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 few weeks. This selection takes in a genuine curveball from a cult musician, shares a perfect slice of soul, a great single from an up and coming singer songwriter, a brilliant melodic rock banger, and more… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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The Womack Sisters have been releasing singles and EPs since 2017, but ‘You Went Away Too Long’ – their first release in 2026, and first for the legendary Daptone label – is one of their best recordings to date. Resplendent with brass and organ, the recording immediately sounds like unearthed treasure from 1967, and as things progress, the number’s shamelessly retro charm sounds better still. The Sisters’ three part harmonies are an easy match for anything you’d care to name – even peaking with the Supremes’ records from the era – and a really bright sounding lead voice brings a lift to a surprisingly dark sounding melody. You’d expect performers from the Womack family to deliver something of a great quality, and ‘You Went Away Too Long’ is utterly superb – an absolutely timeless slice of soul.
Towards the end of 2025, French band Dewey released ‘Jinx’, an excellent debut single that called back to the era of 90s shoegaze. ‘Outside of The Lines’ takes a punchier approach and places an overdriven guitar riff over a stomping rhythm, taking the Dewey sound a little further into the realms of Weezer influenced material. The heart of the band still beats furiously, of course, and there’s a strong link with ‘Jinx’ via a familiar vocal and a brief instrumental break where the guitar taps into far more of a shoegaze sound, but at the same time, it’s great to hear the the musicians branching out. Although never rushing, this track is very strong in a “retro indie” sense, showing how effortlessly Dewey can hit a groove without losing too much of their atmospheric edge.
Taking elements of soft edged 70s soul, a pinch of funk and the flow of 90s acid jazz, Vibrafonics tap into something very familiar on ‘Doin’ The Best We Can’. It isn’t long before the song pushes an incessant bass to the fore, and the groove laden backdrop allows for a great melody to shine. Against the bass, a clean guitar adds a chopping riff, before huge harmony vocals bring out the best in an already familiar funk and soul sound, and some superb brass punches through with a wonderful clarity. There are a couple of moments here where Vibrafonics sound like they’re channelling the collaborations between Torsten Goods and Incognito, but the blend of smooth vocals on the chorus and funk tinged melodies really works for them in its own right. In short, this is a great track.
The ghosts of 90s emo loom large over parts ‘Common Trope’ by US band FieldHockey. From the outset, the riffs have a familiarity to them, borrowing slight influence from bands like Sense Field and even Quicksand, but by adding a slightly punchier edge and injecting some speed, the once familiar feels pleasingly fresh once again. The presence of a higher toned vocal also lends the piece a very catchy quality that works very well here, and with the music occasionally dropping into heavier riffs, the arrangement is constantly interesting. Listeners might feel like they’re waiting a little longer than usual for a chorus hook; this is a bold move for a track that clocks in at under four minutes, but once it arrives, a big, soaring vocal really sells a great melody. Between a world of energy and a boundless confidence, this feels like one of those rock tracks that’s guaranteed to find a cult audience that absolutely loves it, and by signing to a new management company who are giving the single a big push, it’s likely to reach new and influential ears.
‘Full Moon’ by Luke James Williams is one of those tracks that’s impossible to date. Its solid sounding folk rock stance could have taken shape at an any point during the last three decades, and its combo of train-beat drumming and relentless acoustic rhythm further adds to a classic sound, and its unchanging rhythm actually provides a solid backdrop for the singer songwriter to share a haunting narrative. Despite being based in Cambridge, Luke’s delivery has a rather affected Celtic twang, and this very much helps the track to take on more of its own identity. It isn’t the kind of performance that suggests an instant hit, but time spent will very much allow a couple of its lyrical hooks to take root. Even if the bulk of the song doesn’t “work” for you, then a really spooky coda introducing some rather unexpected banshee-like vocals is bound to leave an impression. This is a smart and mature work from a young talent who’s already been likened to Bon Iver and been called “The James Taylor of The Fens”.
The first quarter of 2026 has been rather busy for Johnny Gioeli. Not only has he provided vocals on Axel Rudi Pell’s ‘Ghost Town’ – helping to make that the guitarist’s best album in a long time, possibly even ever – but he’s also releasing new material with his “main” band, Hardline. Their current single ‘Rise Up’ presents the band in full “rock mode”. From the opening driving riff, coupled with a thundering rhythm, they can be heard firing on all six. Even when pulling away from the chunky riff to deliver more of an AOR-centric verse, a sharp edged rhythm guitar takes centre stage, but this proves a perfect fit with Gioeli’s slightly gravelly voice, and with a huge chorus in hand, Hardline show, with ease, why they’re still considered one of melodic rock’s finest acts. …And that’s before an absolutely top notch solo dominates the middle of the track. Hardline will always likely be best remembered for their 1992 debut ‘Double Eclipse’, but this number suggests 2026’s ‘Shout’ will be a very strong record indeed.
The core of ‘Bang Bang’ by The Noise Who Runs relies on a big, somewhat steady beat, but its rather simple rhythmic quality gives this single both a great strength and a solid platform on which to build. Bringing in light synth drones and fuzzy guitar tones, it takes the band’s electronica base and weaves it into a semi-industial sound that really works. The solid sound also allows for a very natural vocal that clings on to a repetitive melody that’s actually a perfect fit for the unchanging rhythm. Although this is very much a mood piece with a serious narrative, it’s still just about strong enough to hold the interest of those not really into lyrics, and by taking a darker turn, the musical project really feels as if it’s breaking new ground.
Over the past few years, there have been some interesting singles from the Wax Mechanix camp. What’s more impressive is that Wax has never felt beholden to any one genre. There have been tunes that draw from psychedelia, arrangements that are obviously Hendrix-esque…and then there’s this. ‘Naked’ goes for a full groove-laden, adult pop approach where echoing vocals greet soul-inflected basslines, and light guitars pepper a number that sounds more suited to soundtracking a visit to a beach than a bar. Despite its brevity, this is a single that’s in no hurry to reach a goal; instead, the warm and hazy melody envelops the listener with an easy cool that works, despite being coupled with a vocal that doesn’t seem to be an instant fit. Wax allows a great bassline and easy hook to do so much of the work here, and on that score, ‘Naked’ is definitely a success. If you’re already familiar with this musician’s work, the genre-hopping shouldn’t be a surprise…and yet, it likely still will be.
March 2026