Author: Joey Rochert

Concrete Club, ‘People Like Us’ (feat. Rowetta)

Concrete Club

Concrete Club return with their latest single “People Like Us,” released via Emu Bands, delivering one of their most direct and uncompromising statements to date. It’s a track that wastes no time in announcing its intent—sharp, immediate, and built to grab attention from the very first bar.

Opening with a funky, propulsive indie guitar riff, the song instantly locks you in. The rhythm section quickly follows, tightening the groove, while synth textures glide in with a subtle melodic sheen that lifts the track without softening its edge. Then comes the defining moment: the entrance of guest vocalist Rowetta, whose commanding delivery hits with real force—powerful, soulful, and impossible to ignore.

In the space of a few moments, Concrete Club move from cool restraint into full-bodied intensity, balancing danceable energy with a gritty post-punk undercurrent. The result is a track that feels both tightly controlled and emotionally charged, built around a hypnotic groove that keeps pulling you back in.

The band continue to refine their identity at the intersection of post-punk attitude and modern indie rock sensibilities. There’s a clear lineage running through their sound—one that nods to Manchester’s rich musical heritage—yet “People Like Us” never feels nostalgic. Instead, it lands firmly in the present, sharp-edged and forward-facing.

Lyrically and thematically, Concrete Club stay grounded in the realities of modern urban life: connection, disconnection, and the search for meaning in the chaos of city living. It’s that blend of the personal and the universal that gives their work staying power, and this single is no exception.

The band—Jonny Brewster (vocals), Kallum Delf (guitar), Mark Demuth (bass), and Jamie Butterworth (synths)—are joined here by Rowetta and drummer Jonny McGill, whose contributions inject a fresh burst of energy without diluting the band’s core identity. If anything, the collaboration sharpens their edges even further.

“People Like Us” is Concrete Club operating at full confidence: rhythmic, urgent, and unapologetically alive.

Pharaoh Jo, ‘Enough For You’

Pharaoh Jo

Pharaoh Jo’s new single “Enough For You” featuring CALLMEJB cuts right to the bone. This isn’t the kind of song that makes you work to understand what he’s feeling. He just tells you. No riddles, no layered metaphors that require three listens to decode. Just raw questions about loving someone and still not measuring up.

The track comes from his album “A Wasteland Called Love,” and that title alone should tell you what you’re walking into. This is relationship devastation stripped down to its core elements. Jo spends his verses laying out the emotional mathematics of giving everything and still coming up short. What more could a partner want? The question lingers because there’s no good answer.

Jo avoids the usual tricks. He’s not interested in flexing his vocabulary or packing bars with clever wordplay just for the sake of it. Instead, he maps out exactly what happened, how it felt, and what it cost him. That directness is actually harder to pull off than it sounds. Most artists either hide behind metaphors or lean too hard on self pity. Jo finds a middle ground where you actually believe him.

CALLMEJB enters with a chorus that sounds genuinely worn down. It’s not a showcase moment. The collaboration feels like two people commiserating rather than a guest appearance designed to boost streaming numbers. His delivery carries the weight of someone who gets the particular exhaustion of giving more than you should and still feeling invisible.

Julia Thomsen, ‘Happy Days’

Julia Thomsen

Julia Thomsen has spent years building toward this moment. With 18 million Spotify streams already under her name, she could have played it safe. Instead, she’s released “Happy Days,” a neoclassical piano piece that feels both carefully crafted and utterly natural.

The first time you hit play, something just clicks. Within seconds, the track pulls you into its orbit. It’s the kind of piece that makes you set your phone down and actually listen rather than let it drift through the background. The piano work is clean and deliberate, each note placed exactly where it needs to be, but what makes it work is how effortless it all sounds.

What struck me most was how Julia manages to be intricate without demanding anything from you. You don’t need to understand classical theory or have any background in music to feel what’s happening here. The piece builds this gentle momentum that just carries you along. It’s the opposite of showy. There’s real restraint in the writing, and that restraint is what makes it so powerful.

“Happy Days” does feel like a spring and summer track, though honestly, that’s almost beside the point. The brightness is there, sure, but what matters is that this is music that actually makes you feel something specific. It’s calming without being boring. It’s sophisticated without being cold. That’s harder to pull off than it sounds.

