STEPHEN McCAFFERTY – Monsters And Lullabies

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.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #133

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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Listen: Shannon Smith shares new single ‘Feel Good’

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.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #131

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 previous few weeks. This time around, we welcome back a cult Canadian act and an equally cult Boston based singer-songwriter. We also share a couple of metal oriented tracks pitching at very different influences, and applaud the most inventive single to date from a genre-bending Italian band. Between those, you’ll find other tracks from the underground and, as always, we hope you’ll find something new to enjoy…

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Listen: Rich Allo shares new single ‘You’

In the summer of 2025, singer songwriter Rich Allo released ‘Sabre Teeth’, a strange single that blended styles in a most unexpected way. Its underlying acoustic guitar lines had a hint of influence from post grunge in their chord pattern, but drew more from anti-folk in the way the recording used a lo-fi mix and live sound to present itself. The live sound also allowed for the sound of fingers on frets to be audible, giving the core of the verse a genuine character. Rich then contrasted that with a huge vocal where falsetto sounds made for an unnatural match. However, given time to adjust, the track shared a melodic core that was huge, and the second half of the number – sharing more of a rock-centic voice and some very busy lead guitar work – played a little more towards tradition, all the while clinging onto something that didn’t immediately sound like anyone else.

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