Ethel Cain – ‘Punish’
Teased at live shows throughout 2024, Ethel Cain returns with the recorded version of ‘Punish’, the first single from her forthcoming sophomore record, ‘Perverts’. Every inch as haunting as its title suggests, it swells from a plaintive heartbreak ballad into a deliciously cold, industrial knife that manages to summon up Nine Inch Nails, The XX and London Grammar all at once. Album release day cannot come soon enough.
BabyMonster – ‘CLIK CLAK‘
Following in the sonic footsteps of LISA’s ‘Rockstar’, K-pop newbies BabyMonster embrace their rap era on ‘Clik Clak’. A TikTok-ready bouncer that highlights their ‘bad girl’ side, there’s something pretty infectious about its onomatopoeic chorus, switching up right at the last minute into a chanted, kids-bop-worthy interpretation of house.
Luvcat – ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel‘
On tour with The Last Dinner Party and Paris Paloma throughout November, Liverpudlian artist Luvcat is championing the same kitsch, baroque energy as her peers. Adding to her roster of cinematic ditties, ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel’ is a high-kicking, marching band tribute to the thrill of grown-up flirting that occurs over a classy prawn cocktail starter, but with a sinister twist of obsession that creeps in before the dessert can arrive. Do chat-up lines come much better than ‘hey baby/I promise I’m not crazy’?
BonnieSongs – ‘Halloween Birthday‘
“Born in the witching hour/what does that make you?” so asks Irish/Australian singer-songwriter BonnieSongs, finding lo-fi magic in the anxiety of trying to celebrate a few too many things at once. Its gentle, finger-picked melody might be rooted in pumpkin season, but there’s something a little Christmassy about it too, a wistful cello that dusts snowflakes across her seasonal gloom.
Violet Love Child – ‘Evil Eye‘
Debut single alert! A new face on the London scene, Violet Love Child has just signed to the boutique label 7476 and is making her voice heard on ‘Evil Eye’, a pacey alt-pop track about the bitter disappointment of a relationship’s dying days. ‘How can you do this to me?’ is a pretty classic songwriting trope, but sometimes it’s the purest sentiments that make for the best hooks.
