Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting tracks that have been submitted over the previous few weeks. This time around, there’s some perfect dream pop/indie sounds, a huge stoner friendly piece of deep psych with a heavy edge, some AOR, a superb track with a jazz influenced vocal…and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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Australian band The Paper Kites released an impressive run of albums over the decade leading up to their 2026 long player ‘If You Go, I Hope You Find It’. Although often billed as an indie-folk band, the core of their best material draws from something far richer, and much older sounding, often drawing more from Americana influences. The highlights from their 2023 LP ‘At The Roadhouse’ more than amplified this, with a prominent use of banjo on ‘Hurts So Good’ and a crying steel guitar heard throughout the brilliant ‘Till The Flame Turns Blue’, a number with an aching melody that, in a couple of places, appeared to give faint melodic nods to Van Morrison’s classic ‘Into The Mystic’.
This seven minute track telling “the story of a desperate struggle to survive in a post apocalyptic future” feels particularly pointed at the time of release, at the beginning of 2026. Dropped into the middle of a struggling world, the number finds Finnish prog metallers Dust Orchard in a particularly aggressive and nihilistic mood.
Charlie Nieland’s ‘Stories From The Borderlines’ was one of 2025’s best albums. Nieland’s willingness to jump between genres and blend styles created an always interesting listen, and whether he was heard channelling 80s goth and indie sounds or paying tribute to 70s glam, the amount of love he applied to the record’s creation was more than clear.
During the last quarter of 2025, desert rock duo ‘SoftSun’ released their second album ‘Eternal Sunrise’. Since their debut LP was a near flawless slice of deep psych infused desert/stoner, there was a great deal riding on ‘Eternal Sunrise’ in terms of overall quality, but it’s fair to say that it was everything fans of the debut could’ve hoped for.