Zakalong Trews And The Jumps For Joy

Start light. Go dark. Dig Deeper. Whether you're a fan of hummable pop or dystopian ditties, you'll find something for you among these records. 

Arborist, Bodega, The Dreaming Spires,  Durutti Column, Haakon Ellingsen, Janne Schra, Joe Jackson, Sam Akpro, Tracy Bryant,

Pop In The Real World Taster Tracks 2026 (Spotify)

Pop In The Real World Taster Tracks 2026 (YouTube)

Normal Town : The Dreaming Spires

Best for : Americana relocated to UK Suburbs

It's grim up North. And down South, further West and on the Eastern borders. Thankfully The Dreaming Spires can acknowledge this and still provide a sense of future hope in their music.

You need to give this a chance because if you do it turns into something rather special. You could be forgiven for writing it off as a portrait of a 70s town on a heatwave Sunday with nowhere to go and nothing to do. On 'Normal Town' you're suffused with a feeling of trapped melancholy. On 'Normalisation' there's the sense of the struggle to keep your head above water. It's hard to describe '21st Century Light Industrial' as a cheerful listen, but it does unlock the key to loving this album.

Gradually you come to hear this album as a tug of war between the lyrics and the music. The first feels like it might drag you down but the latter feels as if it is stretching towards an undefined hope. On the aforementioned '21st Century Light Industrial' the great indie pop harmonies are allied with an insistent rhythm that serves as a heartbeat at the core of the song. It's music that feels fragile at times but it keeps you hanging on when you're teetering on the edge.

'Where I'm Calling From' captures the beauty of the album. It drifts back and forth with guitars that weave around the melody and sad keyboards that allow for an emotional response. The odd tunings such as the piano in 'These Days Will End' add an other world feel to the record.

Now I'm not calling The Dreaming Spires the new Bob Dylan but there is something in the singing on 'Linescapes' that calls to mind a softer, gentle and smoother version of his voice and that adds a sweet, reflective note to 'Bitter Pill'. And since we're in the mood for unexpected comparisons, there are shades of the Flaming Lips in some of their songs and of the band Coldplay could have been if they remained true to their roots.

This is an Americana for lifeless towns that still contains a glimmer of hope for the future. It's the sound of real life in the UK and suggests that real life is enough.

Taster Track : 21st Century Light Industrial

OK : Janne Schra

Best for : Lazy Summer listening and garden party soundtracks

A friend recommended Janne Schar's 'OK' which came out in 2018. It's a strong introduction to her music and more than enough to persuade me to listen to her most recent release, 'Work Out' which came out earlier this year. Watch this space!

It's a delight, the perfect antidote to the sounds and sights of a hundred bad news stories coming at you from every direction. The songs here float by like a perfectly formed cloud observed drifting across a deep blue sky seen while lying on the grass on a warm Summer's day.

These are bright and positive songs that tread a fine line between Dutch indie pop and polite jazz grooves. They're lightly worn, carefree, relaxed and fun. If you're wondering what happened to The Cardigans' Nina Persson, she can be heard in the voice of each of these songs. Equally, in its disregard for what's fashionable and on trend - in other words manufactured and following the crowd - there's a flavour of Eddi Reader and Fairground Attraction in the mix

It helps that the songs contain the elements that remind you of Summer at any time of the year. There's the feel of swaying sambas in the mix. The songs are deceptively light but meticulously crafted, substantial like aluminium rather than steel. They come from a place that's in her own little world, assured and laid out neatly for you to enjoy. She's well supported too by musicians who understand her style

'Lights' is catchy and gentle, squealing its way to your heart. 'Bluebird' is just a few footsteps away from scat jazz singing with a smile on its face and fun at its core. Just listen to its walking bass line and hummed saxophone part to share in the happiness. There are more serious moments in songs such as'Paris Syndrome' and 'Good God' but they are not allowed to be downbeat. 'Sun' is as bright and positive as its title suggests.

Be nice. Become part of the Janne Schra world.

