2026, week 46. 10 singles

Another week gone. St. Nicolas arrived in the country yesterday afternoon, signalling the year is slowly running out of weeks. Still, there's more than enough to look forward to still. Including for you to explore all these new singles. So, enjoy! 

Mr. Ross. St. Yuma

In September St. Yuma (Stevan Alva) made his first appearance on this blog in the same post as Nathalie Miller, see last week, with her previous single. You only have to look at the video to realise who the Mr. Ross in the title is. Although I have never seen any of his shows, Bob Ross is still mentioned quite often. St. Yuma again presents a slow ballad. Like they used to make them, I'd like to add. Christopher Cross in the late 70s for example. This is one smooth track alright. Alva's voice is soft and soothing, while the music around him meanders. Just acoustic guitars all the way up until a string section swells up the sound. Listen closely and you'll find many a fine detail in the accompaniment. St. Yuma's second single does point in a certain direction for a future album, but who can tell what the future brings?

Somehow. Schøøl

"Depri" that's the abbreviation we use in Dutch for feeling (modestly) depressed. If a recent song qualifies for that moniker it is Somehow by French band, "supergroup" even, Schøøl. Music and singer are in perfect unison matching the blackness that band caught on tape (or in digits). One year after the release of debut album 'I Think My Life Has Been OK', the band is ready to play some new dates and to celebrate, releases this new single. Formed in 2023, the four members, Francis Mallari (voice), Erica Ashleson (bass), Jack Moase (guitar), and Alex Battez (drums), all play in or come from other bands. Somehow is a dark song, where little light is to be found. The driving force of the bass gives the song its body around which all else happens. Fun it is not, but worth listening to it, it certainly is.

Rod Sterling. Couch Dog

Time for some punk music. Couch Dog is a band from Los Angeles. Maxwell Ferrer (lead vocals and guitar), Tasha Lee (bass), Pablo Acosta (lead guitar), and Liam Reece (drums) released their debut album in 2023 called 'How to Ruin Your Life Fast'. The album proved quite popular on Spotify, accruing 11 million streams. With Rod Sterling the band returns with a stand alone single, with two different sides to it. It kicks off in an energetic punkrock style, where energy meets melody and fast chord changes. Towards the end, the mood changes and Couch Dog showing a different side of itself. For an older generation, think of the change in Derek & The Dominoes' 'Layla'. The comparison, bar the solo piano, is quite striking. In the video there are even complete silences. In other words Couch Dog likes to play with our imagination and is not adverse to using its own to surprise is no little.

Hard In The Country. Nocona

Hard In The Country is the third Nocona single on this blog this year. Next month album 'Backslider' will see the light of day. The Venice, CA, band rocks out in an almost dirty way. It's not The Rolling Stones circa 1972, it's not Gin Blossoms and not San Diego's Dirty Sweet nor Denton's Slobberbone, but mix them all together and somewhere in the middle you will find Nocona. With a dirty sounding slide guitar, a wild harmonica mixed into a corner and a band in full rocking sound, the only thing singer (and guitarist) Chris Isom has to do is sound convincing for his part. He is, so Nocona has all it needs. With Adrienne Isom singing backing vocals there's even a little easing for the wicked. Hard In The Country is a song that will sound familiar for those liking this genre but will also be instantly pleasing.

I Try My Best. Lou Doillon 

Recently, I thought of Lou Doillon. It's seven years since the release of 'Soliloquy'. Could I have missed an album? Using Google I found that she had just released a new single. Do coincidences exist? Sometimes I think it doesn't, like in this case. With I Try My Best the French singer with a British mother again sounds different from before. Her latest song is far more direct in its rhythm, while the mariachi like trumpet gives the song a Mexican vibe as well. Lou Doillon's voice, always a little mysterious, is the link between I Try My Best and what came before. Although it took me (a very short) while to get into the mood of the new single, as soon as I did, I was sold. Just like with her three previous albums. A, for now, nameless album is scheduled for spring 2027, with a tour starting in late May in Paris. Can you please come to The Netherlands also this tour?

