New music guide The Neu Bulletin (Fake Laugh, Teen Ravine, God Colony & more)

DIY’s essential, weekly guide to the best new music.

Words: Tom Connick
14th September 2016

Neu Bulletins are DIY’s guide to the best new music. They contain every single thing that’s been played at full volume in the office, whether that’s a small handful or a gazillion acts. Just depends how good the week’s been.

Alongside our weekly round-up of discoveries, there are also Neu Picks. These are the very best songs / bands to have caught our attention, and there’s a new one every weekday. Catch up with the most recent picks here.

Fake Laugh - I Made A Sound

Fake Laugh’s been a Neu favourite for some time now, but he’s never sounded as confident in his abilities as he does on ‘I Made A Sound’. From that introductory “yo”, right through all manner of shimmering, sunny-day instrumentation and romantic sentiments, the not-so-slacker-pop prodigy’s quickly establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with.

Japanese Wallpaper - Cocoon

“I don’t know why I’m on your side - tell me how I can get to you?” Japanese Wallpaper sighs before ‘Cocoon’ blooms. Talk of tied up tongues sits atop a shimmering pop backdrop, that inquisitive mind giving the Australian superstar in waiting a How To Dress Well-esque innocence.

God Colony & Flohio - My World

There isn’t a pairing around more exciting than God Colony and south east London rapper Flohio. Earlier this year, ‘SE16’ proved the latter’s bars to be as gold as they come, and while she’s on equally 10/10 form this time around, it’s God Colony’s production that takes the spotlight. Impossibly accomplished, it sounds lifted from lightyears ahead - a breathtaking glimpse into the future of London’s ever evolving rap and electronic scenes, and a bridge between the two like never before.

Sibling - Silver

Boasting former Hindsights frontman Benio Baumgart at their helm, Sibling’s joyous pop-rock might arrive just a tad too late for the summer it was born for, but it’s a fitting change of the seasons that they find themselves born into. Masking their discontent with choppy hooks, it’s a fizzy-pop refresher that washes away those gloomier thoughts.

Teen Ravine - Friend Of A Friend

Like a sunnier Wild Nothing, Teen Ravine’s melancholy pop arrives fully formed on ‘Friend Of A Friend’. “Loneliness is a state of mind,” he shrugs, glistening synths and handclap percussion perking up proceedings, before a 1975-baiting saxophone solo ties the whole thing up in a golden ribbon.

Bloxx - Coke

Drenched in delay, Bloxx’s ‘Coke’ is like a parallel universe whereby The Xx record solely in their garage. Rough-edged and yet somehow silky smooth all at once, it’s the wearied lyrical reflection on a disintegrating love that really sticks.

Tags: Fake Laugh, Listen, Features, Neu, Neu Bulletin