Taster Track : Lights

The Well : Tracy Bryant

Best for : Total pop

On their debut album 'White Music' XTC recorded a single called 'This Is Pop?'. The question mark is significant but, nearly fifty years later, Tracy Bryant delivers a resounding retort. If the question is "This is pop?" the answer is "THIS is pop!"

And, surprisingly, it's not a case of genre but spirit. It's uplifting with something for everyone in every song. Trying to classify it simply won't work. It's more that they've entered the house of pop and, rather than smashing it to pieces they've taken down all the internal walls and roamed freely within.

Built around rhythm and melody, with bass lines that light up the way and piano that provides emotional depth, these songs have found the sweet spot that allow them to be claimed by many musical tribes as their own.

Simplicity is key. 'Cold Floor' is a captivating combination of rhythm and melody that repeats from beginning to end. You're hooked and reeled in. On 'Widow' and others bass lines help you to navigate the songs by providing a sinuous groove. Keyboard melodies have the addictive feel of early synth pop. 'Famished' brings together post punk and chilled clubbers and dresses them in soft rock clothing. It's as if he's taken the essence of, say, the extended ending to Eric Clapton's 'Layla' and translated it into something resembling a House anthem. If it's a darker drama that you want, press play on the marching rhythm of 'The Well' or the quiet brooding of 'Easy Street.

For such a rich brew it's a remarkably restrained record. It's all the more effective for that. The vocals belong in the same camp as Dean Wareham. They're not an obvious strength, but they have the power of storytelling. You'll want to listen.

From simple elements, 'The Well' blooms like an out of control climbing rose containing both thorns and beauty.

Taster Track : Weight

Hope and Fury : Joe Jackson

Best for : Ageing new wavers and disillusioned reflectors

Hope and fury aren't the first things that come to mind when you think of Joe Jackson. Even on his first couple of albums he was more sour than angry, more petulant about not having what he thought was his due. Later he impressed with his willingness to take on new musical styles, including jazz, classical and chilled pop.

That's why the opening tracks on Hope and Fury strike a slightly inauthentic note. It sounds as if he's flailing at windmills, raging at everything, spitting bile and mockery like an alternative comedian trying to work out what his audience want to hear. It's a throwback to the punk and new wave of 1978. At 16 it's an understandable attitude. The same approach at 72 feels a little more like a tantrum.

You can't hide from age, and although the spark in Jackson is alive and kicking, he's having to try harder to keep it alive. On 'Make God Laugh' his voice sounds strained. His lyrics seem to be trying too hard, as if he's hunting for a killer phrase that eludes him. He's attempting to sound sharp and it's not quite working. He was the man. Now he's the man's sidekick.

Don't get me wrong. The initial songs are still worth hearing. On 'Welcome To Burning-By-The Sea' the tribal jungle rhythms are a perfect match for the lyrics. 'I'm Not Sorry' is more in the self centred, unapologetic character of old.

There's a change midway through, when we're reminded how good a musician and composer he can be. 'Fabulous People' is the kind of song Ray Davies is famous for. It plays to Jackson's strengths of melody and musicianship. It's a very good song with warmth and understanding. 'After All This Time' continues the reflective tone. 'The Face' is a nice play on both the idea of a poster boy and of someone lost in the crowd. It allows his feel for lounge jazz to make an appearance. The path taken through this album is from rage to melody to the fully orchestrated and nostalgic sounds of 'End of the Pier' and 'See You In September.' Both are highlights of his later career.

This is both a good Joe Jackson album, and an album you might not expect Joe Jackson to make.

Taster Track : Fabulous People

Evenfall : Sam Akpro

Best for : Going over to the dark side

There is nothing light and cosy about Sam Akpro's impressively constructed album from last year. It takes you to a very dark place, that's almost rendered physically.

