This visit to the Real Gone Singles Bar sees the return of three familiar names, but their current tunes find the musicians sounding as good as ever. There’s always a pleasure in watching artists you admire grow, but in the case of singer songwriter Roisin McCarney, the Scottish singer shares one of her most mature sounding tracks to date. In terms of newer names, you’ll find a genre-bending act from Margate sharing an absolute banger, a couple of underground singer-songwriters, and even a perfectly pitched piece of early 60s inspired, guitar laden pop from Australia. As always, it’s been an absolute pleasure to pick the best singles for sharing, and we hope you find something new to enjoy.
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Hot on the heels of the absolutely storming ‘Kindawanna’, The Chelsea Curve are back with ‘Never Come Down’. From the moment a two chord riff hits with its see-saw like rhythm, its impossible not to draw comparisons between this track and the classic power pop sounds of 1981, and this is reinforced by a few shameless hand-claps. As usual with the Curve, though, its not a straight homage to that time: broad harmony vocals draw a bigger influence from 70s pop, and a tough sounding lead guitar soaring through parts of the track suggests more of an 80s feel. In terms of sheer excitement, this mightn’t be quite as sharp as the previous single, but at the heart of everything, there’s a tight arrangement and all of the right ingredients are more than present. The musicianship’s great and a feel good vibe means that, eventually, this will become another fan favourite. In the meantime, 2025 is certainly shaping up to be the Boston band’s year.
The debut from desert rock duo SoftSun was one of the greatest albums of 2024. On the basis of this first taste of a timely delivered follow up, their second album promises to be just as good. Across a sprawling eight minutes, ‘A Hundred And Sixteen’ weaves a dark musical web, but without feeling at all doom-laden. Against a very slow tempo, Gary Arce drops into a whole world of soaring guitar lines which, with the aid of reverb, draw the listener into a psychedelic haze. Whether teasing with melodic, swooping tones, or adding busier, almost bluesy solo passages, his playing is utterly gorgeous – in an alternative sense, of course – whilst a heavily treated vocal from Pia Isaaksen compliments the stoner-ish vibes with a haunting delivery that sounds like a distant, much spookier relation to the dream pop scene. Never shifting tempo, this is a near hypnotic experience that’s almost guaranteed to impress, whether or not the listener is familiar with the debut.
Armed with a strong 60s inspired beat, a choppy rhythm guitar and a pumping bassline, Ciarán Moran serves up a strong blend of pop and soul on the catchy ‘Give Up On Your Love’. Despite the upbeat arrangement doing its best to dominate, Moran’s natural vocal also shines, as he shares a few equally timeless pop melodies with an obvious Irish lilt. With such a tight arrangement, the track gets away with sharing the simplest of hooks, but the enthusiasm the singer applies makes something quite basic feel so much richer. Stripped of the busy drum loops that were an integral part of Ciarán’s earlier ‘How Are You Man?’, this has a quality that feels even more radio friendly, and set to click with an adult pop loving crowd.
The opening bars of Neil James Parkinson’s ‘Skylines’ immediately hark back to the singer songwriters of the past. By working a busy fingerpicked rhythm, the melody has echoes of John Martyn and Nick Drake, and even later works by the likes of Damian Rice and Lisa Hannigan. The arrival of a strong Scottish accent gives Parkinson more of a distinctive style of his own, whilst some huge harmony vocals help to fill out what promises to be a great melody. The track then pulls the metaphorical rug from under the listener by dropping in a huge alt-rock crunch, before slipping back into a softer melody. The rockier aspects are later called upon to create a strong climax, and work on their own merits, but there’s often a feeling that this single is the product of two different ideas welded down the middle. If you can accept that, it’s great; the work of an independent artist sharing some confident sounds – whether opting for folk or rock, though never at the same time – and a track that’s able to showcase a strong voice. ‘Skylines’ first appeared online back at the end of 2024, but Neil is being given a big PR push as we head into autumn, giving the song plenty of opportunity to reach a new audience.
Lovers of a very 90s oriented sound will love ‘Princess of Neptune’ from alternative singer-songwriter Rachel Reale. The single is driven by a world of bright sounding guitar lines which weave throughout a baggy influenced drum part with a dream pop flair. That alone makes it immediately pleasing, but it’s the contrast between those airy sounds and Rachel’s voice which occasionally eschews its poppier stance to explore deeper tones that keeps everything interesting, even when things start to sound familiar. With a pinch of Paula Cole, a feel of a Natalie Imbruglia deep cut and an introspective influence from the more contemporary sounds of Lana Del Rey, this is the kind of track that’ll gradually win the affections of a very broad audience.
Taking a swerve from her usual big pop sound, Roisin McCarney adopts more of an Americana influence on ‘Meet Me Montauk’. Granted, her voice still leans into a solid pop melody, and so, too, do the sugary whoahs that form the track’s simple hook, but beneath the surface, this feels a little more sedate, possibly even a little richer. The acoustic elements might seem a little more restrained, but they offer a very natural progression from the earlier ‘Even If We Ain’t Right’, which very much shows Roisin growing as an artist. There are moments where it feels that, maybe, those who love the acoustic elements and those who’ll gravitate towards the number’s immediate vocal hook might come from two different fan bases, but those who’ve found a love for the performer’s previous work will certainly find more to enjoy here.
With its heavy bass loops and pulsing rhythm, the intro to debdepan’s ‘Habit’ throws the listener squarely back into the world of the 90s club scene, but the arrival of a deliberately understated vocal quickly takes the number somewhere unexpected, and somewhere more alternative. Despite not trying too hard to impress, the vocal is fantastic. It has a natural tone that sits brilliantly against the hard rhythm, drawing as much from the poetry scene as the rock crowd. Then, just as everything starts to sound a little like a dance-imbibed Wet Leg, the Margate based duo crank the guitars and drop into an equally cool post punk riff that gives the track a real edge. The push and pull between the two styles is enough to make it work brilliantly, but it’s a well arranged instrumental break powered by quieter guitar work really makes the track. An absolutely fantastic single.
The word retro gets bandied about a lot – not least of all by us here at Real Gone – but there’s no other word that better describes Melbourne’s The Gnomes. From the very second their current single ‘I’ll Be There’ hits, it’s impossible to ignore the love for ‘With The Beatles’ era Lennon & McCartney compositions, and that album’s bright production sound. The guitars chime like something emerging from The Cavern; massive harmony vocals come across with an equal sense of power and naivete, and the overall melody shares one of the best pastiches since The Rutles dropped ‘Hold My Hand’ into an unsuspecting world. For an absolutely flawless homage, the track should probably be about thirty seconds shorter, but it’s a minor point – for lovers of the style, this will be an instant smash. It is as subtle as a brick, but so brilliantly played, and shared with so much love that it’s impossible not to be swept along with the band’s boundless enthusiasm.
August/September 2025