Beginning with little more than acoustic guitar and Riley’s understated vocal, ‘Year One’ is a beautifully patient slow burn. Gentle percussion gradually enters before the arrangement expands further, with delicate strings bringing a subtle sense of hope to an otherwise reflective folk-pop track. Eventually everything falls away again, leaving Riley’s voice exposed just as it was at the beginning. Knowing she wrote the song while experiencing problems with her vocal cords makes those moments particularly poignant; you’d certainly never guess it from her quietly assured performance.

Riley’s accompanying video brings another side of her artistry into focus, moving between glimpses of everyday life and charming stop-motion animation before the latter takes over. There’s a subtle storybook quality to the whole package, fitting for an artist whose music feels intensely personal while increasingly blurring the boundaries between songwriting, film and visual art.

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Beautiful fingerpicked guitar immediately draws you in, but it’s the chord changes that really make ‘Better At This’ soar. Jonie’s delicate indie-folk vocal carries shades of Adrianne Lenker and Julia Jacklin, surrounded by an intimate arrangement that remains wonderfully spacious despite its subtle layers. Close harmonies add further warmth, allowing the song to feel comforting even as Jonie explores one of life’s darker seasons.

Recorded in the California desert, ‘Better At This’ somehow sounds like its surroundings. It conjures wide, dusty expanses at dusk on a perfectly still evening, when everything has gone quiet and there’s nothing demanding your attention. A quietly breathtaking introduction to Jonie’s solo work, and easily one of the year’s standout debuts.

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Beautiful acoustic guitar and Shaina’s gentle folk vocal initially keep things wonderfully stripped back, with soft percussion, additional instrumentation and backing harmonies gradually filling the space. The arrangement remains restrained throughout, but subtle minor chord changes introduce something more ominous underneath its warmth. Towards the end, rolling drums begin to resemble distant thunder – the threatened storm never fully arrives, but you can feel it somewhere on the horizon.

The lyric visualiser plays beautifully with that contrast, following Shaina as she leisurely pilots a speedboat appropriately named Tempest across a lake, stopping to read, play solitaire and wander along the shore. Bathed in washed-out summer sunshine, everything appears idyllic and relaxed. Much like the song, though, there’s just enough darkness beneath the surface to suggest the weather could change.

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Her vocal is undoubtedly the star. ‘The News’ begins delicately, pairing acoustic guitar with May’s beautifully controlled delivery before gradually opening into a full indie-band arrangement. Her voice grows increasingly powerful and raw alongside it, with the occasional crack exposing the vulnerability beneath. Folk instrumentation – including a lovely harmonica break – meets a distinctly emo sense of melody and catharsis, making those unlikely Big Thief and My Chemical Romance reference points suddenly make perfect sense.

There may be no accompanying visual, but ‘The News’ conjures one of its own: open countryside beneath dark, brooding skies, beautiful but heavy with the threat of rain. Equal parts delicate and devastating, it’s a song that understands sometimes the only way to deal with terrible news is to pour everything into it.

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Houdei’s ethereal, mesmerising vocal takes centre stage within an earthy blend of cinematic folk, with Haley Heynderickx contributing banjo, harmonies and handclaps alongside flourishes of cello and flute. Shades of Weyes Blood, Vashti Bunyan and Judee Sill emerge, but there’s something subtly unsettling beneath its pastoral beauty. Strings occasionally take on an eerie, horror-score-like vibrato, allowing darkness to creep into an otherwise organic soundscape.

That darkness takes physical form in the accompanying video. Candlelit rooms and striking shafts of light initially create something resembling gothic folk horror before Houdei transforms into a possessed, Exorcist-like version of herself. A newer incarnation then appears to fight off this demonic former self through wonderfully jerky choreography, bringing the song’s theme of breaking free from the person you’ve become within a damaging relationship vividly to life. Created entirely with practical effects, it’s creepy, beautiful and far more meaningful than its horror imagery initially suggests.

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With nothing more than piano and voice, ‘Falling Asleep’ is wonderfully restrained. Gentle, intimate vocals float over the song’s delicate piano arrangement, creating a sense of calm that never feels rushed or forced. Subtle background harmonies and soft vocal flourishes add warmth without disturbing the track’s peaceful atmosphere. Rather than building towards a dramatic climax, the song remains quietly contemplative throughout, inviting listeners to sit with the moment and simply breathe.

Inspired by the beauty found in everyday life, ‘Falling Asleep’ captures the feeling of sunlight streaming through a window on a lazy afternoon, illuminating dust particles suspended in the air. It’s a reminder to slow down, pay attention, and find meaning in the smallest of details.

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Arriving as a gentle dose of tranquillity, delicately woven ‘White Linen’ is a touching ode to family. Effortless vocals expand and explore both chosen family and the one we’re born into. Queerness, acceptance and the complexities of love and intergenerational trauma come together in an exquisitely simple yet richly textured folk-song. Austel’s inclusion of field recordings from her parents’ garden in Devon adds a personal and grounding touch to this blissful offering.

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Anchored by soft acoustic guitar and vocals that carry the comfort of a familiar embrace, ‘Better Half of Me’ is a balm for aching hearts. Tender yet grounded, and simple yet layered with emotional depth, every note in ‘Better Half of Me’ carries a quiet weight, unfolding with clarity and an effortless grace.

The song reflects on the quiet ending of a relationship, holding space for both the sadness of letting go and the quiet courage it takes to move forward. Rather than mourn what’s lost, ‘Better Half of Me’ gently honours the passing of a season, embracing the idea that love, even in its absence, can continue to shape and nourish us. While creating this song, Isabel Rumble came to a realisation:

“In the process of writing ‘Better Half of Me’, I realised that real love doesn’t disappear, in fact, its roots can remain entwined beneath our feet and continue to nourish through cycles to come.”

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Though I Miss You, I Do is reminiscent of the many changing seasons of the US rather than the long winters of her native Iceland, Arny has always recalled those times, often including reference to colder climates in her lyrics, and sonically representing her glacial and isolated hometown. So, as is only fitting for Arny Margret, we’re presented with new single ‘Happy New Year’, recorded in Gregory Alan Isakov’s studio in Colorado, which was of particular personal importance to Arny;

“I actually met him a tiny bit when we came in, which was cool. He’s probably my biggest musical inspiration, so it was really amazing to be in his studio doing stuff. This one is about Christmas and New Year. New Year’s Eve has never been the best time of year for me, I’ve always felt like it’s a sad and dark time… there’s probably a lot of people out there that can connect to that”.

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Ahead of the release of meka’s debut album scheduled for release in 2025 via Dumont Dumont, she shares first teaser ‘Temperance.’ Its nostalgic sun-kissed California sound blooming with bass, piano and exquisite strings, with a yearning in meka’s sublime vocals giving the song its curious melancholy hue.

meka writes about the deeply personal, tapping into processes of grief and existentialism, giving a beautiful sonic shape to the otherwise intangible. On the multi-layered ‘Temperance,’ meka explores loss and the haze of memories, and recalls an experience she had of travelling across California during a devastating fire.

She says, “The song is my attempt at explaining the haze of memory and desire to feel something other than numbness, after a loved one died suddenly. To cope, I clung to what made me feel alive: the most vivid memories of my former self which was in the process of a different kind of death. The first lines are the scene of my drive to my newly widowed friend, from north to south California during an historically devastating fire that turned the usual poppy-covered hills and orchards into ash.”

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