feels like a track that’s too emotionally raw to be enjoyed in the conventional sense, but it’s absolutely marvellous.
By borrowing a jangling guitar straight from a couple of the big INXS hits, applying a fat bass tone akin to Talking Heads and working a fey vocal that leans into some of The Primitives’ work, there’s an undeniably 80s vibe to Argonaut’s ‘Hats Off’. The music has a sharpness and sheen that really sets off its influences in such a way that the recording is certainly ear-catching, and its huge melodic pull has a certain nostalgic quality that’ll win over lovers of retro fare. It mightn’t win over everyone, though; there’s something about this performance that tries, perhaps, just that little too hard, like Argonaut have wanted to apply a post-modern – even ironic – quality to a classic sound. Although this never veers into pure novelty, it’s definitely a track that’s just a little too flippant. That said, it’s well played, and the bass tones are cool enough to see it through, and will be most enjoyable if you’re one of those listeners who’s much happier to take everything on surface value.
With its heavy use of swirling organs underpinning chiming guitars, ‘1972’ by Ohio power poppers Librarians With Hickeys sounds almost exactly like an undiscovered gem from the era it celebrates. Adding a slightly filtered, hazy vocal really stokes up the post-psych feel, leaning into something that has an AM radio quality, but without resorting to the usual clichés. The bulk of the music has a wonderful flow, and by never allowing any one element to dominate, the listener actually gets a slightly different experience with each spin, depending on which instrument they choose to focus upon. In terms of retro pop aimed at a slightly more rock-centric audience, this pushes all of the right buttons, proving yet again that if you don’t want your music to date, creating something that already sounds like something from a bygone era can result in a genuine winner.
August 2026