This visit to the Singles Bar comes absolutely loaded with treats. Among the eight picks you’ll discover a great reggae number, a cameo from a bona fide legend of Britpop, some goth oriented sounds, a riot grrrl inspired banger…and more besides. With a great variety, this represents everything we love about the SB, and hope you’ll find something to love too.
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Welcome back to the Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the last few weeks. This selection takes in two very different sounding pop bangers from emerging artists from opposite ends of the globe, a very knowing synth based track from a familiar name, a cover tune from a prolific, well known act…and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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A well curated covers release can often be fun, but such things rarely come with such a scattershot selection of influences as Blazoner’s ‘Sonic Chambers’. An EP that started out life purely by accident actually plays like a short CV of the US rock band’s chief interests, taking in material by artists as diverse as The Rolling Stones and (the) Melvins.
Gather The Lost first started making waves online in 2022 with their digital single ‘Alone’, released to streaming services not long after the band first formed. Although the song wasn’t particularly striking on a musical level – a barrage of jangling chords on the verse and an overdriven riff on the chorus shared a huge love of 90s alternative sounds – it was clear that in Carolyn Dunne, they had a very distinctive vocalist. Throughout the four minute number, she used her voice as a powerful tool, shifting from dark croon to full cry, capable of huge volume, but also capable of sharing a truly emotive tone that didn’t quite sound like anyone else.
Towards the end of 2025, Welsh indie band Martyrs released the ‘Halloween Dream’ EP, a release that incorporated bits of 70s rock, light psychedelia and a host of drum loops that conveyed more of an influence from electronica. This created a cornucopia of sound that appeared to never settle, and in that respect – and especially with the presence of a lax vocal – the material showed influence from fellow Welsh band Super Furry Animals. If that somehow got missed on the band’s self-penned numbers, a trippy cover of ‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’ was on hand to make it very clear. Although short, ‘Halloween Dream’ was a release that more than suggested Martyrs would share more great music in the future.