New American Dream.  Lonely Leesa & the Lost Cowboys

2022, 2024, 2026. In each of these years Lonely Leesa & the Lost Cowboys have found themselves once on this blog with a single. So here is New American Dream. This is one impressive single, where the whole of the rock pantheon comes in as inspiration. Take a look at 2022 'The Reckoning Is Here' review for that, to save space here. This song starts ever so modest, with an electric guitar coming in like upcoming mist, obscuring your view in the distance slowly but surely. Over it Lonely Leesa (Coyne) starts singing. She is a real rock chick with a voice that must have been matched in rock heaven. A darker sounding Ann Wilson, something like that. The band holds back for a long time. It's rocking all right but on a leash, giving all the space up for Leesa Coyne to shine. And then comes in the wah-wah solo as if Craig Chaquico has been brought back from retirement. The song comes with a strong message as well. To paraphrase, we all have to live together and show some respect. New American Dream is a song with a soul and a heart.

Poppy. Herba Mate

Herba Mate is an Italian desert rock band consisting of Andrea Barlotti  (guitar), Alessandro Trerè  (bass, vocals) and Ermes Piancastelli (drums). The band was formed in 2000 and disbanded for some time. With 'Bolide I & II' the band returns to the rock and roll world. But desert rock? Not on 'Poppy'. This song is an instrumental track, played on an acoustic guitar to be played late at night by the fire to keep warm in the desert, after everybody either fell asleep or is too tired to sing along any longer. This makes 'Poppy' a very relaxed song. Just let it come by, wash over you while you're winding down after a long day. Of course, more happens than just the acoustic guitar, the acoustic is the main instrument though. On 20 November you're able to find out whether the whole of the album is like this or not. Later 'Bolide III & IV' will follow as well.

Can You Feel Me? High on Stress

With Can You Feel Me?, High On Stress returns to the blog. A little disrespectful perhaps but I can refer straight to the review for 'Hard In The Country', Nocona's latest single a few songs up from here. I'm nearly certain that if I leave out the harmonica and replace the names, the review will fit. This is also a rock song combining the best of what came before and renewing it with tons of energy and enthusiasm. The Minneapolis band is on the top of its game with Can You Feel Me?

Salt. Wayward Vine

And now for something completely different. 'Monty Python's' catch phrase never will grow old. Wayward Vine presents a dreamy track, that in many ways sounds familiar but captured me nonetheless. "The smell of salt", sings Greg Lawrence, relaxed but agitated at the same time. His voice captures the environment he is in, a beach, sand neat the sea and the fact that someone is not here. "I don't care", he adds. Throughout the song he is joined at intervals by an angelic sounding voice, the other half of the duo, Valerie Rachel. Together they create a minor piece of magic. The music reflects it in the dark guitar on the one side and a lighter toned one in the other side of the mix. Wayward Vine is another new name on this blog, the fourth today and another from Boston as well.

Outside. Purple Pilgrims

At the end of this week's singles post we even wind down more, completely. Purple Pilgrims return to the blog with a final single before album 'Given To The Night' is released on 27 November. Sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon present an ethereal song, that is almost ghostlike. (Now look at the artwork, that I found out after writing.) It does include a musical version of a dream sequence. As if when reading, your mind trails off into the subconscious, taking the story in the book into its own version. And drifts back again, sometimes with a jolt of your muscles holding the book. Purple Pilgrims managed to capture that sensation/feeling perfectly. The lyric is worth listening to as well, the outside looking in. In October I reviewed 'Innocence Lost', the previous single. Reading my review there, I really have nothing to add. Except that Outside is as beautiful as 'Innocence Lost' is.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Joan as Policewoman live. Het Zonnehuis, Amsterdam Thursday 12 November 2026

Photo: WdN-vdB

Joan Wasser and her two band members Will Graefe (guitar, background vocals) and Jeremy Gustin (drums, background vocals) put a spell on Amsterdam-Tuindorp's Zonnehuis at the show celebrating the 20th anniversary of Joan as Policewoman's debut album 'Real Life'. The album  has gotten an iterative version this year under the name 'Real Life Evolution', which received a review on this blog on 12 June.