Lisa Marie Simmons and Marco Cremaschini, ‘NoteSpeak (In a Word)’

Lisa

Listen to “NoteSpeak (In a Word)” and you can feel the years behind it. Poet and lyricist Lisa Marie Simmons and pianist Marco Cremaschini didn’t just make a record. They built a world that refuses to stay put, that bends between jazz and hip-hop and gospel and something that doesn’t have a name yet. Jazz, spoken word, electronica, gospel, free verse, cinematic arrangement. All of it moving together naturally, like it was always meant to.

What strikes me first is how alive it feels. This isn’t a record that’s been focus-grouped or overthought. It’s two people who have spent years learning how to listen to each other, and it shows.

The album opens with “Intro”, a gong piece by Christof Bernhard that sets something in motion. From there, Simmons and Cremaschini draw in an extraordinary range of voices. Gillian Margot, who has shared stages with Sting and Robert Glasper, brings real presence to “Once Upon This Time”. Jamaaladeen Tacuma shows up on “Taijitu”, the bassist whose work with Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band became a north star for anyone who cares about where jazz was headed. Vernon Reid of Living Colour adds something unmistakable to “Solid Ground (Meet Me There)” and the closing “Outro”. Charu Suri, the first Indian-born jazz composer to perform at Carnegie Hall, brings a compelling quietness to “Winner Takes All”. Dorian Holley and Nayanna Holley duet on “No Time at All”, two voices that have backed some of the biggest productions of the past two decades.

And then there’s “Solid Ground (Meet Me There)” with The Flamingos. Theresa Trigg and Terry Isaiah Johnson. That name matters to anyone who knows American music history. Johnson, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who arranged the Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You”, passed away on October 8, 2025, twelve days after this album came out. This is one of his final recordings. You need to hear it.

The working band is tight. Simmons, Cremaschini on piano and keyboards, Manuel Caliumi on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Marco Cocconi on electric bass, and Federico Negri on drums, with Laura Masotto adding violin to “Submersion”. You can hear them trust each other in the way the music breathes and shifts.

Simmons grew up in Boulder, made her mark in New York, and now lives in Italy. Cremaschini brings a deep European jazz sensibility into everything he touches. Together they’ve built what peers have started calling a global jazz hybrid, which is fair enough, but it doesn’t quite capture it. The record moves from tender, interior moments to passages that burn with real intention. The lyrics carry personal and political weight in equal measure. This is music that trusts you to keep up.

Their last record, “Amori e Tragedie In Musica” (2020 on Ropeadope), found an audience and surprised even them with how far it traveled. Since then, Simmons made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2025 with Charu Suri to a sold out crowd and an invitation to come back. The project has moved beyond music too. In 2024, Simmons wrote an original poem responding to work by Phoebe Boswell, the British-Kenyan artist, for Boswell’s show at Wentrup Gallery in Berlin. Both artists share deep engagement with memory and identity and the weight of where we are now. It felt like two people recognizing something in each other.

DownBeat gave this five stars. J. Poet noted how Simmons moves between singing and speaking, blurring the line between poetry and music in a way that feels completely natural. All About Jazz went four stars through senior editor Chris May, who put the album on the same level as its predecessor, describing it as top-shelf poetry and top-shelf jazz working at equal strength. Chris Slawecki connected NoteSpeak to a line running from jazz poets like Ishmael Reed through Queen Latifah, which is about the most thoughtful frame you could get.

The influences are everywhere. Nina Simone, Gil Scott-Heron, Fela Kuti, John and Alice Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde. Then on another shelf entirely: Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco. Moving through the contemporary: Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Vijay Iyer, Rhiannon Giddens, Anderson Paak.

It’s a long list but it doesn’t feel like name-dropping. It feels like someone telling you the truth. You hear all of it in the record, not as imitation but as the weight of a life spent paying close attention to what music and language can actually do when you treat them seriously.

Rebecca Richards, ‘Never Too Late’

Rebecca Richards

Rebecca Richards’ “Never Too Late” arrives as a warm and uplifting country-pop release that blends heartfelt storytelling with polished Nashville production. Recorded during a three-hour live session at Ocean Way Studios, the track has a lively, authentic feel that captures the magic of musicians performing together in the moment. The experienced band behind Rebecca brings a confident groove to the arrangement, giving the song both depth and energy.

The production, handled by Jeff Cohen and Saskia Griffiths-Moore, keeps the focus firmly on Rebecca’s voice and the song’s message. Instrumentally, the track leans into bright guitars and steady rhythms, creating a sound that feels both contemporary and timeless. Rebecca’s vocal performance is expressive and sincere, carrying the emotional core of a song that celebrates pursuing dreams at any stage of life.

