New Music Guide The Neu Bulletin (Skylar Spence, Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, No Violet & more)

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

5th September 2018

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.

Skylar Spence - Cry Wolf

Skylar Spence (fka Saint Pepsi) released his first new music since 2015 LP ‘Prom King’ in the shape of ‘Carousel’, an upbeat, chart-bound indie-pop bop. Its accompaniment on a new AA-side, out now on Carpark Records, is ‘Cry Wolf’, a track just as occupied with partystarting.

There’s woozy synths reminiscent of a certain Kevin Parker here, but the singer’s distinctively strong, American vocals push things away from happy-go-lucky psych and closer to the dancefloor and pop music. “I can’t keep crying anymore / Pick myself up off the floor,” he sings, and the track feels like a eureka moment, breaking through gloom to find the greener grass on the other side. (Will Richards)

Wicca Phase Springs Eternal - Stress

Adam McIlwee used to be co-frontman of Philadelphia pop-punkers Tigers Jaw, but now makes music as Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, a project with fingers in both emo and hip-hop-shaped pies. New track ‘Stress’, featuring Georgia Maq of Run For Cover labelmates Camp Cope, sees glitchy beats circling around his still-distinctive vocals and chorus-drenched guitars. Georgia’s vocals hit hardest - “I will track you down, boy / I’ll run you out of this town, boy,” she sings, before talking about “separating the man from the art” - before the pair of voices intertwine wonderfully at the track’s conclusion. An intriguing mash of genres that falls just on the right side of success. (Will Richards)

No Violet - She Goes Her Own Way

Bristol bunch No Violet made quite an impression on us when they emerged with the massive, emotional ‘Be My Friend’ earlier this summer, a track that recalled Wolf Alice at their angriest.

The band’s debut EP ‘Faces’ is arriving later this month, and new track ‘She Goes Her Own Way’ is a softer cut that feels indebted to classic rock songwriting of the ’60s and ’70s but also contains the same vocal grit that made ‘Be My Friend’ such an intriguing introduction. This lot continue to surprise. (Will Richards)

Cosmic Strip - Sugar Rush

A slice of sparkling, shoegaze-y psychedelia, ‘Sugar Rush’ is the new one from London-based outfit Cosmic Strip. Taken from the band’s recently released EP ‘Heavenly’ and fronted by the delightfully dreamy vocals of frontwoman Camella Agabalyan, the track twists and turns, combining almost-whispered vocals and dynamic guitar lines, building energy up and then tearing it back down again.

Barrie - Michigan

NYC five-piece Barrie may have only started making music together a few months ago, but they’ve already impressed with a slew of ambient pop tracks. On their latest, ‘Michigan’, the band whip up a daze-y dream of a track, pairing a simple piano base instrumental with laid-back vocals that have us pining for the recently departed summer.

Tags: Skylar Spence, Listen, Features, Neu, Neu Bulletin