'Evenfall' is an unrelentingly dark album. Here you'll find that the city itself is the threat, and it's drawn in ten vignettes of deep blacks and blinding whites. If it were a location, it would be one featuring concrete warehouses soaked and pockmarked by acid rain. It would have the harsh lighting of a secure military complex creating deep shadows and of rats that scurry half seen out of the corner of your eye. And it would carry the threat of unseen harm, potentially ending with an invitation to sleep with the fishes.

Not one for the Summer barbecue then! Elsewhere, reviews informed me that it was gloomy. No. Gloomy is watching the fifth consecutive day of heavy rain. This is haunted and watchful, desperate and frightened. It's the feeling of Joy Division at Ian Curtis' lowest point.

It's also a highly successful exercise in cinematic post rock. Atmosphere is everything. The screeching and squalling guitars in 'Death By Entertainment' and across the album sound as if he is using the guitar as a tool rather than playing it as an instrument. Think a more restrained Jimi Hendrix on 'Star Spangled Banner'. The heavy bass is key, tethering the songs in music's equivalent of cast iron chains. The small doses of jazz saxophone add to the threatening atmosphere. 'Baka', the one instrumental here' is an exercise in creating an apprehensive landscape.

The lyrics are poetry noir. Rappers will find much to appreciate in their rhythms and beatless soundscapes. This is dystopian post punk at its most extreme boundaries. When it is relatively gentle, as on 'City Sleeps' and ' Gone West' a more soulful dimension comes into play.

This is the work of a man with a fully thought through artistic vision that digs deep into the soul to find places and thoughts that are rarely explored. It's the very opposite of easy listening.

Taster Track : I Can't See The Sun

EPs and Songs

Arborist, Bodega, Durutti Column, Haakon Ellingsen

It sometimes whiles away a few idle minutes to wonder how the members of a songwriting partnership would fare if they had never met. How would Glenn Tilbrook be remembered if detached from Chri Difford's lyrics. Without the influence of Lennon's experimentalism and more acerbic tones, would Paul McCartney be anything more than a very good traditional songwriter? Haakon Ellingsen may provide the answer. He's back with his trademark mix of sweet and naive songs and few are better at writing about the feelings and emotions of the everyday. 'Thank You For Your Letter' contains gratitude, kindness and sincerity set to a sweet melody, given substance by the attractive, melancholy piano that comes in mid way through. 'Dear Old Sun' is whimsical and washed in light psychedelia. "All My Woes' continues with the lightly psychedelic feel but enclosed in something more jangling. 'It's Been Such A Long Time' is as sentimental as you could wish. Following Haakon is an insight into what Paul McCartney might have felt like if his canon only contained songs such as 'Michelle', 'Yesterday' and 'Martha My Dear'. They're great songs but he knew that at some point a little acid in the mix is needed to help them stick. There's nothing remotely acidic in this collection and, for some, the unrelenting sweetness may be a little too much.(On the other hand, there's no equivalent to 'We All Stand Together' with The Frog Chorus either!)

At first sight Arborist may be on the same path with 'Looking 4 Love', but he's no forsaken, wannabe lover. His is a heart that may not be broken but it has been roughed up with sandpaper. He's progressed from a folkie to a heavy weight singer songwriter in the mould of Andrew Bird or Patrick Watson. The song moves from a lazy, woozy first section to move into chamber pop. He lets the song unfold unhurriedly, rather than knocking it out. It's cleverly composed, memorable and something to savour.

Take another few steps down this path and discover Durutti Column's 'Liars'. It's a trailer for his new album, 'Renascent' out at the end of July. He writes music that feels like the stuff of other people's dreams transplanted into your head, stretched and distorted out of shape. It's heartwrenching to hear the two three word phrases that he believes are the biggest lies. Undeniably unsettling and uncomfortable, it's also compelling. It's ugly, but also beautiful and moving music.

On a lighter note Bodega's 'Pick Up The Check' is the stuff that Summer festivals are made for. This is a crowd pleasing anthem with shades of Stone Roses, R.E.M. and Happy Mondays and a singalong, wave your arms in the air chorus. Loosen up and simply enjoy it.