This visit to the Singles Bar shares several interesting tracks, showcasing the variety of sounds that, arguably, are really helping the music scene to feel particularly interesting, at the mid point of 2026, amid a UK heatwave. We’ve got LGBTQ+ themed pop-rock, some great synth pop, an inspired metal cover, some absolutely superb country pop/roots rock…and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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We’ve reached the middle of 2026 already, and for the first half of the year, submissions to our Singles Bar have been coming in fast. Naturally, there hasn’t been the time to highlight everything we’ve enjoyed from week to week, and a lot of great tracks have not made the cut. Passing these by would be an absolute tragedy, so, as is traditional at the end of June, we’ve pulled some of the “best of the rest” together for our SB Summer Special! These were picked from a staggering 230 track selection, but we feel they best capture the Singles Bar spirit. We hope you can spare the time to explore this selection of tunes, and as always, hope you find something new to enjoy. Remember: good music does not have a sell-by date!
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Over the past year or two, Claude McCan has been busy. In addition to releasing several singles and an album under his Claude9 moniker, he’s also gigged with Bowie tribute Supercreeps, and also worked with lounge act 35mm.
Seemingly a man who never rests, he’s now back with Xanimal, a band that blends synth elements, ambient dance sounds and a pinch of a dreampop aesthetic to create something with a huge 90s vibe.
Lili Refrain’s fifth release ‘Mana’ was an interesting proposition. The record’s nine compositions drew influence from a variety of styles. The opening couplet (‘Ki’/‘Kokyu’) set a fairly cold mood by mixing light drone with choral vocals; ‘Eikyou’ featured strong, soaring vocal lines against heavy tribal influenced rhythms; the much darker ‘Ichor’ shared a vocal mantra shifting between the gothic and operatic, augmented by orchestral sounds via heavy synth work, only allowing finger cymbals to bring any lightness to the piece. Better still, and slightly more accessible without shifting too far away from Refrain’s sense of the artistic, ‘Ahi Tapu’ occasionally sounded like early eighties Tangerine Dream fused with a Brad Fidel film score, topped with whispering Japanese vocals, and latterly another neo-operatic melody that showed Refrain in possession of a huge voice.
With ‘Up & Away’, Dragon Welding released one of 2025’s greatest singles. The track’s mechanical heart combined with a repetitious hook created something so insanely catchy, it became impossible to resist. It was certainly one of those tracks that stayed with the listener long after it ended, setting up great hopes for its parent album ‘The Naughty Step’.
In itself, ‘The Naughty Step’ brought lots to enjoy. Although the bulk of the record wasn’t anywhere near as instant as ‘Up & Away’, its best material had a little more of a commercial edge than previous Dragon Welding works, taking the synth based sounds of one of the UK’s most cult bands into more melodic places.