Surfing A Wave of Molten Raspberry Ripple

Amelia Coburn, Castlebeat, Family Stereo, HAAi, Momo, NYX, Trashcan Sinatras

New to me. New to you. Fresh ears for the bands. Everyone is happy.

The Thread : Family Stereo

Best for : Quality melodic songwriting, and an asset to the family collection.

Family Stereo is Blake Watt, the son of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn who, together, are Everything But The Girl. They've not hidden that connection, but neither have they made it a big thing. It will inevitably draw some listeners to the record but they will stay because it is, simply, a very good album.

Twenty-five years ago there was a short-lived scene of chilled folk rock and electronica, built around the likes of Kings of Convenience, Tom McCrae, Blue States and others. Family Stereo would have fitted right in. Moving more up to date, this is from the same class as Jacob Alon who had a Mercury nomination last year for his debut 'In Liminence'.

For a debut, this is a surprisingly mature album. It's thoughtful and emotional, grounded and immensely likeable. These songs feel like they have been allowed to marinate until the flavours are balanced and fully formed. They've resisted the temptation to rush them out . This is a meal for someone special, not for a corporate dinner.

His vocals are the thread, holding you close as the music weaves around them. They are mellow and inviting and nestle in an acoustic, gently electronic wash. The more you hear his voice, the more it feels perfect.

The songs are unashamedly romantic, the soundtrack to relationships that are serious, build slowly and may falter on the way. 'Remedy' sets the scene, unapologetically melodic and with a beautiful, quiet slow build. 'Fault Lines' is a real highlight, reminiscent of some of Ben Watt's best work. It carries you along. The closing choir to 'Tunnels' is an example of knowing exactly what a song needs and delivers it.

Family Stereo have made one of the loveliest records of 2026.

Taster Track : Fault Lines

Ever The Optimist : Trashcan Sinatras

Best for : Comeback quality

When one of your all time favourite bands releases their first album in ten years, and just their sixth album of new songs in 36 years, it comes with added pressure. You want it, no you need it, to live up to past glories if it isn't to undermine your longstanding belief in their music. The Trashcan Sinatras's return will not let you down.

It's a reminder of everything they do well, and the reassurance that they still have the ambition and creativity to try something new. Yes, vocally they're a little huskier. Perhaps they share out vocalist duties more frequently. The songs dip into both the jangling indie pop of their early recordings and the gentler folky side of their more recent albums.

Overall the songs waft less and refresh more. The initial run of songs from 'Ever The Optimist' to 'The Bitter End' carry an infectious, jubilant feeling. They're playing the songs they want to play and making the most of every moment. The melodies, choruses and harmonies have survived intact. If you've loved them since the early days, you'll recognise a return to the sounds that made their name. If this album is your introduction to them, you'll feel as if you're walking around a corner on a muggy day into an unexpected, but very welcome, cooling breeze.

'Ever The Optimist' announces the album with a more awake, less leisurely sound than their last few albums have brought. 'Hold On To Today' is an excellent nod to their more mellow side. As the album proceeds they drift towards dreamier territory with 'The Associated Funk' and the braver, bluesy feel of 'Rome'. 'Melodramatic' is the kind of song to show that the Scottish jangly indie pop is alive and kicking.

Trashcan Sinatras have aged very well indeed.

Taster Track : Melodramatic

Between The Moon and the Milkman : Amelia Coburn.

Best for : Folk that transports you back in time.

Let's be clear. Amelia Coburn's album 'The Moon and the Milkman' is not folk influenced. It's not folk rock or folktronica or acid folk. It's undiluted folk with no compromises, even when she's singing about the modern world.

Take 'Dublin Serenade'. It's a recognisable portrait of modern Dublin. Perhaps it's the fact that it's propelled by acoustic instruments with modern technology only noteworthy in its absence. It's as if the curtains have been theatrically drawn back to reveal a different world, a world captured in the deep colours and strong flavours of Gods, devils and the elaborate frames of a Victorian oil painting.

