Neu The Neu Bulletin (Madra Salach, Heidi Curtis, Cardinals and more!)

A song which isn’t afraid to take its time, ​‘The Man Who Seeks Pleasure’ appears with gentle introspection and lengthens like evening shadows. On this EP highlight, Madra Salach​’s lead vocalist Paul Banks sings only a few words, each one picked with the utmost care. Struggling to restrain his energy from the off, he eventually and inevitably gives way to the emotion of this powerfully exposing ballad; although, all the while, the drone of harmonium is present and a lone guitar fills in some blanks, sparse vulnerability lies at its core. Here, Madra Salach deliver a cut that’s impossible to turn away from. (Phil Taylor)

‘Siren’ positions Heidi Curtis in her most assured, emotive mode yet. Built around swelling dynamics and a sense of slow, tidal pull, the track leans into drama without tipping over into excess. Her vocal sits front and centre — powerful but controlled — moving between vulnerability and force as the song gradually intensifies. There’s a cinematic quality to the arrangement, rooted in folk-tinged indie but lifted by a modern urgency that keeps it feeling immediate. (Gemma Cockrell)

As Cardinals gear up for a busy tour across the UK and Ireland, the Cork-based band return with ​‘I Like You’. Built on melancholic guitar lines and a softly haunting accordion, the track leans into the fragile yet raw romanticism that has become central to the band’s sound. Frontman Euan Manning borrows a line from Chet Baker’s ​‘My Funny Valentine’ to open (“Don’t change your hair for me / If you still care for me”), but the rest is a refinement of a formula entirely their own: vulnerable, direct lyrics set against a romantic yet rough-edged soundscape. (Lorène Bienvenu)

On ​‘Black Cat’, New York-based producer deer park and singer-songwriter Ivy Knight transform monotony and exhaustion into a hallucinatory trance. Heavy piano and a meandering bass line circle beneath lyrics which are laced with brutalist landscapes and mystic beauty. deer park’s central verse is delivered in a soft but restless chant – he describes a vision of perpetual night, a life lived entirely in the brief hours after a ​“dead end day job”. This nocturnal haze is illuminated by Knight’s bright and airy vocals, which emerge from the dense textures of the instrumental to bookend the track; it feels like finally drifting from anxious insomnia into a dream. (David Addison)

‘London, Out There’ finds The New Cut easing off the throttle and letting a heavier mood settle in. Brooding, grey-skied guitars coil around a steady, unflashy rhythm section, giving the track a sense of slow-burn unease rather than release. The vocal delivery feels resigned, almost weary, matching the song’s atmosphere of quiet frustration and encroaching despondency. There’s a melancholic pull here that recalls modern post-punk’s more introspective side, where tension simmers instead of explodes. (Gemma Cockrell) 

Tags: Neu, Neu Bulletin, Cardinals, deer park, Heidi Curtis, Listen, Madra Salach, The New Cut, Watch