Neu Bulletin The Neu Bulletin (Joviale, Jayla Kai, Modern Woman and more!)

Lifted from her recent EP ‘Hurricane Bell’, Joviale’s ‘ZeroCool’ is three and a half minutes of pure bliss. Marrying bewitching harmonies with a stirring beat, the track allows Joviale’s emotion drenched vocals to shine through, aided by the magical soundscape created in partnership with go-to vibe creator of the moment, producer Bullion. Stunning scenes. (Elly Watson)

There’s a particular kind of satisfaction that sits squarely in the cross section between grunge riffery and pop melody - a trick that Woodstock teen Jayla Kai clearly subscribes to, as evidenced by ‘Apple Tree’. Fuzzy and loose, but packed with clever earworm u-turns, it’s the sort of track that might come off like an easygoing indie-rock trip, but beneath lies more ambition than its laissez-faire attitude is letting on. (Lisa Wright)

There’s a rawness to the latest track to come from Los Angeles-based Lav that feels truly disarming. A stripped back, almost whispered offering, ‘Sardine Song’ - a song dedicated to her intense first love, who attempted to put the brakes on “until he was 25” - is an ethereal, fragile track which doesn’t so much tug on the heartstrings as it sinks deep into the fibre of your soul. Intimate but crushing, the raw beauty here is flooring; perhaps not one to listen to with a bleary-eyed hangover, though. (Sarah Jamieson)

The first - ahem - offering from End of the Road festival’s new record label, ‘Offerings’ takes the prickly percussion and cranky discordance of black midi and sets it against vocals plucked entirely from PJ Harvey’s school of discomfiting noir. Modern Woman’s brand of tetchy abrasion feels very of the moment - they could happily nestle in amongst the likes of Black Country, New Road, Squid et al - but singer Sophie Harris is their integral point of difference, an eerie conjuror in the midst of their angular noise. (Lisa Wright)

‘Red Wine’ couldn’t be more ‘90s slacker if it, well, didn’t try. Picture FIDLAR’s Zac Carper fronting an early Beck-written Jurassic 5 track in your ear’s mind, and you’re somewhere in the vicinity. The third single from the Californian, the song also - crucially - never even threatens to dip into pastiche territory, which makes for an ideal soundtrack to the current heatwave. (Emma Swann)

Tags: Jayla Kai, Joviale, Lav, Modern Woman, Olive Featherstone, Listen, Features, Neu, Neu Bulletin