Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends – Sing-Along Songs (Album Version)
Swedish power pop with punk teeth and irresistible hooks, our favourite Flying Objects are back with their next certified banger
"Sing-Along Songs" arrives as a sharpened reimagining of a previously created 2024 original. It's now bristling with punkier energy and a new production approach. Wherever it's come from, it's where it is now that matters, and honestly this one's great. The track threads Britpop swagger through power pop sunshine, channeling Beatles-era melodies with a knowing smirk. There's a hint of Belle and Sebastian in here, and the chorus is wonderfully catchy. The lyrics cut darker than the bright instrumentation suggests, pairing ironic observations with music designed to make you move. A gem.
Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends is the solo project of a Stockholm-based musician who previously played guitar and sang in Swedish band Redmoon. Working with co-producer David Myhr, he crafts hook-heavy indie pop that draws from punk, power pop, and folk rock traditions. The banger train is very much a-rolling with these guys, and we're very much along for the ride.
Alone New Yorker – Room with no corners
Alone New Yorker crafts a stunning art pop debut with 'Room with no corners', a shimmering meditation on solitude that rewards every listen.
'Room with no corners' builds its world from piano, ambient electronics and a voice pitched high and fragile. Alone New Yorker threads through production that keeps every the corners worn, capturing the mood and your thoughts when you're alone. The space contracts and expands at once, physical boundaries dissolving into emotional weather. There is enough soft distortion here, melody arriving like light from another room and I love the line 'keep the daylight on airplane mode'. Evocative indie pop, delicate and vast.
Alone New Yorker is a New York bedroom project with a deliberately small footprint: one voice, careful production, songs that treat private spaces as cinematic backdrops. This debut was written in Brussels and recorded in a New York apartment, with selective AI-assisted tools stretching a limited budget without erasing the human irregularities that give the track its texture. The visual identity follows the same principle, minimal and widescreen, leaving negative space for the music to do its work. We are very glad to have caught this one right at the start.
Pocket Lint – Nyx?
Pocket Lint crafts a gorgeous slice of electronic pop with 'Nyx?', a synth-driven gem that showcases Mark Heffernan at his most irresistible.
Pocket Lint builds 'Nyx?' from pulsing synths and a melody that coils around itself. The track takes its name from the Greek goddess of night, and there is something lovely and dark about how this one moves. The standout for me is Mark Heffernan's vocals; warm and conversational against the electronic shimmer, and Martin Newell-esque in tone. The hook lands, strings soar and maybe you've found your new fave electronic pop act. It's great.
Pocket Lint is the solo project of London's Mark Heffernan, a one-man operation that has carved out space for itself through sheer restlessness. The origin story is better than most: after three weeks of attempting to carve amethyst cameos by hand on his balcony, Heffernan admitted defeat and returned to the studio instead. This single is the latest preview from his upcoming album Wunderkammer, and it sounds like the work of someone who knows exactly what he wants to make. We are very keen to hear what else that record holds. A gem.
thOrn – girls you knew
th0rn delivers a sharp alt-pop single with 'girls you knew', a wry, hook-driven gem from one of Chicago's most exciting new voices
You know that sinking feeling when you realise you have been here before? th0rn captures it perfectly on 'girls you knew', a track that plays like a toxic back and forth on the surface but cuts kinda deeper the more you listen. The production carefully walks a tightrope between indie pop warmth and alt-rock bite, and vocally it really, really shines. I love the clear-eyed recognition of a pattern you have not yet learned to break, and like how it never really resolves tidily. Excellent alt-pop, wry and very, very addictive.
th0rn is a Chicago artist making music for lovers, by her own account still learning how. This single leads into her upcoming EP bent, due September 18, and it signals an artist with a sharp pen and a gift for turning personal messiness into something universally felt. We are keeping a close eye on this one and cannot wait to hear what the full EP brings. A banger.
Alex Tranter – Living In A Dream
Alex Tranter delivers a stunning neo-soul funk debut, a bass-driven groover that earns its place among the freshest singles we've heard this summer
That bassline hits first. Alex Tranter builds 'Living In A Dream' from the low end up, letting a propulsive groove anchor layers of shimmering keys and disco-inflected rhythm. The track moves along with the right kind of purpose, not rushing along but shuffling along in style. Vocals sit lovely and snug in the mix, soul-inflected and easy. And the synth solo? Loads of fun. This is superb neo-soul funk, polished and irresistibly warm.
Alex Tranter is an independent composer and producer based in Gloucester, England. He picked up the bass guitar during the 2020 lockdown and built a home studio to start shaping his ideas, teaching himself production through Logic Pro while studying music formally. He graduated from Goldsmiths and is currently pursuing a Masters at Bath Spa University. This single leads his debut album 'Apocalyptic Harmony', with more projects already in the works. This one's fantastic, and we are excited to hear where he takes this sound next.