BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE FORTNIGHT 04/04/2025: Little Simz, Black Country New Road, Bedridden and more…

It’s actually been three weeks since my last roundup. In that time, a lot of new music has dropped! I could have added a few tracks to this, but I’ve tried to keep it succinct. Artists featured include Little Simz, Black Country, New Road, Bedridden, Sleigh Bells, Oswald Slain, Grete, Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek and Ye.

THE BEST:

‘Free’ – Little Simz

UK rapper Little Simz is no longer working with long-term producer Inflo. Apparently, heowes her $1.7 million. Yikes! She’s invited a new producer Miles Clinton James to produce her newest single ‘Free’ and her upcoming album Lotus. Sorry Inflo, but this might just be the best beat Simz rapped over. It’s so soulful and smooth and it makes the perfect backdrop for Simz poetic bars – in which she explores the multiple meanings of the words ‘love’, ‘fear’ and ‘free’.

‘For The Cold Country’ – Black Country, New Road

It’s hard to believe this is the same band that made ‘Sunglasses’. Gone are the dissonant noisy riffs and shouty unhinged vocals. This sounds more like medieval tavern music. That’s the vibe I get from the baroque pop instrumentation and Georgia Ellery’s choir-like vocals. Even if the lyrics sound like they were written by a bard in the 1200s: ‘into the fight, the metal clad night/ he roars then brawls/ then crawls into a hole where he toiled and recoiled’. And yet it’s all very pretty and seems to be full of exciting instrumental twists and turns. The band’s new album Forever Howlong is out today and I’m pretty excited to listen to it – even if BCNR sound nothing like the band I initially got into.  

‘Philadelphia, Get Me Through’ - Bedridden

Bedridden are my favourite rock act discovery of 2025 so far. Their fuzzy chaotic riffs are so fun and the vocals are just the right level of buried – they sound like they’re fighting to break through the guitars, while still being coherent enough to make out the lyrics (I say that, but I still have no idea what this song is about). This might be the heaviest song they’ve dropped off their upcoming album Moths Strapped To Each Other's Backs. Check out their other singles ‘Etch’ and ‘Chainsaw’.

‘This Summer’ – Sleigh Bells

I love the irony of band called Sleigh Bells writing a summer anthem. And it’s the summer anthem to end all summer anthems (literally): ‘this summer might be our last’. An apocalyptic summer anthem. Like their previous single ‘Bunky Pop’, the instrumentation is euphoric mix of metal guitars and plinky-plonky electronica. It’s weirdly enjoyable.

‘Ugly’ – Oswald Slain

This single from Bristol rock band Oswald Slain slaps. The stomping drum beat, punchy guitars and catchy ‘U.G.L.Y’ chorus all make this feel like some forgotten 00s hit. It comes off their upcoming EP Kiss Me On The Mouth. I’ve just this moment realised that they’ve since dropped another single titled ‘Sean Paul’, which has a Portugal The Man vibe.

‘Different’ – Grete

Lithuania-born UK-based singer-songwriter Grete has delivered this single titled ‘different’ – and is certainly does feel different to a lot of the pop I get in my inbox. The uneasy melodies draw you in during the verse and then it explodes into the chorus. The way the song builds up to a crescendo and sharply cuts out at 2:57 is also thrillingly dramatic. I can see the theatrical influence here.

‘Ceylan’ – Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek

German/Turkish band Derya Yildirim & Grup Simsek made it into my 20 favourite songs of 2024 with their single ‘Cool Hand’ – a quirky mixture of funky soul and Anatolian folk. ‘Ceylan’ has more of a 70s psychedelic rock edge with a offbeat reggae groove. It’s like Pink Floyd meets Desmond Dekker & The Aces meets… well, I don’t know any Anatolian folk artists. The point is, it’s very unique! It comes of the duo’s new album Yarin Yoksa.

THE WORST:

‘Lonely Roads Still Go To Sunshine’ – Ye ft. Sean Diddy Combs and North West

Ye’s shock tactics are getting tiresome. This song literally features a recording of a phone call to P Diddy, in which Ye declares his love to the accused sex trafficker. Ye then has the gall to allow his 11 year old daughter North West to sing on the track. Her singing is actually quite pretty, but it’s impossible to look past the distastefulness of letting her sing on a song that praises an alleged child abuser. I haven’t and won’t be listening to his new album Bully.