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Pretty. Honey I'm Home
Honey I'm Home is a Dutch shoegaze band consisting of Thom Schotanus, Sofie Ooteman, Jasper Meurs, Hugo de Groot en Evelien Keesmaat that makes its debut on this blog. Pretty is a song that holds optimistic singing and a darker sound. It mixes a pop vibe, in the vocal delivery as much as in the lead lines, with the darker and somewhat sluggish rhythm. The combination certainly works. Pretty has the rhythm of songs that were popular in the 1990s of which I have long ago forgotten the name of. That bouncy kind of rhythm and singer(s) who was (were) always somewhere between singing and rapping. Honey I'm Home's singers sing, so let there be no mistake there. Pretty is fun track with a nice dark edge.
youbet is the second band making its debut on this blog this week. With Ground Kiss the band delivers an alternative rock track. If you could hold it in your hands, you would have to wash your hands immediately afterwards. Ground Kiss has that dark and dirty sound that actually makes it very attractive to listen to. Songwriter Nick Llobet started youbet and was later joined by Micah Prussack, while producer Katie Von Schleicher works once again with the duo. The single moves between an indie track with two voices to distorted guitar eruptions that upset everything and everybody. Fire spouts from the record in those moments. Album 'youbet' will be released on 1 May.
And here's a third new name on the blog this week. Caitlin is a singer-songwriter from New Zealand who is on route to release her fourth EP, 'Guardrails', on 10 April. With You’re Only Good To Calm Me Down, not a very stimulating title, is it?, Caitlin sets a mood that is somewhere between positive and moody. Despite being mid tempo, the drummer gives the song a tempo that could go on forever. The addition of the banjo, playing just a few notes, gives the song an alternative country flavour. In the meantime Caitlin just keeps singing, seemingly unperturbed by what is going on around her. Her voice is soft and pleasant, contrasting nicely with the electric guitar. This is a really nice indiepop song.
I Go Up, You Go Down is one of the outcomes of Lily Wolter's relation breakup, moving in with her parents again and the world closing down due to the Covid crisis. Adding all that I Go Up, You Go Down is up, it is a miracle that the single sounds as light as it does. Not that it is a festive and multi-coloured affair but not pitch black either. My Precious Bunny presents itself as an indie singer-songwriter before estranging elements are let into the song. All the weird sounds and treated voices remind me of Carol Cleveland Sings and Pickle Darling. They are let go off, just as easily as they return. It makes I Go Up, You Go Down extremely fun and intriguing to listen to. My Precious Bunny is not caught on one loop but more than you can count. And, yes, this is the fourth new name this week.
No, dEUS is not a new name of course. The band is celebrating the (circa) thirty year anniversary of its first two albums, 'Worst Case Scenario' (1994) and 'In A Bar, Under The Sea' (1996). Overflow is a long forgotten b side. It is a beautiful, alternative ballad. Slow, with a country flow in the instrumentation. The reverb on the single electric guitar notes gives the song a sound that Madrugada built a career on. Very U.S. of course. It gives the single such a great vibe. Overflow is sad and restrained jubilation in one. It is also nothing like what I remember of dEUS at the time. Perhaps the reason it was just a b side at the time and in 2026 the lead single for the re-releases. I did not know dEUS had this in it.
Only a few weeks ago I played David Bowie's 'Lodger' album one again and just like always I was struck by the powerful rocker 'Look Back In Anger'. One of Bowie's best album tracks ever. In 2026 Ultrabomb, Greg Norton (Hüsker Dü), Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion, Agent Orange, Adolescents) and Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum), releases a new single called Look Forward In Anger. The band can only wish the song is as good as its opposite titled one. That said, "forward" is stark rocker, punky, powerful, with a couple of nice riffs and a fiery guitar solo flying around. The rock veterans know exactly what they are doing and deliver abundantly.
This year Iggy turns 79. Who could ever have imagined that in the early 1970s? Anna Calvi and Pop have an artist that joins them, David Bowie. Calvi played a part in the live rendition of 'Black Star'. Iggy Pop was produced by Bowie in the 70s and co-wrote several songs together, some of his biggest hits and a couple for Bowie as well. Anna Calvi and Iggy Pop produced a single that could have been on either 'The Idiot' or 'Lust For Life' with ease. Except that Anna Calvi was not yet born at the time. God's A Lonely Man is a dirty rock song with a typical rhythm. Calvi let's Iggy take the centre stage in the vocals. At first he sounds his age but slowly but surely Iggy gets into his stride and becomes just Iggy Pop. Still going strong.
Dutch singer-songwriter Yori Swart returns to this blog with a modern sounding single. The singing, partly in French. mostly in English, sounds like a traditional French sigh girl did a long time ago. That mix of innocence while hinting at things catholic girls knew despite mister pastor's efforts, is compelling and convincing in Jardin. Musically, the song is part sigh girl, part modern rhythms and part Mano Chao style samples. The mix of it all resulted in a song that is extremely pleasant to listen to. Yori is no girl any more in 2026 and that shows in the way she presents the song. Jardin is bittersweet sharing the positive and negative sides of life in equal parts, making Jardin a very mature song.
Bonny Prince Billy is of course Bonny Prince Billy. No matter who he works with, his voice is always the same. On Hey Little he sings with Catherine Irwin (again), a voice that really contrasts with his own voice. She has a country style voice, while Will Oldham is Bonny Prince Billy. Hey Little is a slow song and adorned by a string quartet. Very surprising is the clarinet solo from Thomas Deakin that pops up from the strings for a few seconds. As a whole, Hey Little is as modest as it is present. Oldham has created another little pearl, celebrating but also containing the sorrowful realisation how fast his daughter is growing up. Hey Little Girl is Bonny Prince Billy and yet somehow very different. It shows how an artist can still surprise while still operating in the same musical environment. Just as surprising is the ending that seems to come out of nowhere.
In April 2024 Arrows of Athena debuted on this blog with the single 'Reckless Heart'. I did not encounter anything in between. In that post I pointed to German duo Para Lia and that was the same name that popped to mind listening to Comets for the first time. Boston duo Jac-Lyn Gibson and Scott Lerner again presents an alternative rock track with firm grounding in the 1990s. The lyrics are based on the life of French wine and champagne pioneer Madame Clicquot, I suppose of the still well-known 'Veuve Clicquot'. Comets is a song that is filed to the brim with guitar parts. Scott Lerner is not afraid of stacking guitar parts towards epic proportions. The same goes for Jac-Lyn Gibson who shows of her different voices as well. If I have to compare voices, I would opt for Shirley Manson (Garbage). Comets is a song that rocks and no little at that.
Wout de Natris - van der Borght
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