Indie pop with edges this week. Trip-hop hedonism from Teesside, queer LA dancefloor liberation, London bedroom-pop protest, indie-industrial home-recorded synth, and a 2003 Windsor jangly throwback that still streams better than most new releases. Five takes, none alike.
MOSS – opener
opener hits the sweet spot MOSS have been building towards: trip-hop bones, guitars that won’t say sorry, and a room that definitely won’t stay still
opener began as MOSS blowing off steam during an early writing session, but when they took it live the Teesside crowd loved it so much the band had to put it out. The track is hypnotic and crunchy in equal measure, layering trip-hop drums under guitars that are crunchy as fuck. Feels like a song built for the back end of a long night, the kind of track that gets a room moving without ever quite letting go of the punk ethic underneath.
MOSS burst onto the ever-expanding Teesside music scene in 2023 and have spent the last couple of years cementing a reputation for hypnotic live shows. Their sound is a nostalgic strain of trip-hop bent through extra-crunchy guitars and the punk ethic embedded in the North East. The vocal delivery of Northern songsmith Oui Bee is something to behold, dragging the songs into territory that feels both familiar and wonderfully haunted in all the best ways. opener is what they sound like at their most loose, and we bloody well love it.
Strange Trigger – Over
Over earns its industrial edges: Strange Trigger finds the space where synth-pop and post-punk overlap and makes it feel wonderfully inevitable
Over was recorded at home using a meticulous mix of old and new synths. The process moved between piano, MIDI-controlled synths, and a drum machine, with Strange Trigger’s attention to detail audible across every layer. The track sits in that hard-to-define space between indie pop, synth pop and industrial, that’s kinda reminiscent of Black Marble at their best. The textures feel handmade and the atmosphere stays just slightly tape-y and haunted. This definitely rewards a careful listen, where each play surfaces a synth line you didn’t quite catch the first time.
Strange Trigger is an indie-industrial-pop band creating music with hardware synthesizers and voice synthesizers, building songs as much through gear choice as through writing. Their commitment to authentic music creation, in their words, shows in how their tracks balance experimentation with emotional weight, never letting the technology become the point. Over is a clear example of that, a release that really delivers in all the right ways. Essential stuff, check it out below.
Rock Berg – Let Go!
“Let Go! does what the best 80s-influenced pop rarely manages: Rock Berg pairs a genuinely catchy hook with something worth actually saying.”
Let Go! is a bass-heavy indie dance track built on pulsing synths and a steady, driving kick, with a subtle 80s edge and the kind of late-night, locked-in energy that doesn’t ask for permission. The song is about letting go of outside pressure and expectations and choosing yourself over the version anyone else wants, a call to follow your dreams instead of trying to fit. It sits comfortably between Roosevelt’s electronic instincts, St. Vincent’s art-driven tone, and an Eurythmics synth backbone. Having loved Rock Berg’s last single, it’s a lovely progression and if I’m honest, I can’t wait for more.
Rock Berg is a queer, Los Angeles-born indie pop artist and producer making upbeat, whimsical songs about love, growth, and having big emotions. I get excited about artists who are full stack; writing, producing everything themselves cos they can craft their world and move quick. Overall, it’s loads of fun, emotionally honest, playful but intentional and a smidge of humour and heart that never takes itself too seriously. I’m very excited about where Rock Berg goes next.
Don’t Look Now – Second Time Around
Second Time Around is the kind of song that shouldn’t still work 20 years later, and yet Don’t Look Now have made it their most streamed track for a reason
Second Time Around was released in January 2003 as the lead single from Don’t Look Now’s debut album, a feelgood track built around an uplifting saxophone intro and solo. The song’s holiday-romance lyrics were inspired by lead singer Martin Montague’s own Ibiza experience, recorded at the Dream of Ozwald Studios in Maidenhead with Gini Hogarth on keyboards and Damian de la Hunty on backing vocals. More than two decades later, it remains the band’s most streamed track, a testament to a song that genuinely bops along in the loveliest of ways.
Don’t Look Now are a Windsor, UK band who’ve mastered the art of intelligent, story-driven songwriting with an irresistible sense of fun. They draw from the witty observations of The Beautiful South, the jangly irreverence of The Smiths, and the cheeky charm of The Kinks and Madness, blending rock, pop, soul, funk, reggae and jazz-leaning saxophone work into something distinctive. Subjects range from stamp collecting to bank robbery to used cars. Three albums in, they’re still writing songs nobody else would, and we bloody well love them.