New music guide The Neu Bulletin (White Kite, Embers, Pet Grotesque & more)

‘Swans’, the debut single from London’s White Kite, hurtles along with an unquenchable urgency. Frontman Louis Shadwick’s vocals are smooth and soulful, yet thrown out like they’re trying to keep up with a runaway train, in this case a barrage of noodling synths and thudding synthetic drums. As a first step, it’s ambitious and broad enough to open up a world of possibilities for White Kite. (Will Richards)

Cheesier than the dedicated Stilton cave of Cheddar Gorge, with the vague sonic air of an obscure Barry White sample being dredged through a space-dust edged grater, Pet Grotesque’s new’un is a fairly odd prospect; even ignoring the multiple lyrical references to Scooby Doo’s scrappy partner in crime, and the wispy candyfloss vocals. Still, despite the feeling that ‘Scrappy Doo Goes Under’ could work well as a soundtrack to a smutty over-18 flick from the 70s, it’s kinda ace for it. (El Hunt)

Embers were really on a roll when they first screamed to everyone’s attention with a pair of live videos for ‘Hollow Cage’ and ‘Part Of The Echoes’ at the start of 2013. An unexplained and unexpected lengthy absence and a change of personnel, and they’ve returned with ‘Signs’, a track as grand and all-encompassing as the kind they first turned heads for.

‘Signs’ isn’t shy in going for the jugular from the off, all piercing guitars and drums that could fell buildings. Their prolonged break hasn’t dented Embers’ ambitions - this is a track that shoots for the stars. (WR)

The video for Ménage à Trois’ new track ‘Homecoming’ is filmed on a fuzzy camcorder, and the immediate nostalgic tinge it gives is fitting. From the off, the track longs for a place to exist, and is a widescreen trip dreaming of South America, even if it’s never really been home.

It’s billed as a ‘Homecoming’, but Ménage à Trois’ new track is evidence of the Mancunians spreading their wings and beginning to find their place. (WR)

The debut single from Londoner Jack ‘JW’ Ridley also acts as the latest instalment from Speedy Wunderground - producer Dan Carey’s series of tracks, each recorded in full in one day. Far from rushed, however, ‘Everything (Deathless)’ is a hazy, sprawling eight-minute epic - all Diiv wooziness underpinned by guitars pinched from ‘Seventeen Seconds’-era Cure. (Lisa Wright)

Up until now, Julia Michaels has operated as a behind-the-scenes whizz, penning ‘Sorry’ for Justin Bieber, and multiple songs for Selena Gomez’s recent pop banger revamp. As you do. And they’re just a couple of her powerhouse writer credits, too. Her first outing in her own right – the minimal, plucking ‘Issues’ – breaks straight through the noise to the chase, as you’d perhaps expect considering her credentials. “Believe me, I could love you just like that and I could leave you just as fast,” Julia proffers, unfussy, effortless, and powering forward this year’s most understated pop breakout. (EH)

“You’re the devil on my shoulder, but I keep mistaking you for an angel,” sing Leeds trio POLO on new single ‘Gold Horizons’, and the first track to be taken from their upcoming debut EP flits between the two states with abandon.

The band’s off-kilter, tropical pop carries the ability to drop into heart-thumping choruses while also travelling down weirder, more unusual avenues. If all this comes together on the EP, we’re in for something special. (WR)

Tags: Embers, Pet Grotesque, Listen, Features, Neu, Neu Bulletin