This week’s round up features new tracks from Little Simz and Ekkstacy.

Single of the Week – Celeste: Everyday

No, not one half of Daphne and Celeste gone solo (For those of you old enough to remmeber the infamous Reading Main Stage bottling of 2000!). This Celeste is fast turning into an artist to follow closely. In November she released the attention grabbing and atmospheric ‘This Is Who I Am’ that is on the titles of the Sky TV version of The Day of the Jackal. ‘Everyday’ was actually put out on vinyl for Record Store Day last year and has finally been released for streaming. It only took a couple of seconds to clock it is built around a sample of the wonderful ‘Dirge’ by Death in Vegas, but benefits from some beefed up drum sections and a much better vocal performance. We can but hope for an album and a tour later on in the year.

Little Simz: Hello, Hi

Short and sweet new single snuck out on Monday. Following a few collabs with other artists this is her first new solo music since ‘Drop 7.’ As you would expect this is a tidy package of neat beats and laid-back flow. Lyrically it finds Simz reflecting on her recent career trajectory and position as a rising black artist.

Etacas: Blow Me Away

Excellent Indietronica duo who have been releasing a steady stream of great singles for the last year or so. They deserve to connect to a wider audience in 2025. This is another belter of a tune that should appeal to fans of MGMT and Empire of the Sun.

Ekkstacy: She Will Be Missed

Lively new track from EKKstacy, the Canadian indie artist who is turning into something of a workaholic with a steady stream of releases in recent years. Typically short, but worthy of your attention for the 2 minutes and 33 seconds of run time.

Morgan Wallen: Smile

Still fairly unknown in the UK, despite being able to sell out the 02, Morgan Wallen has become a behemoth in the US since his 2014 appearance on the US version of The Voice with his easy-going country stylings and big name collaborations with the likes of Post Malone. This is a mellow and soulful tune that will likely do well with the current trend for country adjacent pop like ‘Tipsy’ and ‘Austin (Boots Stop Working)’.

Panchiko and Billy Woods: Shandy in the Graveyard

Panchiko’s whole story is so bizarre as to be barely believable. A band gets together at school in Nottingham and after a few years together presses about 30 copies of a demo album that generates no interest from the labels they are sent to. Having disbanded, one of the demo CDs ends up in a branch of Oxfam in 2016 where a 4Chan user buys it and posts it online, asking for help in finding out more about the band who didn’t even list their surnames on the CD. A further sharing on YouTube generated even more interest. In 2020 one of the band members was finally tracked down, he got in touch with the rest of the former band who were also equally unaware of the interest in them. Getting back together they are now generating millions of streams and have produced a raft of new music. This track gives off laid back summer vibes until US rapper Billy Woods wakes it up and gives it a slight hint of menace with some quality old school hip-hop. It is a winning combo.

Makeshift Art Bar: Sonic Shelf

Atmospheric indie guitar music with a committed vocal performance.