It’s been a couple of months since Real Gone last visited Boston, but the city has continued to deliver more than its fair share of underground sounds. In this round up, we bring you ten of the more interesting cuts that have landed in our inbox, ranging from blue collar rock, to cinematic pop rock, and even a dash of punk. Those of you who have followed us for some time will certainly recognise a couple of these names by now, but we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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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 past couple of weeks. This time around, we bring you an unexpected cover tune, two slices of top drawer power pop, and among other things, a great track that bends elements from various different genres into something genuinely interesting. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.
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Scottish singer songwriter Stephen McCafferty first reached an audience as part of indie rock band Return To The Sun, with whom he gained support from Radio X, while still broadcasting under the XFM name. After the band dissolved, Stephen disappeared. It seemed that, despite support from some high places, he wasn’t going to persue a career in music any longer.
He returned as as solo artist in 2020 with a digital single, ‘Spectre of Light’, but due to everyone being more concerned with a global pandemic and everything closing down, it didn’t appear to make a huge impact. Following another spell out of the spotlight, Stephen re-appeared again in 2024, by which time, the musical landscape looked rather different. His songs, however, remained as solidly written as ever, and his track ‘What Are We Waiting For’ – released digitally in January of that year – re-introduced listeners to a composer capable of a sharing thoughtful lyric, but just as importantly, someone blessed with a melodic ear that could potentially take his new material to an even keener fan base.
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 previous few weeks. This time out, we’ve got a really arty track with a strong 70s undercurrent, a disarmingly honest number from a young, up and coming singer-songwriter, some vaguely baroque adult oriented pop, a legendary band fusing different styles in an unexpected way…and more. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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Shannon Smith’s breakthrough single, 2023’s ‘Dance The Night Away’ introduced the Australian singer songwriter in fantastic style. The track’s upbeat nature, driven by stabbing keys, bright horns and a shamelessly infectious, wordless chorus presented a near perfect homage to the AM radio sounds of the past. It would have been easy for him to follow that with something equally uplifting, but instead, he chose to explore moody balladry and country influences on the tracks that followed.