BEST AND WORST NEW TRACKS OF THE FORTNIGHT 02/05/2025: PinkPantheress, Turnstile, These New Puritans and more…

We're moving into May and things are heating up. So many artists have dropped new material in the last two weeks that it's been hard to keep up with it all. Artists featured this week include PinkPantheress, Turnstile, These New Puritans, Caroline, Kabin Crew, Indieclimb and Katseye.

THE BEST:

‘Stateside’ – PinkPantheress

Move aside, Charli - it’s time for ‘Fancy Summer’! Next Friday, British pop singer PinkPantheress will be dropping her new mixtape Fancy That and I’m convinced it’s going to be the record of the summer. These recent singles from PinkPantheress have been bangers. While ‘Tonight’ was an uncharacteristically horny sex anthem, this new single ‘Stateside’ is a transatlantic love song that sees her interpolating Estelle. There’s a section in the verse that also sounds like a Sugababes track. But despite all its references to other pop songs, she still manages to make it sound so fresh and new.

‘Seein’ Stars/Birds’ – Turnstile

Baltimore rock band Turnstile have just hit us with a double whammy. Two new singles! And they’re both very different. ‘Seeing Stars’ is a hypnotic dreamy track that makes me feel like I’m flying on a giant bird through the air. ‘Birds’ meanwhile is loud and thrashy hardcore track that punches you in the face so hard you’ll feel like you’re seeing stars afterwards. In other words, the track titles feel like they’re the wrong way around! Regardless, these tracks both slap and I’m proper psyched for their new album Never Enough.    

‘A Season In Hell’ – These New Puritans

This is my first time listening to a track from English experimental band These New Puritans. ‘A Season In Hell’ is pretty thrilling stuff. Is all their stuff like this? I’m loving that juxtaposition of aggressive electronic percussion and church organs. And I wasn’t expecting to hear some ethereal wailing from Caroline Polacheck at the end. Speaking of Caroline Polachek…

‘Tell Me I Never Knew That’ – Caroline ft. Caroline Polachek

British rock band Caroline have teamed up with American singer Caroline Polachek. Two Carolines on one song! It opens with some tender guitars and very pretty vocal harmonies and then brings in some tumultuous drums and violins. The most interesting part comes towards the end when the instrumentation simmers down and the repeated line ‘it always has been’ creatively morphs into ‘it always happens’ and then ‘it always will be’.

‘Kabin Party & Belter’ – Kabin Crew

Kabin Crew is an Irish rap group made up of kids who have been going viral and even winning awards. I’ve been sent a few rap songs by kids over the years, but nothing like this. ‘Kabin Party & Belter’ is two-singles-in-one and they are both absolute bangers. These kids can rap! And the songs are crazily catchy too – I’ve had ‘It’s a belter! It’s a belter!’ stuck in my head all week.

‘LEGACY’ – Indieclimb

This electronic instrumental is the work of Oslo producer Indieclimb and comes off of his upcoming debut album FEMME. It’s an interesting mixture of shrill and soothing synth sounds. It opens with what sounds like a warning siren, which is then juxtaposed by some warm chords. It then transitions into a slow-building house track. Despite the harsh distorted lead synth, there’s an upbeat feel to the track. It keeps you hooked for its full 7 minutes.

THE WORST:

‘Gnarly’ – Katseye

It’s hard to put into words just how bad these lyrics are. In fact, I think these might be the worst lyrics I’ve heard all decade. The bombastic beat is kinda fun though.