You’ve heard the saying ‘better late than never’; this month, we’re putting it to the test. Yes, SNACK Bits missed all deadlines, and there’s no real excuse beyond life. The upside? We’ve crammed in even more up-to-the-minute releases. Is there method to our madness?
No. No, there is not. Anyway, on with the music.
The poignant lyrical delivery of ‘When You Said Goodbye’ will break your heart, but the jingle-jangling joy of the guitars pieces it back together. With The Cords’ debut album due any day, take this as your final nudge to pre-order or pre-save. If you’ve room for gorgeous guitar pop with more confidence than it lets on, this could be your act of the year.
SHEARS also gives us a last taste before her debut record drops, though ‘Feel It’ is a different beast. As you’d expect from one of our most consistent producers, it’s a clever bop: cool enough to glide, heavy enough to bruise. If you’re not pre-saving and eyeing up Edinburgh or Glasgow tickets, we’re judging.
Not entirely sure what to make of Kiki Goldman in ‘How I Learned to Sing for Statler and Waldorf’ by Ike Goldman. At times it’s glorious, woozy 70s-Beach Boys rushes, melodies that nod to The Fiery Furnaces or Polyphonic Spree, but just as something lands, it skips to the next, like your dad cycling through Sky channels. If you’re big on musicals, it’ll likely hit harder; for the rest, it zips by, pleasing but never fully satisfying.
For those who peer into the night sky and wonders why it’s now filled with rich dads, you’re on Maaike Siegerist’s wavelength. The Dutch artist calls out the billionaires treating the final frontier as their playground and asks: aren’t there more important things to sort here on Earth? The space-themed EP is a delight, and this is a strong component of it.
‘All Night’ by the Glaswegian DJ duo District is a simple, pleasant dance number that wouldn’t be out of place on the radio at work. Not every track needs to be a banger, this is a set-blender, slowly shifting mood and tone. Perfect for people who don’t think they like dance music.
A song set to charm all ages and all pop-soul lovers: ‘How Can I Tell You? (To Love Me More)’. The brackets give the game away — it’s a soul cut made for the dancefloor. For anyone muttering “they don’t make them like they used to,” tell them Brooke Combe does.
If you’re a little bit country, Justine Beverley’s ‘Passenger Seat’ will suit you down to the tread. Banjo and fiddle feel homely; the pop production slots neatly alongside modern country’s wave. There’s challenge-overcoming and empowerment aplenty — you’ll be hollering this one.
We’ve long had high hopes for Saint Sappho, and ‘Cracks’, the first single from their forthcoming debut, hints at those hopes becoming reality. Moody, then funnelled into a skittish rhythm, it almost hits euphoria before stepping back from the edge. If this is the new sound, we want more.
Another group building to their debut album is Brontës. There’s been a slight line-up retool, but ‘Cognitive Dissonance’ keeps their cool charm. Nothing feels forced, yet here’s another chorus wrapping itself around you while guitar lines snake and tighten. The last minute will be sweet live, expect a clap-along and a nifty guitar solo as reward.
Not everyone’s marching straight to an album: Eleanor Hickey returns with ‘Pesky Rain’ ahead of a debut EP in November. A welcome re-entry to the Scottish folk scene, this one eases you in, slow but assured, with vocals that turn from fragile to fierce in a heartbeat. You’ll be moved.
From ‘Pesky Rain’ to Free Reign — yes, we said what we said — the title of Robyn Elliot’s upcoming EP. Lead track ‘Spinning Down’ is big: in style, ambition, and production, the backing matching the vocal power. We wouldn’t usually recommend something that blows your socks off this close to autumn, but if powerful indie-folk-pop is your thing, dive in.
And here we are, sneaking out the back door as quickly as we came in. Next month, mere weeks away, should see us back in print, in our familiar space. And on time. Promise.