These songs are works of art, deserving your unhurried time to absorb them fully. They contain a world of strong and clever images for example this, from 'Nodding Dog'.

"You drew an etch-a-sketch heart just to shake up and wipe clean."

She sings in her natural voice full of the wide eyed tones of her Middlesbrough accent, the feeling of the open air in every song and a sense of swirling skirts and performance that sweeps you away from the world of Costa Coffee and into the atmosphere of a Thomas Hardy short story. These are songs that steer reviewers towards the use of words like 'vignettes'..

'When The Tide Rolls In' has a catchy rhythm and an oddly Eastern feel. It's Wicker Man folk. 'Please Go Gently' has a more traditional feel, straight from the Unthanks. 'Sleepy Town' captures that weird dislocation between the modern world and the feel of something settled in the past like a Lowry painting. There's an added surprise in the closing track, 'I'd Love To Love You (The Nilsson Song)'. It's not a cover version but a tribute to him and it adds another dimension to Coburn's talents.

We're in the midst of the Summer holiday season where we look for new things to see and do. Treat yourself to a day trip back in time with Amelia Coburn.

Taster Track : Sleepy Town

Humanise : HAAi

Best for : Sharing different life experiences and providing a masterclass in transforming the club DJ into a home listening experience.

This is an album that achieves two separate things. It's an album that delves into the current LGBTQ experience and the emotional fall out from that. It's also an album that can blow you away with how it sounds.

It's not a downbeat album, but a difficult and powerful one. But the fact that the experiences still need to be shared and talked about after 60 years leaves me feeling sad. There's a deep layer of frustration, bitterness and suppressed anger in this record.

On a positive note, the wealth of collaborators involved in making the album suggests there is a dark and grimy collective out there helping each other to make street music that speaks to its community. It comes across strongly in songs such as 'Shapeshift'. There's an edgy, fractured feeling to 'Voices' that suggests it's a struggle to find the words to say what needs to be said before the track descends into silence.

The words on this album, whether spoken or sung, are poetry more than lyrics. They're densely packed and need unpicking to be completely understood. Before you reach full understanding, you'll feel their powerful and almost confrontational force. It's something that makes this album feel inward looking rather than aimed at a wider public.

Don't turn away just yet, because the technical aspects contain something for everyone. HAAi is a DJ who understands the need for different approaches to music for the club and music for home listening. Something like 'All That Falls apart' sounds amazing on headphones. The power of the poetry and ambience, its insistent pulses, the snippets of melody - never more than snippets, but all the better for that - create a sound that feels like The XX taken down to a whole new level. This is textured music that becomes so vivid that, note by note and sensation by sensation, you'll feel you can hold the music in your hand.

At 58 minutes, this may feel a little long to the casual listener but keep with it. If it needs something that everyone can join in with, it approaches with 'New Euphoria' which comes with the influence of Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor. It may not bring the fiesta feel of New Years Eve fireworks but it does hold out the possibility of warm sunshine breaking through dense clouds. 'HQ', the closing track, may be the most ambient and straightforward track on the album but in bringing you to a safe, supportive and friendly place it is a moving and positive finale.

This is a serious and important record, a voice in the urban wilderness coming ever closer and growing ever louder.

Taster Track : New Euphoria

Tum Tum Tum : Momo

Best for : Drifting away on the sounds of Summer

At 8 tracks and lasting for just 25 minutes, this is on the cusp of being an EP rather than an LP. Treat it then as the sound of a stolen lunch break or guilty, early finish to catch the sun before the weekend rather than the soundtrack to a two week holiday.

This is the sound of Brazil and, inevitably, the sound of Summer. That almost swamps its individual identity and listeners can simply let the words wash over them, enjoy their sensuality but not take any meaning from them. There are times that it could sound a little like the elevator music in the hotel where you spent the best holiday of your life.