I listened to Real Life in 2006 soon after the review in 'Oor', at that time my only alert media to new music. Part of the attraction will have been Joan Wasser's link to the late Jeff Buckley. The introduction learned that her music was very much worthwhile getting acquainted with. 'Real Life' is a beautiful album but also one that kept growing on me and soon after also on the new woman in my life, now my wife. Come 2026, together we were able to see Joan as Policewoman again for the first time in well over a decade. Somehow she had faded from both our attention.

Until last night, I had never been to Tuindorp. It is in the north-western corner of Amsterdam Noord. All very small houses and streets of a size that are totally not made for today's traffic. Cars were parked everywhere and not a single one-way street. How is that possible? In the middle of this city village was a square with at its centre Het Zonnehuis (The Sun House). It is an early 1930s building in the Amsterdam School style and obviously designed as a civic centre of some sort with a stage for plays inside.

On that stage (note the beautiful decoration around it in the picture above!) stood Joan as Policewoman. The band played two sets, divided into 'Real Life' and other songs. My impression was very mixed. Not on the quality of the music and the evening as such. The band was in top form, the sound in the venue just perfect and an audience that was enraptured. No Dutch disease here in Het Zonnehuis. It was like being at a living room show but only a lot bigger.

Joan Wasser alternately played a bass synth, keyboard, grand piano and guitar. Always with supporting parts, except for when she played solo. Will Graefe just as easily plays a Spanish guitar classical style intro or conjures up the most bizarre sounds from his electric guitar, just Geoffrey Burton did for Sophie Hunger during the 'Supermoon' tour. Jeremy Gustin is able to play rhythms that would cause the drummer of my band breaking in two. It was as if he had a few extra hands to play with. All with these supersized brushes.

Several songs were so intricate and vulnerable that an unwilling audience would have torn the atmosphere apart. Luckily we were all there to listen and be enraptured by the quality on offer. There were a few moments also in which the band ripped it all up, with explosions in sound. Yet, I never needed my earplugs. It was simply perfect, with compliments to sound man Benjamin.

Photo: WdN-vdB

No, it was Joan Wasser who seemed not to be content. In the first set she seemed to be very unhappy. There was a lot of sighing and uttering of "oh, dear" The sound on stage was not right and yes, if that is the case, you have a problem as a musician. On the other hand there was some giggling as well, suggesting something else also. During the intermission a lot of work went into the testing of the monitors and it seemed things were better from there on.

'Real Life' is a beautiful album and all the songs came totally alive on stage. The last song played in the first set, was the first, title song on 'Real Life'. It was played solo by Joan Wasser and no one even dared to drop a pin. It was so quiet, as if time itself had stopped. An absolute highlight of the evening and of my live experiences ever.

In the second set not a single song was played that I recognised. I have never built up a relationship with a Joan as Policewoman album like I did with 'Real Life'. Why? Listening to the second set I can only wonder why. Somewhere in the 2010s I lost sight of the totally. During this set the tension on stage had ebbed away, the musicians seemed to come loose from what had bothered them and started playing for real. The set only got better and better. What songs, what albums?, I had no idea. What I did know however, this was an extremely good show. This trio performed as if there were six persons on stage but clearly did not need anybody else with them. From the audience's side this was perfection. "Scrumptious", as Joan Wasser said about her bandmates before playing 'Real Life'.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going. Squirrel Flower

Squirrel Flower leverde de afgelopen jaren drie hele mooie albums af, maar de rek is er nog niet uit, zoals is te horen op het in augustus verschenen album Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, dat de lat nog wat hoger legt.

Iedereen die de muziek van Ella O’Connor Williams kent, weet dat ze als Squirrel Flower met I Was Born Swimming, Planet (i) en Tomorrow’s Fire al drie hele mooie albums maakte. Het in augustus verschenen Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going vind ik nog wat mooier. Naast de gruizige kant is ook de wat meer ingetogen kant van de muziek van Squirrel Flower wat meer uitgewerkt, wat prachtig klinkende songs oplevert. Het zijn songs die zich qua sfeer, muziek en zang makkelijk weten te onderscheiden binnen de indiescene van het moment, waardoor het alleen maar een kwestie van tijd is voordat Squirrel Flower in één adem wordt genoemd met de grote namen in het genre.

