Xenya said, ‘Sexy Lemon’ is “a flirtatious ode to a blonde girl you admire from afar, and do nothing about. It makes me feel alive, empowered and ready to “carpe diem”.

“I was really enjoying playing with the half-time tempo on this one, working through different attitudes and tones, emotional and heartfelt with a bit of bite of course.”

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Recorded in Manchester and London with Alex Headford (Jadu Heart / Gretel), I Blow Out Big Candles is playful, fun, but not shying away from the darker sides of both sound and psyche. A debut that builds a whole world for it to live in, I Blow Out Big Candles dreams as big and unshackled as Freak Slug herself.

The album’s first punchy single, ‘Spells’, is out now, and epitomises Freak Slug’s fearless attitude. A strange prowl of a song that pairs a slinking bass line with a deliciously twitchy electronic motif, the daredevil song was inspired by Gorillaz and written “for the lovers and the I don’t knowers”. Xenya explains more about the song: “Spells is a track I made with Alex from Jadu Heart and it’s the first song we ever made together on the album. We worked fast together in a hyper environment where the sun was shining through the windows and I was stealing his cigarettes smoking in the garden in excitement from making the song.”

I Blow Out Big Candles:

1. Ya Ready
2. Spells
3. Get Away
4. Sexy Lemon
5. Gently
6. Be Your Girl
7. Witch
8. Hello
9. Piece Of Cake
10. Ugly Smile

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Manchester based talent Freak Slug has shared details of her new EP. The songwriter dips into 80s indie pop tropes, adding something surrealistic, hazy, and somnambulist. New EP Viva la Vulva – an excellent title – lands on May 3, and it finds Freak Slug moving into a fresh space. Informed by the roots of her adopted city Manchester – think The Smiths, Durutti Column – Freak Slug also adds something startling, and new. Lead single ’27 Club’ is online now, and it’s the perfect fusion of light and shade. She comments: “’27 Club’ juxtaposes happy melodies with sharp sarcastic lyrics about losing somebody you loved to suicide and wishing you’d have known how to be there for them before the age of suicide awareness, reminiscing about how you met, and who they could have been if depression didn’t take over.” [via Clash]

Scene Queen has released a new single, ’18+’. With the song calling out sexual abuse and grooming in the music industry, a portion of the single’s net profits will be donated to anti-sexual violence organisation RAINN. Scene Queen says of the track: “I wrote ’18+’ to be controversial and I hope that’s what I’ve achieved. When I wrote the song I made it my mission to make something that sounds like an intense personal call out but also broad enough that it covers an entire epidemic within the scene. Having people arguing over which band I might be upset with, arguing over security measures taken place in the scene, or even arguing whether the lyrics are good or just borderline unsettling is the exact point of the song: to get people talking about what we’ve refused to talk about in the scene the last ten years. When I left the scene around 2015, because it no longer felt like a safe space for women, I swore that if I ever came back I would make it my mission to set fires until it was safe. I alluded to this heavily on Bimbocore Vol. 2 with my song ‘The Rapture (but it’s Pink)’ featuring Mothica, but ’18+’ is me finally making the first step into that. Predatory behavior is something that has been happening in the scene for years and still happens now. If I waited for the perfect time and the easiest way to start the conversation, I would never get the chance.” [via Upset]

Bristol-based post-punk grungers Peach release their second single ‘I’m Scared’, along with an enjoyably sinister video produced and directed by members of Holding Hands With Horses collective Lee Kiernan of fellow Bristolians Idles and artist Charlotte Gosch. The vid emits serious Wicker Man vibes as the four-piece cavort uncertainly in the countryside with a group of masked and be-ribboned figures. The song alternates between a fierce wall of sludgy guitars and wailing from singer Ellie Godwin and quieter, more spacious interludes with gasped, whimpered vocals. Written by all four members, the band say the song is: “about having that fear to do something completely out of our comfort zone, and the continuous battle of excitement and fear in making good or bad choices.” Godwin’s impressive, versatile voice takes us on a whole trip through to that dark side and back again, at times recalling (for this listener) Jennifer Finch, Kat Bjelland, Mitski, early PJ Harvey and perhaps Katie Jane Garside. [via Loud Women]

Thai multidimensional songwriter and creator Roskamala has just unleashed the latest single and visuals from her upcoming EP. Called ‘Loving Mess’, the upbeat pop anthem features singer Lia Apa and is an intoxicating listen. ‘Loving Mess’ is a song all about self acceptance and trying again and again with love even if you fail. The autobiographical narrative was written as a self reflective look at Roskamala’s own issues and flaws but in a lens of acceptance, knowing that she is always trying to improve herself. Lyrics including,”Let’s be fools / break the rules / if you make me fall for you / see what this loving mess can do,” show that Roskamala is ready to make herself vulnerable for the one she desires. ‘Loving Mess’ reminds us all that while we have baggage, we can still be brave and open to experiencing love in all of its forms, even if we are afraid. Sonically, the single features bright hip-hop drenched landscapes, decadent soul-drenched vocals and cathartic melodies full of fervor and heart. In the accompanying visuals, Roskamala plays a barbie like doll figure in a colorful ice cream parlor where she is brought together with a ken like doll by three mysterious figures for an interesting and thought-provoking watch. [via Earmilk]

100 gecs have unveiled the video for their new single ‘Dumbest Girl Alive’, taken from their just dropped album 10,000 gecs. The electro-punk duo, comprised of Dylan Brady and Laura Les, have been teasing the release of 10,000 gecs since December last year, when they released the surprise Snake Eyes EP. They followed this up with the release of singles ‘MeMeMe’, ‘Hollywood Baby’ and ‘Doritos & Fritos’. [via Dork]

The Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae impressed a lot of people with 2020’s The Angel You Don’t Know. She’s popped up here and there in the two and a half years since, but now she’s ready to start rolling out a new album. It’s called Fountain Baby, and its lead single ‘Reckless And Sweet’ is out now. The song brings an eerie, almost PinkPantheress-like quality to booming, cinematic African pop production founded in drum programming but laced with acoustic guitar. [via Stereogum]

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