From a Taiwanese-American songwriter’s acoustic forgiveness EP to a Saudi Arabian piano waltz, from Bradford folk-rock politics to Connecticut Southern rock about a pawn shop guitar, indie folk goes everywhere this week.
KENTON – Never Born
KENTON’s Never Born is the beautiful acoustic version of his Taiwanese-American forgiveness EP, six songs stripped down to the moments that hurt and matter most.
Never Born is a single from Sweetmouth (Sugar Free), the acoustic counterpart to KENTON’s 2025 EP Sweetmouth, featuring stripped-back versions alongside a reworked Bridesmen track. The project was inspired by his 2022 Thanksgiving visit to Taiwan to see his parents for the first time in nearly six years, and he describes it as “processing the shame, guilt, grief and anger” he’d carried while learning the art of forgiveness. On “Never Born”, that emotional weight becomes especially raw, posing the haunting question of existence and belonging. Acoustic doesn’t soften that, it just lets you hear every word.
The son of Taiwanese immigrants, KENTON grew up in Irvine, California, before settling in LA, navigating his queer identity and his traditional upbringing through music. The Sweetmouth title is his childhood nickname, given by his mother for the sweet words he used to placate her. He’s collaborated with Postmodern Jukebox and Scary Pockets, supported Benson Boone, Billie Eilish, Kesha and Demi Lovato, and toured with Katy Perry as part of her Las Vegas residency. It’s genuinely beautiful, check it out below.
Nick Cody And The Heartache – We Are The Many
Nick Cody And The Heartache turn raw political reality into stunning folk rock with cello, ahead of their next album Sweet Songs & Bitter Taste.
We Are The Many is the lead single ahead of Nick Cody And The Heartache’s new album Sweet Songs & Bitter Taste, due next month. The track is compelling, layering a lovely folk-rock guitar foundation under a heavy, urgent reflection on what’s happening in the world right now. It’s not subtle. It doesn’t try to be. The cello does the emotional heavy lifting while Cody points at the things he can’t unsee, and somehow it lands as both protest and confession.
Nick Cody And The Heartache are based in Bradford, UK, building a body of folk rock work with collaborators including Liz Hanks on cello and Agi on vocals. They’ve been steadily releasing through the last few years, and Sweet Songs & Bitter Taste, out next month, looks set to be their most fully realised album yet. Cody writes from a place of clear feeling, less interested in cleverness than in saying what he means while the band gives it weight. It’s important music for our times.
Adam Wedd – here we go AGAIN
Adam Wedd wrote here we go AGAIN in his parents’ downstairs bathroom, then turned it into a stunner of a debut album opener about not letting people diminish you.
here we go AGAIN is the first single from Adam Wedd’s forthcoming album, written on guitar in the downstairs bathroom of his parents’ house and refined through Tipler’s mixing expertise. The track captures a spring-like energy that feels both timely and timeless, born from Wedd’s frustration with people who diminish others’ joy and potential. Channelling that into something life-affirming rather than bitter is the song’s real trick. Influences from Weezer, Frank Turner and Blink 182 sit just under the surface, but Wedd’s definitely in his own lane here.
Adam Wedd is a London-based multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, piano, sings, and produces. Drawing inspiration from Weezer, Frank Turner and Blink 182, he’s built a name with captivating performances and a refreshingly honest pop-rock sensibility. The full album drops on 24 September, with a launch show at Stratford’s legendary Cart & Horses, the venue that launched Iron Maiden. Expect him to be armed with his famous suitcase full of vinyl, tapes and CDs, and we for one, are very excited to hear the long player.
Peningo Riders – Pawn Shop Guitar
Peningo Riders’ Pawn Shop Guitar is a six-minute Southern rock tribute to the American farmer, all real instruments, all weathered wood and all heart.
Pawn Shop Guitar is a six-minute Southern rock masterclass recorded live at Factory Underground Studios in Norwalk, CT. Written by Peningo Riders co-founders Eddie Pellon and Russ Davis with Nashville session musicians, the track is a gritty, soulful tribute to the resilience of the American farmer and the stories carved into weathered wood. There’s nothing AI here, nothing synthetic, nothing rushed. Just real instruments and real history, built for dirt roads and anyone who knows that an old guitar tells a better story than a new one.
Peningo Riders are Eddie Pellon and Russ Davis, originally Eddie’s guitar instructor, now his collaborator. Their music is rooted in Allmans, Marley, Skynyrd, Zeppelin, The Band and The Dead, with blues, zydeco, and an ’80s arena-rock streak. Their previous singles ‘Love Ain’t Everything’ and ‘Duck That Jeep’ pulled 25,000 streams in four months. Pawn Shop Guitar is their most ambitious recording yet, and the gateway to a wider Peningo Rider Nation that’s clearly building. We love it.
AK.T – Unseen Waltz
AK.T’s Unseen Waltz emerged from long Riyadh nights at the piano, where each note shaped time almost unnoticed, until a beautiful waltz surfaced of its own accord.
Unseen Waltz is a haunting, minimalist single from AK.T’s debut project Specters, shaped in the quiet hours where time seems to slow and stretch. Built around a delicate piano motif, the track emerged gradually through repetition rather than intention, with each note guiding the next until a waltz form revealed itself. There’s a sense of steadiness in this, but also something wonderfully alive beneath it, subtle movements, echoes of rhythm, a feeling that the space isn’t entirely empty. The sound world is a compelling one, and I’m a particular fan of the harp in this, and also it’s conciseness.
Created in solitude, the piece carries a strange sense of presence, as if it was never meant to be played alone. That idea sticks in the background, an unseen listener, a quiet companion shaping the mood without ever fully appearing . As part of Specters, the track reflects on memory and distance, holding onto emotional fragments and letting them drift into something softer, less defined. It’s a composition that feels very much discovered. Essential stuff.