April 2025 Dispatch: Music on Repeat vol. 10
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This Dispatch is a bit different from the previous ones as it doesn’t only list reviewed music or the good old stuff we return to every now and then. It’s full of new songs we’ve not had the chance to review.
Let’s dig into what the team has been listening to over these past few months.
Fontaines D.C. – It’s Amazing To Be Young
While we’re still in love with Fontaines D.C.’s album Romance (2024), the band silently released a new single, ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’, released at the end of February 2025.
The single feels like an extension of – or follow-up on – Romance.
The song was inspired by the birth of Carlos O’Connell’s daughter. It celebrates the innocence a new life comes to the world with, and which is, sadly, later replaced by the routines of adulthood. If I wanted to be sarcastic, I’d say that Grian isn’t the only who sometimes wakes up to his life only after work (and when it’s already dark) to live a little.
It’s a great piece I hear pretty often in the office these days… because we’re all still young!
Watch Fontaines DC – ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’ (Official Video)
Sophie Powers – Goals
Young or old, we all have goals, and so does Sophie Powers. However, in her take on everyday matters, you often feel the pressure to succeed, to outperform, to be and do better and better which sometimes leads to various outcomes.
Anyway, our UK-based fans may want to know – or already know – Powers is performing at Slam Dunk Festival North 2025 this May. See you there?
Watch Sophie Powers – ‘Goals’ (Official Lyric Video)
The Yagas – She Walks Down
The atmosphere The Yagas create is stunning, but ‘She Walks Down’ brings it to another level. The sound, the subject, and the switches make this song substantial. The song was inspired by a nightmare and it’s a powerful one.
Watch The Yagas – ‘She Walks Down’.
Michael Kiwanuka – Small Changes
We had the pleasure of hearing Michael Kiwanuka for the first time at the major music festival the UK scene has to offer, and as our Brief Notes from Glastonbury 2024 show, we had very few words to say (and write) then. Sadly, the situation is not much different now with his new album, Small Changes, released at the end of 2024.
The album consists of 11 songs running for 40 minutes and brings indie folk-rock mixed with soul.
The album and its title track, ‘Small Changes’ is exactly what we need for your early spring walks.
Watch Michael Kiwanuka – ‘Small Changes’
Beabadoobee – Sway
The Phonotonal’s flood of new music mentions wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that Beabadoobee also covered Bic Runga’s ‘Sway’. You’re welcome.
Watch Beabadoobee cover Bic Runga’s ‘Sway’ for Like A Version
Pacifica – Away
As admitted in the Freak Scene review, Pacifica’s 2023 album, I had no idea what I was missing until I found it.
The album, packing energy, fun lyrics, and a bit of free and independent spirit, made me expect a lot more from their upcoming album we should be getting this year.
As for ‘Away’, it’s a classic guitar piece and a breakup story.
Watch Pacifica – ‘Away’ (Official Live Video)
Royal & the Serpent – Wasteland
From the Arcane soundtrack, ‘Wasteland’ is an atmospheric chiller. Royal & the Serpent really deliver the feels with this song using different vocal techniques to shift the emotion as the song plays out. When you look at the complete works of RATS, they seem able to successfully nail all corners of their broad collection of styles, from stomping anthems to delicate songs like this.
Watch Royal & the Serpent – ‘Wasteland’.
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