Haar mini-album Early Winter Songs from Middle America uit 2015 heb ik niet opgemerkt, maar sinds het begin van 2020 volg ik de muzikale verrichtingen van de Amerikaanse muzikante Ella O’Connor Williams op de voet. In de eerste maand van 2020 verscheen immers, aan de vooravond van de coronapandemie, het debuutalbum van de muzikante die destijds Boston, Massachusetts, als thuisbasis had. 

Onder de naam Squirrel Flower leverde Ella O’Connor Williams met I Was Born Swimming een prachtig debuutalbum af. Het is een album met een donkere of zelfs wat desolate sfeer, waarin verstilde passages worden afgewisseld met gruizige gitaren en de muziek vaak wat psychedelisch, maar soms ook folky klinkt. De fraaie klanken worden gecombineerd met de zeer overtuigende stem van Ella O’Connor Williams, die de dynamiek in de muziek doortrekt in haar geweldige zang. 

Ik noemde in 2020 Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers en Lera Lynn als vergelijkingsmateriaal en dat zijn alle drie persoonlijke favorieten. Met Planet (i) en Tomorrow’s Fire leverde Squirrel Flower in 2021 en 2023 nog twee uitstekende albums af, waarop ze af en toe opschoof richting indierock, maar ook de meer ingetogen songs en een zwak voor psychedelica niet vergat. 

De Amerikaanse muzikante erkende op haar eerste drie albums het belang van een goede producer en werkte achtereenvolgens met Gabe Wax, Ali Chant en de zeer gewilde Alex Farrar, die haar albums nog wat verder optilden. Ik vind de eerste drie albums van Squirrel Flower zo goed dat ik vorig jaar ook stilstond bij het live-album Live At Top Note Theatre, dat toch vooral als een tussendoortje moet worden gezien, maar door de uiterst sobere setting een extra dimensie toevoegde aan de songs van Squirrel Flower. 

Ella O’Connor Williams heeft inmiddels al een tijd Chicago, Illinois, als thuisbasis, maar nam ook haar nieuwe album weer op in Asheville, North Carolina, al werd de ruwe basis voor het album gelegd in Wisconsin. Ook op Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is er een rol weggelegd voor Alex Farrar, die heeft bijgedragen aan de productie, maar ook een deel van de instrumentatie voor zijn rekening heeft genomen. 

Het nieuwe album van Squirrel Flower werd opgenomen met een redelijk compacte band en ligt grotendeels in het verlengde van de uitstekende voorganger Tomorrow’s Fire. Ook op haar nieuwe album wisselt Squirrel Flower wat stevigere en gruizige songs af met zeer ingetogen folky songs en ook dit keer zijn invloeden uit de psychedelica niet heel ver weg. De balans slaat dit keer wel overtuigend door in de richting van meer ingetogen en vaak bezwerende songs, die door Alex Farrar prachtig zijn opgenomen. 

Ik was zes jaar geleden al zeer gecharmeerd van de stem van Ella O’Connor Williams, maar de zang op Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going klinkt nog wat mooier dan die op de vorige albums. Het nieuwe album ligt zoals gezegd in het verlengde van zijn voorganger, maar ik hoor toch ook weer groei in de songs, die net als op de vorige albums zijn voorzien van een wat nevelige en vooral donkere sfeer. 

Squirrel Flower heeft nog niet dezelfde status als de grote namen in de indiescene van het moment, maar op basis van de kwaliteit van haar albums moet ze zeker worden gerekend tot de smaakmakers in het genre.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://squirrelflower.bandcamp.com/album/say-a-prayer-to-the-gods-of-getting-going

Lost In Motion. Moss

This blog was months old when Moss entered it for the first time, with the album 'Ornaments'. Today it is four years since we last reported on the band, a review of 'HX'. The silence is over with the release of Lost In Motion. Right away in the opening notes that typical plopping Moss bass presents itself. For a likeness think Air on 'Moon Safari' and Serge Gainsbourg and his daughters' solo albums before it. That bass puts me right in the mood for Moss.