Like the best half drunk coffees these songs are smooth and warm and one sunny smile follows another. 'Egum Eo' is folk that is nothing if not catchy. 'Vermelho e Rose' is a sweet song. It has a melody you can swoon to, and you'll want to succumb to its feel. 'Dream of Samba' feels like a children's song, the best kind that adults catch themselves humming in the shower. It's full of the innocence that suspends any critical thoughts. 'Dente d'Ouro is simply pure pop in any language.

There's another aspect to 'Tum Tum Tum' being a short set of songs. It gives the album the feel of your own personal flash mob providing a burst of happy satisfaction whenever you need it.

Happy days!

Taster Track : Vermelho e Rosa

Castlebeat II : Castlebeat

Best for : (Re)Discovering great sounds from the past.

They say there's nothing new under the sun, but there are people who still have to witness a glorious sunrise for the first time. This is for them.

If I was 18 again I'd love Castlebeat. As it is, I'm 65 and acknowledging that this triggers feelings of nostalgia more than passion within me. Castlebeat make a kind of jangling shoegaze. It's as if Siouxsie Sioux's Christine was taking Dear Prudence to her Happy House. If you're going to explore sounds from the past, there are far worse crates to dig into than the one containing all those songs. This is accessible Durutti Column and The Cure keeping it lite. It's an album that's repeating quality sounds from the past and taking them to new audiences. I'm enjoying it as I would enjoy flicking through an old photo album, but it stops short of wowing and exciting me.

The cynic may accuse this as being a little calculated, more concerned with making friends with algorithms rather than with listeners, attracting playlist placements and soundtrack presence than making an album that ebbs and flows. The songs here would enhance both those. And it's really not fair to criticise an album because of the way music has changed over the years, so pull yourself together Chris!

'Awake' is a strong start, with the kind of chiming guitars that can make a record. It has the feel of perpetual motion through an echo chamber with a groaning Goth. If that sounds an attractive proposition rather than the precursor to a highly awkward situation, you've come to the right place. There's a strong pop sensibility at the heart of all these songs, particularly 'Garden', 'Plastic Bag' and 'Sun God.

Leaving all that to one side, this is a highly likeable album and a welcome reminder of what good pop sounds like.

Note to self : Focus on the music and enjoy it for what it is.

Taster Track : Plastic Bag

Nyx : Nyx

Best for : Music that is serious, challenging and unexpectedly beautiful

Nyx are a choral collective from London who sing above a drone backing - the sound, not the spyware. They don't rely on lyrics to showcase their voices and they avoid what we might consider to be pop's traditional song structures. There are so many red flags there to deter the casual, timid listener. And yet, it works.

It's the definition of experimental music because it could easily fall flat on its face. The songs here are marked by restraint. If they were doodlers they would produce miniature works of art rather than filling page after page with unnecessary scribble.

'Nyx' feels like music that's not just from another civilisation, but from a new universe. It drifts through space and time, inviting you to dive in, immersing yourself fully in its magic with wonder and curiosity. It's music that comes from a world that evolved without language to add layers of meaning through words. It communicates through the feelings inspired by the vocals which, over the course of the album are at times emotional and exhilarating.

'Mother' opens the album, its slow swell growing into something that is different and beautiful. 'Through Fire' sounds like a tribal ceremony from deep in the rain forests. It's exciting as it moves through chants to screams and back again. 'Bright Tongues' showcases how gorgeous the voices sound when set against the underlying drone. If you suspect that drones cannot be musical, this is the track that will make you think again. You'll slowly realise that on a song such as 'Undercurrent' there are strings, but they've been stretched and pulled into shapes that sit comfortably within the drone family. In this setting nature's music, for example the birdsong of 'Everything I Wanted For You', feels like the dawn of a new day heralding the arrival of the best time of your life.

If you need parallels from the pop world to act as your guide through the world of Nyx, you might find something similar in Enya's most haunting moments and Sigur Ros's textured sounds in a made up language.

Nyx are that rare find of something that proves to be exceptionally beautiful rising from elements that might seem off putting.

Taster Track : Bright Tongues