At its heart, “Never Too Late” is about courage and possibility. Rebecca’s performance reflects someone stepping into a new chapter and embracing the moment with determination. The song’s hopeful tone and relatable theme give it a universal appeal, making it easy to connect with. With its uplifting message and warm country-pop sound, “Never Too Late” is a track that encourages listeners to believe that the best opportunities may still lie ahead.

Marsha Swanson, ‘Waltz for Life’

Marsha Swanson

Written when Swanson was just fourteen, “Waltz for Life” carries the rare purity of a first creative spark. Yet rather than feeling naïve or unfinished, the piece glows with maturity. Time has not dulled its spirit; instead, it has deepened it. Now released as the final single from her album Near Life Experience, the track feels less like a footnote and more like a thesis — a distilled expression of everything the record stands for.

At just one minute and eleven seconds, the composition is fleeting, but its emotional imprint lingers. Dynamic strings glide with gentle urgency, moving in three-quarter time like a heartbeat set to dance. There’s grace in its sway, but also forward motion — a subtle push and pull that mirrors life itself. The waltz becomes metaphor: balance and imbalance, tension and release, longing and fulfilment. It’s delicate, but never fragile.

What’s most striking is the optimism woven into the arrangement. While much of Near Life Experience reflects on life, death, and memory, “Waltz for Life” radiates possibility. It celebrates existence without grandiosity. The melody rises naturally, like sunlight edging over a horizon, carrying both innocence and wisdom in its arc.

Conceptually, Swanson’s decision to release the album’s opening track last is quietly profound. By circling back to the beginning, she completes the cycle her album contemplates — birth, experience, loss, renewal. It’s a structural choice that feels intentional and philosophical rather than promotional. The end becomes the beginning again.

The accompanying animation, created by Iranian director Sam Chegini, promises to echo this cyclical theme. Known for blending mediums, Chegini brings together film, VFX, 2D cut-outs, hand-drawn frame-by-frame techniques, rotoscoping, and claymation — a collage of styles that mirrors the layered emotional textures of Swanson’s music. Though the project currently awaits the restoration of international communications in Iran, the creative partnership continues to reflect a shared artistic ambition that transcends borders.

Despite its brevity, “Waltz for Life” has taken on a life of its own. Standing as a semifinalist in the classical category of the UK Songwriting Contest, the piece proves that duration does not dictate impact. Sometimes the shortest dances leave the deepest footprints.

Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice, ‘Drunk Dial Baby’

Nathan Bryce

Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice return with a fresh twist on their signature sound in the shape of “Drunk Dial Baby,” out now. Known for their gritty blues-rock punch, the Kansas City trio ease off the throttle this time, trading heavy stomp for a slick, late-night groove that feels equal parts confessional and carefree.

“Drunk Dial Baby” dives headfirst into a scenario most listeners will recognise instantly: the glow of a phone screen after midnight and the loaded simplicity of “You up?” Rather than wallow in self-pity, the band lean into the humour of it all. There’s a smirk behind the lyrics, but also a flicker of vulnerability that keeps things grounded. When Bryce delivers lines about whiskey-fuelled calls and fleeting affection, it’s with a knowing tone, as if he’s shaking his head at himself while reaching for the phone anyway.

Musically, the track marks an evolution. The rhythm section locks into a tight funk pulse, giving the song a fluidity that contrasts with the band’s more hard-hitting catalogue. The bass line carries a confident swagger, while the drums sit deep in the pocket, letting the groove breathe. Over the top, Bryce’s guitar work shifts between restrained, melodic phrasing in the verses and explosive bursts in the chorus, lighting up the track without overpowering its laid-back feel.

What makes “Drunk Dial Baby” resonate is its balance. It’s witty without being throwaway, and bittersweet without becoming heavy. The bridge, in particular, distils the emotional push-and-pull of a connection that only surfaces when inhibitions fade. It’s the kind of songwriting that acknowledges the sting but chooses to laugh through it a blues tradition reframed with a modern, relatable lens.

After spending the past few years touring extensively including dates alongside Australian guitar sensation Taj Farrant, Nathan Bryce and Loaded Dice sound more cohesive and confident than ever. “Drunk Dial Baby” feels like a statement of intent: proof they can stretch stylistically while keeping their core identity intact.