A new album by a well-loved band is always a challenge. New music has to be laid over that what came before. Sometimes it is a perfect fit, like with the two recent The Rolling Stones albums, other albums have a harder time, like Lost In Motion and the latest Fontaines DC album 'Dopamine Chamber' and Bettie Serveert album, 'Beaucoup Bad'.

Like the latter album, Lost In Motion started to grow on me. In both cases because I understood that they are not bad albums, just a little more relaxed or introspective than the songs that always pop up in my mind thinking of in this case Moss. Playing Lost In Motion more regularly has put me in its mood more and more. Moss presents an album that was created to listen to seriously, attentively. Do so, and its well thought out details reveal themselves one by one. Musically it is a rich album, with sounds coming from everywhere, including electronics and keyboards.

Promo photo

The album is all about the things we leave behind, take with us and asks the question "can we still grow when we grow old?" Personally, I can add from experience that the answer is yes. Listening to Lost In Motion it seems the album provides its own answer for Marien Dorleijn. He may still "just" be making music, the album contains a level of maturity and introspection Moss had not reached so far. In 'Love' he sings "it's never too late". That is another answer.

Moss' music always has had different layers in it and more so over time. With Lost In Motion another layer has been added to what was already there. It is going to be extremely interesting to see how this unwinds itself live. Moss will tour NL in late winter, early spring 2027. Expect me to be at one of the shows.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Lost In Motion here:

https://excelsior-recordings.com/en/products/moss-lost-in-motion 

Beaucoup Bad. Bettie Serveert

Totally out of the blue I read about a new album by Bettie Serveert. After over ten years and having read about all band members having had to take jobs, leaving little time for playing music live, I had given up hope to ever hear new music by one of my favourite Dutch bands from the 1990s and beyond. Right up to 'Damaged Good' (2016) Bettie Serveert had delivered albums that were always between above average to very good. And here's Beaucoup Bad.

I'll admit right away, that after the opening trio songs I was disappointed in what I was hearing. It seems a bit bland and devoid of the grit Bettie Serveert was so good in adding to its songs. The album where that was mostly missing, 'Private Suit' is my least favourite of the twelve records (including the The Velvet Undergound live album).

Having listened more often, because this is not a band that deserves giving up on immediately, I have totally rescinded my earliest judgement. Beaucoup Bad may differ from the three albums that came before, it is growing and growing. We are all moving on life, no longer in our thirties, forties and even fifties, the music changes with life as well.

First of all, I love hearing Peter Visser play guitar. He is a total ADHD kind of player, who manages to play within limits anyway. His style of playing is extremely play- and colourful. He always finds little melodies, licks and notes that embellish a song no little. You can find them in all ten songs on Beaucoup Bad. The album is directly ahead of the competition because of Visser's contribution.

Next is Carol van Dijk's voice. She's a singer that I like listening to. Her voice has aged somewhat, giving it a little edge it did not have in the past. It is more mature and utterly convincing in a song like 'Pray For The Living'. There are more references to prayer on the album by the way. It is so good to hear her voice in new songs.

After all these years, the line up remains the same, except for the drumseat. This is now filled by Stephan van der Meijden. This means the extreme power Joppe Molenaar delivered since 2010 is gone, but it may well be that his style of playing would not have fitted the new songs. There is some classic Betties but also more of The Velvet Underground inspired songs. This requires a higher level of subtlety. Further down the line there is a mix of Bettie Serveert style indie with more classical pop going back to the 1950s before Elvis put everything upside down. Don't worry, there's no Doris Day or Frankie Laine here, but wisps of their music can be traced. Take a listen to 'Sig O' to hear what I mean. The album even ends with a ballad called 'So Long', a rather ominous sounding title for a fan of three decades, but at some point there will be an end to all good things.

For goodbyes, Beaucoup Bad is far too good. Bettie Serveert returns with an extremely strong album, I am very glad to be listening to. In 9 days time, I'll be seeing them in Patronaat, Haarlem. The band will be touring the country, in a leisurely fashion well into 2027. Go out and watch them, as this is one of the best Dutch indie bands of the previous decades.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can order Beaucoup Bad on Bettie Serveert's website:

https://www.bettieserveert.com/store.html