Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous couple of weeks. This time out, we bring you a near perfect piece of acid jazz, the return of an emerging singer songwriter, some retro rock from Ireland, a familiar voice from the US punk scene with a great side-project, and more besides… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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First up, American alt-poppers Laptop return with ‘Confused’, which has already been touted as “their most definitive song to date”. That’s debatable; it’s arguably not as catchy as ‘I Don’t Know’, but – like many Laptop songs – it has much to recommend it. From the outset, the vocals catch the ear by contrasting deep tones very much affected by studio experimentation with clean, soul influenced cries. As things progress, the band’s quirky blend of new wave inspired pop, 80s soul and heavy grooves really takes a hold, and the push and pull between the disparate influences creates something that sounds like the brainchild of George Clinton, Portugal. The Man, and Daft Punk. The main hooks are a little more of a slow burn than a couple of the previous Laptop singles, but in terms of making the studio environs really work for them and creating something radio friendly (in an alternative sense), ‘Confused’ is very much a winner.

Continuing the promotion for his very strong ‘Soul Deep’ album, Torsten Goods teams up once again with acid jazz legends Incognito for ‘Live For The Day’, a track that brings out the very best in both musical parties. Electric piano and warm bass sounds come together in a way that immediately advertises the number’s smooth qualities, but its the presence of an equally smooth drum groove that brings everything together. The mix of acid jazz and soulful feel casts its interests back to the mid 90s for a genuinely retro quality, but Torsten shares a love for the style that comes through every note, resulting in a track that doesn’t sound tired or stale. The jazzy piano solo is very much a highlight of this laid back track, but despite only rising intermittently, the George Benson-esque guitar lines win out, providing a perfect counterpart to Torsten’s vocals during the latter part of a perfect performance. For those who find musical pleasure here, the album is very much worth checking out.

The intro to Misscore’s ‘Domino’ is really striking. With immediate effect, the alternative rock band hit upon a riff that leans very lightly into a prog metal complexity, and tempers that with a very rhythmic drum part that sounds like its constructed from various Stewart Copeland fills. Having now got the audience’s attention, the track branches out into a world of melodic, yet heavy-ish riffs that take influence from Linkin Park, adding an equally melodic vocal with a hint of love for Paramore. All of these things combined would lead to a great single, but a voyage into heavier places for a really dense sounding middle eight shows even more power. In just three minutes, ‘Domino’ covers a lot of musical ground with something to interest a broad spectrum of listeners with alternative interests.

Smooth guitars and echoing sounds open Michelle Forziati’s ‘Once More’ in a way that promises a little more than your average pop number and sure enough, the guitar melodies carry through in a way that gives this pop/R&B blend an interesting twist. Without dominating, or even bringing anything particularly muscular, the guitar work becomes an integral part of the track, despite the slow grooves and soaring vocals owing far more to old hits by Eternal. Naturally, wherever the music goes, it’s still Michelle’s voice that ultimately steers this track to glory, sharing a clean, radio friendly tone that manages to bring some of Natalie Imbruglia’s pop tones to a solid soul/R&B groove. Although, chorus wise, nothing sticks out immediately, this is definitely a single that’ll win over a devoted audience in time, and even though it works a very similar crossover sound to Michelle’s earlier ‘Strings’, it definitely shows a performer taking a leap forward in terms of great arrangements.

Ahead of a tour supporting Canadian pop punkers Simple Plan, alternative singer songwriter Charlotte Sands has shared ‘back to you’ as the final preview of her ‘Satellites’ album. It’s a number that hits upon the performer’s mix of 00s influenced sounds and light alt-rock with a radio friendly feel in a pleasingly direct way. The intro, blending vocals and acoustic guitars, suggests a feeling of honesty, but once the electric elements kick in, the ringing guitars, huge vocal cries and influence from early Paramore really comes into its own. Behind light filters, Charlotte’s voice rides a hugely emotive wave throughout, but it’s the way she works a punchy pop sound during the chorus and uses the word ‘you’ to inject a few higher registers into a melodic arc that really pushes forth a love of classic emo that really makes this performance fly. ‘back to you’ may seem instantly familiar, but it’s a hugely infectious track that deserves to take Charlotte to the next level in terms of UK success.

‘Always Have You’, the second single from Irish singer songwriter Eva St. Maria taps into a similarly rich vein of adult pop rock to her debut ‘Naive’, and in doing so, seems to instinctively understand what her audience will want – and also what works for her huge, curling voice. To kick things off, the performer shares very confident notes against a semi-acoustic backdrop, but it’s the arrival of sweeping orchestral sounds that really bring this performance to life. The hook is, maybe, a little too simple this time out, but that’s more than made up for with a recording that sounds lush and genuinely expensive, making ‘Always Have You’ feel almost timeless in its appeal.

Gearing up to release their third album, ‘Ghetto Sidewalks’ finds Druglords of the Avenues in incendiary form. In and out in a little over two minutes, the track hammers through a classic street punk riff where the rhythm guitar attacks with a razorblade’s sharpness throughout, and the way the classic, speed driven sound is augmented with a pinch of folk-punk rawness adds an extra feeling of force. As great as the music is, it’s Swingin’ Utters vocalist Johnny Peebucks who steals the show, delivering a rough yet impassioned performance that calls back to his main band’s formative years, before their sound became a little more commercial. Simply put, if you’re a fan of US punk, you’ll consider this brief blast of well-structured noise an essential listen.

Wielding a massive riff that fuses a glam swagger with a dose of 80s hard rock, ‘Better off Dead’ by Irish rockers Mirrorglass wastes no time in delivering a genuine punch. Beyond the intro, the track’s dominant guitar continues to be shared at such a volume it actually drowns out the finer parts of a sizeable vocal, but in some ways, that doesn’t really matter: the music comes with such a huge swagger it almost sells the track on its own. It’s a recording that calls back to the hard rock infused power pop of bands like Beat Angels, but the way it brings a wealth of unashamedly retro musical and lyrical hooks screaming into the present manages to feel genuinely exciting, pushing the band further into the realms of cult success. This is definitely a track that invites the listener to crank the volume and let themselves go.

January/February 2026