Welcome back to the Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time around, we’ve mixed the familiar with the new, to bring you something that sounds like a superb tribute to AM radio pop, some contemporary rock sounds, a feel good pop track, a re-working of an old dance classic and more besides. As always, we hope you like what you hear, and discover something new!
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Singer songwriter Rosalie James began her musical career in earnest in the summer of 2023. Over the following year, she received a surprising amount of attention. Not only from BBC Radio in her native Cornwall, but also from farther afield. Her first couple of singles, ‘Girl I Was’ (released in April) and the brilliant ‘Soft Target’ (released in June) were well received via various online outlets, and showed off her great talent for a pop rock sound and personal lyric. Both tracks felt very different from each other in such a way that it piqued interest for the promised forthcoming album.
Since the late 80s, Mr. Big have been one of the most popular acts on the melodic rock scene. Their superior musicianship and a gift for very melodic hooks has made them a hit with musos, the less demanding radio listener, and a whole world of rock fans in between. The albums have always centred around some superb guitar work, but first and foremost, Mr. Big have come armed with accessible songs and melodies, and in Eric Martin, they’ve always had a gifted and reliable frontman, possessed with one of his generation’s finest voices. In terms of smart, melodic rock, an on form Mr. Big can be the full package.
Although the name Sunbomb might not be a massively familiar one on the rock scene in 2024, the band features a few familiar faces. Making up the core of the band, LA Guns guitarist Tracii Guns is joined by his old bandmate Adam Hamilton on drums, and taking on vocal duties, you’ll find legendary Stryper man Michael Sweet. This new band aren’t contemporary sounding, nor are they especially subtle, but Sunbomb were never likely to be either. According to Tracii, the main aim was to make the kind of metal album he “would have made at [the age of] seventeen”, back in 1983.
Welsh pop punkers ZacTheLocust have been part of the UK alternative underground since 2019. Although originally conceived as a solo vehicle for guitarist Keryn Isaac, it wasn’t too long before the project had grown into a fully formed, four piece pop punk/emo outfit.