THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #126

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. As usual, we’ve received a huge amount of submissions – this continues to be one of the most popular aspects of our website – and we’ve picked eight tunes that we feel captures the true spirit of the great sounds floating around the underground as we move squarely into a cold, northern hemisphere autumn. Among other things, there’s a 60s cover from a familiar name; some brilliant indie pop; a pleasingly downbeat number with some great orchestration, and a country influenced track from a superb singer songwriter. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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SAM VARGA – The Fallout

On his debut album ‘Shadow Work’, singer songwriter Sam Varga made the juxtaposition of angst ridden, emo-centric lyrics and radio friendly melodies appear very natural. Despite the fact the record took all of about four seconds for him to confront his audience with the revelation that he felt like he was “rotting from the inside out” and another couple before dropping an f-bomb for extra angst, the album remained very accessible. At its best, tunes like ‘Stories We Tell’ and ‘Apocalypse’ played like the natural successor to the Ryan Adams best-selling ‘Gold’; ‘Up Down’ took the poppy heart of Simple Plan’s more commercial work and transplanted it into more of a singer songwriter sphere, while the chorus of the brilliant ‘Live Up To It’ gave a confident nod to the more contemporary pop rock of Bleachers. All the while, Varga still managed to sound like his own man – a songwriter with an occasionally sharp tongue, but in possession of an even sharper ear for a great melody.

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Watch: Emo crew downcast cover Backstreet Boys in new video clip

There’s going to be new, original music from downcast soon, but in the meantime, the Bristolian emo crew have put their own stamp on a familiar piece of pop to get their fans in the mood.

They’ve just shared an absolutely storming cover of the Backstreet Boys hit ‘Just Wanted You To Know’, which was originally a UK top ten hit for the US boy band in 2005.

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Real Gone Presents: A Boston Round-Up, August 2025

Back in June 2025, when sifting through a mountain of materials for our popular Singles Bar column, we found we had a huge amount of submissions featuring bands from Boston. It sort of seemed natural to make a feature of these on their own, since that part of the US seems to be thriving when it comes to underground acts. The feature was a massive success – far bigger than we could’ve hoped for – so it seemed only right to use that as a template again, when the time felt right and there was enough new material to make it viable. This second trip to the Boston ’burbs features a couple of familiar faces, but hopefully there’ll be music and bands here that are brand new to you too. As always, we hope you find something to enjoy!

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #119

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. Highlights this time around include an absolutely gorgeous, stripped down tune from a rising singer songwriter, some really quirky alt-pop, and country tinged pop workout that feels really positive. For those hoping to find something just a little tougher, there’s a pair of numbers that bring the sounds of 90s and 00s emo screaming into the present. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.

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