This week’s indie rock rewards the curious. These are songs that sidestep the obvious, built on friction, texture and a restless streak of invention. Nothing here goes for the easy hook, and every one of them lingers longer because of it.
Fierce Friend – Put You Right
“Put You Right” is an wonderful slice of tense, caustic alt-indie rock from Fierce Friend, the sound of modern communication overload captured into a song
Fierce Friend’s lastest banger runs on friction. A driving guitar riff and sharp synth textures lock together under dry, caustic wit, and the whole track simmers with the tension of a disagreement curdling into something uglier. It captures the atmosphere of modern life rather than lecturing about it. Accusations, certainty hardening into delusion, communication breaking down in real time. Damn, we know the feeling. It’s restless, slightly overloaded and I love it; a song that captures the heated instant.
Fierce Friend is the solo project of Brighton DIY songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alan Grice, a fixture of the city’s indie and art-pop scene. His debut album Lies That Comfort You earned BBC 6 Music airplay and a “great sophistipop record” nod from Stuart Maconie. “Put You Right” is the second single from the harsher, faster Blood Red Hills & The Uncanny Valley, due 26 October. It’s a stunning track, and we’re very excited for the album. Keep an eye on this lad.
Sean MacLeod – I’ve Seen You Around
“I’ve Seen You Around” is a stunning, genuinely original track from Sean MacLeod, where an ancient lyre and pure Pythagorean tuning meet modern indie pop.
This is a lovely pop song that has a taste of the otherworldly. There’s not many songs we get in our magical musical postbag that blending the ancient tone of the lyre with modern computer production, and tuned the whole thing to the old Pythagorean system. The result has a serene quality that really standouts out, and definitely catches the ear. It’s not all experimentation, there’s a proper pop melody here – as you’d expect from Sean MacLeod – so it never tips into mere curiosity: it is genuinely lovely as well a bit strange.
Sean T MacLeod is an Irish songwriter and a founding member of the Dublin band Cisco, who recorded with U2’s one-time producer Paul Barrett and won critical acclaim at home before going solo. We’re lucky enough to have interviewed him, and have been following his work for a little while now. He cites the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Motown alongside folk, classical and avant-garde leanings, and tends to wrap philosophical, even spiritual lyrics in catchy structures. There’s an experimental sixth album on the way. And we cannot wait.
Highroad No. 28 – With (No) Clarity
“With (No) Clarity” is a stunning slab of atmospheric alt-rock from Highroad No. 28, a two-decade project returning darker and more powerful than ever.
Highroad No. 28’s new single is brooding, cinematic alt-rock done properly. Cinematic guitars and dark, rolling bass lines wrap around emotionally charged vocals, and the whole thing wrestles openly with uncertainty and that feeling of coming out the other side of a hard stretch. There’s real weight here, the sound of a band who’ve lived a bit and aren’t pretending otherwise. And the chord changes into the chorus? Fantastic. It builds and broods without ever tipping into melodrama, and honestly it’s the kind of song that sounds even bigger with the lights dimmed a little. A powerful, hard-won return.
Highroad No. 28 is an Australian project first formed way back in 1998, and their story is one of sheer endurance. After a run of EPs and albums through the 2000s, they went into a long hibernation from 2012 to 2024 before roaring back with the acclaimed album The Will to Endure. This single, recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne and mixed by James Taplin, comes as they prepare for their first live shows in well over a decade. Welcome back, lads, we’re glad you endured, cos this one’s great.
Upon Waking – Faded
“Faded” is a gorgeous piece of atmospheric dream-rock from Upon Waking, all shoegaze haze and beautiful melancholic melody built for headphones and rainy days.
Upon Waking’s “Faded” drifts in on a cloud of reverb and quiet melancholy. It sits in that lovely space between shoegaze, dream rock and indie electronic, guitars washing over a melody that kind of aches rather than reaching for a big shouty peak. There’s a restless, textured quality underneath the haze, the kind of new order-esque zinger that soundtracks a half-remembered dreams. I put this on with a coffee and lost a good ten minutes staring out the window, which is exactly what music like this is for. Beautifully done.
Upon Waking began in late 2024 in Brighton, where Matt turned restless ideas into songs that grew well beyond their origins. He started out in punk rock bands, where raw energy and DIY spirit shaped his early sound, before the project expanded from a solo experiment into a full band. That evolution shows: this is alternative pop that thrives on mood, texture and a genuine sense of discovery. A promising start, and we’ll be keeping an ear out for what comes next. Check it out here.
Tiebreak – You Can’t Bring That In Here, Our Drummer Has a Peanut Allergy
Tiebreak deliver a brilliant slice of melodic indie rock with the best song title we’ve had in the postbag all year, tape-warm and full of charm.
Tiebreak’s new single wins us over before a note even plays, with a title that long you can’t help but grin. Happily the song lives up to the cheek. Recorded to tape at Tilehouse Studios, it’s melodic indie rock with a proper analogue warmth, all jangle and bounce and unpolished heart. There’s a scrappy, unsigned honesty running through it that no amount of studio gloss could buy, and that’s exactly why it works. It’s the sound of a band having a laugh and meaning it. Vocally it has a touch of Clap your hands say yeah, which I love. A genuine indie charmer.
Tiebreak are an unsigned British band out of Northampton and Milton Keynes, cheerfully hunting for audiences and gig opportunities, which is exactly the kind of underdog we love to champion. This is the second single from their album 16-23, recorded at Tilehouse Studios on tape for that authentic sound and due 24 July. It’s early days for these lads, but there’s bags of personality here, so do them a favour and give it a spin. We reckon it’s well worth your time. A brilliant indie single this summer.