Sprints – ‘Heavy’
“Do you ever feel like the room is heavy?” Aiming to capture the itchy, unrelenting vibe of a sudden panic attack, ‘Heavy’ by Sprints is surprisingly cathartic, the mark of a band who know how to find the sensitivity and humanity in hedonistic-sounding alt-rock. Keep their band’s name in mind – this Dublin quartet are going to be huge in 2024.
Katy Kirby – ‘Hand To Hand‘
Sifting though the debris of her own self-confessed ‘hetero-pessimism’, ‘Hand to Hand’ by the now-Nashville-based Katy Kirby offers extra insight into her wider forthcoming album’s themes of exploring her first queer relationship. With such a simple melodic arrangement, her vocals and shrewd lyricism takes centre stage, evocatively equating regretful relationships with the swallowing of a bitter pill – “Thank God I’m already forgetting”
ITZY – ‘Mr Vampire‘
The Twilight revival continues! In their comeback single, ITZY’s ‘Mr Vampire’ is decidedly of the Edward Cullen variety, sparkling in the sunlight and with intriguingly “white and pretty teeth. He also apparently inspires some pretty excellent choreo; moving to an intoxicating blend of whistling hip-hop and plot-twist R&B, it’s no wonder that the K-Pop rookies are lining up to be transformed by their new love.
The Last Dinner Party – ‘Caesar On A TV Screen‘
Hamming up their theatrical side for a literal recreation of Julius Caesar, the most recent cut from The Last Dinner Party’s forthcoming debut album carouses with the off-beat, indie-baroque energy of a more commercially-inclined Wild Beasts, shot through with some surprising glimmers of disco. Given that the group have just bagged the BRITs Rising Star prize for 2024 and topped the BBC Sound Of poll, Abigail Morris’ insistence that “I’ll have everything I want… everyone will love me!” feels less like self-soothing braggadocio, and more like a prophecy, befitting their witchy powers. Read our review of The Last Dinner Party’s debut album.
Quiet Houses – ‘What My Heart Is For’
For those who held Bleach Lab’s debut as one of their albums of 2023, Edinburgh duo Quiet Houses are about to give them a run for their money in the scuzzy stadium-pop stakes. A track about ‘obsessively chasing your dreams’, the scale of Hannah Elliott’s lyrics are mirrored in the ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ clatter of that kick-drum chorus. What better energy could there be to kickstart a new year?
Listen to our playlist of the week’s best songs.
