This week’s indie folk lives in the quiet stuff: the things we mean to say and don’t, the people we mean to call and don’t, the slow work of making peace with all of it. Hushed, unhurried and honest, it rewards the close listen.
23 Fields – I’ll See You Soon
23 Fields turn guilt into something gorgeous on “I’ll See You Soon”, a folk-rock stunner that genuinely soars into your heart
23 Fields arrive with a beautiful new single ‘I’ll See You Soon’. It moves carefully, with a lovely folk fingerpicking widening into warm Americana as the band fills in behind the vocal. The vocal stylings are the standout here, and they draw you in to this in style. By the final chorus the arrangement has opened up just enough, the kind you kinda stand in and appreciate before walking in. It’s a folk-rock beaut, kinda familiar and very unhurried, and we love it.
23 Fields is the project of an English songwriter working out of Battle, drawing folk, rock and Americana into one frame. This one comes from the specific guilt of not visiting elderly parents as often as you mean to, a feeling he has said is rooted in his own life rather than invented for a song. That willingness to name the thing most people leave unspoken is what gives the writing its weight. A great single, more of this please 23 Fields.
Dalinda – The Nile
“The Nile” is a stunning piece of cinematic indie-pop from Dalinda, all dreamy vocals and live instrumentation built for your next small hours listening session
This is a song that drifts wonderfully rather than drives. Live instrumentation and a warm world-music haze hold up a vocal that sits somewhere between lullaby and lament. I love it, and it shuffles along in style, with the production keeps everything spacious. And the melody really does breathe across an arrangement that feels closer to a slow tide than a verse-chorus structure. It is unhurried, atmospheric and a little leftfield, the kind of track I’m always happy to find in our magical musical postbag.
Dalinda was born to Bosnian parents, raised in Libya and is now based in the UK, and that crossing of borders runs through everything she makes. Her debut album Turquoise was produced by the late Hossam Ramzy, who also worked with Shakira and Peter Gabriel, and her Arabic collaboration “Leish” held the region’s top ten for seventeen weeks. “The Nile” feels a little more intimate: it was written about her mother, whose portrait is the cover art, and who was reportedly moved to tears hearing it despite not speaking English. I’m not surprised, as it’s a fantastic piece and we can’t wait for more.
George Adequate – Shipwrecked
“Shipwrecked” is a quietly brilliant bit of homespun folk from George Adequate, the sound of an honest, warm performance that just tells the truth
George Adequate’s new single has an absolutely lovely lack of polish, in the best possible way. A violin line threads through the song’s only real flourish, while the rest sits close and unfussy, voice and guitar carrying the load. It’s great to hear something that never reaches for an arena moment, and that honesty is exactly what makes it land. It feels recorded in a room rather than a studio, the kind of track where you can hear the songwriter deciding what matters and quietly cutting everything that doesn’t. But presentation is one thing; ‘Shipwrecked’ really works because the song at the heart here is so, so lovely.
George Adequate is a 43-year-old musician from Kildare in Ireland who has spent years in the industry and arrived at a refreshingly honest pitch: existentially tired, after the music rather than the nonsense, looking for a few appreciative ears. Honestly, I know the feeling mate. “Shipwrecked” comes from his album Reasonable Things, which he wrote, played and recorded himself for the most part, calling in a friend for that violin part. It’s a brilliant single, and I’m very curious to hear what’s next for this lad.
Stevie Lee Woods & The NRL Band – Welcome to the Southland
“Welcome to the Southland” is a superb slice of country rock from Stevie Lee Woods & The NRL Band, built to be shouted by crowds in arenas
Stevie Lee Woods’ new single is a summer anthem in the truest sense, all big-hearted country rock swing and a chorus that practically demands a crowd. It moves with an easy, sun-warmed confidence, the kind of song that knows its job is to get a whole room singing the same line back. There is real polish under the swagger too, a current, radio-ready sheen that keeps it from feeling like a throwback. By the last chorus it has the lift of a track written specifically for the moment a live audience takes it over. I was definitely singing along.
Stevie Lee Woods & The NRL Band recorded this at Mansion Studios in Branson, with production from Chris Omartian, Chris Armstrong and Stuart Epps, the last of whom has worked with Elton John. Woods has spoken about how much he loves playing it live, watching the energy build as audiences sing along to every word. It sits alongside their gospel-leaning single “Where I Find God”, and that mix of patriotic spirit, family tradition and full-band muscle is the band’s whole identity in one place. A brilliant single.
Mark Moule – Eyes of Izzy
“Eyes of Izzy” is a gorgeous, slow-burning singer-songwriter piece from Mark Moule, the rare first-take recording that keeps every bit of its magic.
Mark Moule’s new single has a wonderful stillness to this one that you can’t fake. Built around voice, a guitar, and a lovely four to floor kick, it carries a real sense of displacement and longing, the sound of someone working through a hard stretch and leaving the seams visible. The performance lands with the quiet weight of a song caught in a single pass, no second-guessing, no over-production. It feels kind of lived-in rather than overthought, which is exactly why we love it.
Mark moule is a singer-songwriter from Busselton, Australia, drawing on Cat Stevens and Phil Collins. “Eyes of Izzy” began a decade ago as a university project with Paul Curtis, telling the story of Izzy Orlof, the man who first brought the camera to Western Australia, woven together with Moule’s own emotional landscape. It was recorded in Curtis’s Fremantle home studio in a single take and earned Curtis an A for his coursework, then sat for ten years before finally getting its release. We’re very glad its eventually seen the light of day, because it’s very much brightened our weekend. An essential listen this week.