Julia Thomsen, ‘I Love You’

Julia

With “I Love You,” Julia Thomsen proves that piano music can speak louder than words. The track opens with bold, commanding chords that immediately pull you in, establishing a sense of confidence and purpose.

What follows is an intimate journey through warmth and feeling. Julia’s touch on the keys is precise yet deeply personal, each phrase brimming with sincerity. The music manages to be both tender and strong at the same time, capturing the full spectrum of emotion.

It’s the kind of piece that invites you to pause and truly listen, letting the melodies fill the space and resonate long after the final note. Thomsen’s skill lies in making every chord feel meaningful, turning a simple declaration into a captivating experience.

With “I Love You,” Julia Thomsen proves that piano music can speak louder than words. The track opens with bold, commanding chords that immediately pull you in, establishing a sense of confidence and purpose.

What follows is an intimate journey through warmth and feeling. Julia’s touch on the keys is precise yet deeply personal, each phrase brimming with sincerity. The music manages to be both tender and strong at the same time, capturing the full spectrum of emotion.

It’s the kind of piece that invites you to pause and truly listen, letting the melodies fill the space and resonate long after the final note. Thomsen’s skill lies in making every chord feel meaningful, turning a simple declaration into a captivating experience.

philojain, ‘Riff Raff’

philojain

“Riff Raff” is an instrumental track by philojain, and within the first few seconds it makes absolutely clear that it doesn’t need words to get its point across.

The guitars hit immediately and they hit hard. Jain layers riff after riff until the whole thing becomes this enormous wall of sound that somehow manages to feel both aggressive and completely absorbing at the same time. It’s the kind of listening experience where you catch yourself just sitting there staring at nothing, fully taken over by what’s coming through the speakers.

Then there’s the bass. And I want to be specific here because it genuinely deserves its own mention. The sub bass on this track is not doing backup duty. It is a presence. A physical, room shaking presence that sits underneath everything and makes the whole track feel heavier than it has any right to. If you’ve got decent speakers or headphones, clear your schedule.

What I kept coming back to while listening was how unpredictable it stays throughout. You settle into a groove, you think you’ve got the pattern figured out, and then Jain pivots. Fast, technical runs give way to slow, crushing chords that feel like they’re being played through concrete. It never lets you get fully comfortable, and that tension is exactly what makes it work.

Jain pulls influence from Pantera, Lamb of God, Faith No More and Pink Floyd, but “Riff Raff” doesn’t sound like a tribute to any of them. It sits somewhere in the overlap between post rock, progressive metal and genuinely experimental territory, which is a harder place to find than it sounds.

The fact that Jain handled everything himself, all the instruments and all the production, makes it even more impressive. There’s a freedom in this track that you can actually hear. It moves like something that has no interest in being categorized, and honestly that’s the most interesting thing an artist can do.

Go find a good pair of headphones and give this one a proper listen. You’ll understand!

Julia Thomsen Earns International Recognition With Los Angeles World Entertainment Award Nomination

Julia Thomsen

Julia Thomsen’s composition “Romantic Embrace” earned her a nomination in the Best New Age Song category at the Los Angeles World Entertainment Awards, placing her among an international field of artists recognised for their work across the entertainment industry. The awards, which cover a wide range of genres and disciplines, drew entries from around the world, making the nomination a considerable achievement for a British composer working in the contemporary classical space.

The nomination marks another significant milestone for the London based composer, who has spent years building one of the most distinctive catalogues in contemporary piano music. With over 18 million streams on Spotify, her work sits at the intersection of neoclassical and new age composition, drawing listeners in with arrangements that feel considered and unhurried. Her pieces carry a warmth that is immediately recognisable, and her approach to blending structure with a more open, reflective sensibility has earned her a following that continues to grow.

Her music has found a home on BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 3, and BBC Radio 4, and has appeared across flagship broadcasts on Sky Sports Italia, Channel 4, and Apple TV. It is the kind of reach that speaks to how broadly her compositions have connected, not just with established classical audiences but with people encountering this style of music for the first time.

As one of the UK’s leading voices in contemporary classical and neoclassical composition, Julia has built a body of work that draws on tradition without being defined by it. British composers are too rarely represented at international award platforms of this scale, and her nomination in the Best New Age Song category puts her work in front of an audience and an industry that is paying close attention.

Julia begins 2026 with “Forever,” a composition for piano and live strings that continues the direction she has been building toward. It is a strong opening to what looks to be another important year in a career that is clearly gathering momentum.