Gabrielle Aplin – Nothing Really Matters
See the beautiful acoustic video for “Nothing Really Matters” here. What might originally sound like a reckless, youthful ballad, Aplin’s honesty in “I don’t why, I’m scared of forever” makes this tune actively empowering rather than a carefree anthem.
Orla Gartland – Flatline
Patreon supporters of Orla Gartland will be familiar with her writing process and will have heard “Flatline” a couple of years ago. Lyrics such as “in the half-light, we were glorious” are exemplary of Garltand’s ability to turn feel good pop into relatable but heart-wrenching melancholia.
Lauren Aquilina – Tobacco In My Sheets
Having recently returned to the realm of releasing her own music with single sassy yet confessional “Psycho”, Aquilina has come back to pop with a vast backlog of songwriting experience. This is a level of rawness that the younger Lauren touched on in “King” and “Irrelevant”. But rather than writing about loneliness and abandonment in abstract terms, in “Tobacco In My Sheets”, Aquilina confesses to her mother about how “I’m starting to scare myself”.
Tom Rosenthal – Spring
Rosenthal’s “Spring” is a hopeful pop-folk tune, made utilising a bit more synth and drums than some of his previous more acoustic work.
“It’s gonna be spring one day, some day, and we’re gonna be homely”
Other recommendations
- Tame Impala – Borderline
- Cage the Elephant – Social Cues
- Novo Amor – I Make Sparks
Frances Wilde 