Elly Hopkins

Critically acclaimed vocalist Elly Hopkins makes her debut original release with ‘Cecile’: a song about jealousy. For fans of CMAT, Margaret Glaspy and Julia Jacklin, this track is a guitar-led retro classic: gutsy, soulful garage-rock-doo-wop.

It’s the lesser expressed feelings of shame and envy that drive this track – through clever, tightly-crafted lyrics and a rootsy, vintage pop sound, ‘Cecile’ tussles with the dejection of being eclipsed by a big star. At a time when social media amplifies feelings of isolation and inadequacy, and constant comparison erodes our inner calm, this song conjures a relatable experience – when we’re not the one in the spotlight, but close enough to feel its heat.

With 61% of millennials reporting that social media harms their well-being, and over half feeling anxious from constant comparison (ElectroIQ), ‘Cecile’ is timely. Elly Hopkins channels the quiet turmoil of being eclipsed—on stage or online—into a soulful, guitar-driven track that’s as raw as it is relatable. It’s a reminder that jealousy and shame, though rarely spoken, are part of being human.

She explains, “I had this experience on stage at a gig where I was made to feel so small in the shadow of this megastar – it really knocked me, and silenced me. It made me appreciate how important it is to lift each other up – especially as women in music.”

SHAGGO

SHAGGO is a queer femme punk band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band was born out of a shared admiration for the 60s band The Shaggs. SHAGGO writes silly songs but SHAGGO is no joke.

Chores is SHAGGO’s debut album, out now via Atlanta Zone Records. It’s a raw, high-energy punk record, with hints of shoegaze. It’s about chores in a literal sense, and also how maintaining friendships and relationships can feel like a chore. Chores is a coming-of-age album; it’s about menial tasks, and finding meaning in the mundane.

“’City MD’ is one of the first songs we wrote together as a band,” say SHAGGO about one of the stad out tracks. “It’s a bit of a departure from our normal punk sound, and we like how it feels different/a bit more dramatic and closer to shoegaze- I think that’s why we usually like to close our sets with it. It’s about something pretty mundane, like a lot of our songs are – getting something stuck in your eye, having to go to City MD (the local urgent care in NYC). But we wanted to dig a bit deeper into this moment and expand on it – we realized this story was more about a sour relationship, being with someone who tells you everything is ok when it’s pretty clear it’s not.”

Lipstick Teef

Liverpool bred and now London based alternative rock band LIPSTICK TEEF are on a mission to deliver surf inspired grunge from across the cosmos, straight to your eardrums. Formed in 2021 as the teenage brainchild of vocalist Lucy Pengelly and guitarist Jennifer Hall, Lipstick Teef quickly became a part of Liverpool’s DIY scene, before gaining ground in London and Manchester. And though playing for sold-out crowds in venues including the o2 Academy and Arts Club Liverpool doesn’t come without obstacles, the inevitable misogyny faced as an all female band has allowed Lipstick Teef’s belligerent, fuzz fueled songwriting style to flourish and mature. As the four piece developed their sound, they became increasingly inspired by bands of the ‘psych/punk’ realm which is evident in their debut single ‘Sink Or Swim.’

The band has this to say on the song: “Nostalgia is often looked on fondly and warmly, ‘Sink or Swim’ is about the opposite of that. It’s about accepting that nostalgia can make the past look much better than how it really happened, and that not idealising the past can make you feel much more free in the present.”

Emerald Ground Water

Emerald Ground Water is the musical project of songwriter Katy Hellman and is based in Burlington, Vermont. This project is a contemporary exploration of ancestry, mythology and storytelling as at tools for making meaning in our lives. The songs weave worlds together, connecting ancestral celtic sounds with elements of psychedelic rock, freak folk and prog rock. The music serves as a portal to awaken the mythic imagination and stir a sense of remembering, encouraging listeners to return to the wellspring of inspiration and connection deep within.

She has just released her new album The World Below. “This album is inspired by the richness of inner world journeys, the potency of ancestral sounds and the archetypal wisdom of fairytales and myths that help us remember how to be human,” she explains. “The songs on the album explore many different underworld and otherworld journeys. The title track, ‘The World Below’, explores the experience of hearing the call and of being beckoned to delve into the depths of the underworld. It moves through the fear and disorientation that are a part of that descent, as all that we depend upon in the upper world no longer provides support. And it shares of the deep, deep care that can be found there and that can support us in feeling held in our wholeness, depth and power.”

Carly Shea

Carly Shea is a bicoastal musician with NYC roots creating songs in the realm of alternative R&B and pop. 

She accomplished Grammy eligibility with her last release ‘Feel Like This,’ which made it onto last year’s official ballot for the “Best Pop Solo Performance” category. She also landed a first major sync for the upcoming second season of hit Amazon series Cross for an upcoming single.

This year she was invited as an artist partner with United Masters and plans to release ‘Take It Personal’ alongside several upcoming tracks.

‘Take It Personal’ is an alternative R&B/pop track that invites listeners to fondly reminisce on past love. It was produced by UK-based artist Jedidiah Allcock.