Listen: Waitin on Mine by Steve Stout

Steve Stout’s Waitin on Mine opens with a simple instruction, a disembodied voice calls ‘Hit it!’, and the band leap into life. Every time I hear it over my headphones, it makes me jump — the voice seemingly right there. The sound that follows envelopes the listener, slightly steely guitars strum as a piano, played by Walker Igleheart, gently wanders through my mind.

Written by Stout, together with M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, the song employs a considered ear to its production. There is a psychedelic tightness to the music — a kind of unexpectedly vivid trip. The song achieves a colour that is surprisingly bright for such a conventional approach to instrumentation. In that sense, it reminds me of the creativity of Kurt Vile, who always seems to achieve so much with so little. There is also a little of MJ Lenderman’s relaxed story telling at play.

As Waitin on Mine progresses, it gradually loops layers upon itself, like the record is picking up another track with each rotation, building in complexity and volume. Following a quiet bridge, the song hits an outro the sees a repeated refrain of the chorus — layers and layers of vocal harmonies creating a beautiful depth, right before things melt away with the clink of a piano.

As one half of Øzwald, and the guitarist with Lifehouse, Stout has plenty of experience creating music. Working as Steve Stout, his focus is on creating personal tales about a life (mostly) as an ex-rocker. Describing his experience working with Taylor, and the thinking behind the song, Steve said:

‘We hit it off right away and it was such a pleasure to get to write with an artist that I was a fan of and looked up to so much. Little bit of touring life energy to the verses and some truth from life of feeling like no matter how far you've come in your career or life path there can be those days still of just feeling like, man when am I gonna catch a break.’

Check out Waitin on Mine below.

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Watch: I Can’t Stand the Silence by Tears Before Bedtime

The new single from Tears Before Bedtime makes its intentions clear from the moment you hear its haunted, dark vocals and the thumping drum track that punctuates them… This is a track that is done lying down.

I Can’t Stand the Silence blends Tears Before Bedtime’s influences — which include Joy Division and New Order, and more modern influences in Chvrches, and Boy Harsher — into a kind of jet black angular post punk meets gothic art pop. The sound reaches a similar collage of sound as that which the Horrors assembled, from similar original influences, at the start of their career.

Tears Before Bedtime represents a new collaboration from Bob Malkowski, of The Modern, Inertia, and Die Laughing, and Beejarabbit, who has previously released under that same name, and played with several other outfits. I Can’t Stand the Silence represents the debut release for the pair’s new project, and it comes ahead of their debut EP, Antifragile, which is due out in Autumn 2026.

The song deals with the kind of emotional manipulation that comes from being in a relationship with someone who deliberately shuts you out, weaponising distance and silence to gain control. In the face of such manipulation, I Can’t Stand the Silence shifts from being a cry for help to an outright refusal to accept the situation. As Malkowski and Beejarabbit exchange lines, a swirling darkness builds, guitar riffs in a call and response with one another, locked in some sort of battle. It all underlines a determination to regain control and move on. The result is tense yet liberating — an explosion of emotion that forces change and growth. Describing the song, Malkowski says:

‘I Can’t Stand The Silence was the first song we wrote and the moment we knew we had something special working together. The ‘silence’ in the song is the kind used to shut someone out, keep them guessing, and take control of a situation without saying a word. We’ve both experienced that in our personal and professional lives over the years. It was cathartic for us both. It’s a great song to play loud and defiantly, and to send a message to people who have treated you badly: ‘I cannot stand you.’

Check out I Can’t Stand the Silence below.

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Listen: Miracle by Judah & the Lion

Describing their new single, Judah & the Lion band member Judah Akers says Miracle embodies the concept that ‘life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you’. With a vocal that streaks across the skies of my mind like some kind of rainbow-coloured revelation, there is a staggering humanity and warmth to what Akers and bandmate Brian Macdonald have created here.

With inspiration found in the everyday wonder of being alive, the duo created a song that reflected the experience of growing older, and finding little moments of beauty. Describing the song, Macdonald says:

‘I think Miracle is just a beautiful representation of the stage of life that both of us are in right now. Especially with me having kids, miraculous is truly one of the only ways you can describe that feeling.’

Akers adds:

‘Some people think that a miracle has to be some big, dramatic event. But it's like, what if a miracle is waking up in the morning? What if the miracle is a cardinal showing up in your yard after your grandpa died? What if a miracle is the flowers growing? What if a miracle is being there for a buddy? It’s these types of small things. Especially with how negative the world is, let's think about the things that are beautiful.’

Listening to Miracle gives me goosebumps, heavenly vocals riding a wave of reverb, whilst tightly wound guitar rhythms hum with an overwhelming excitement. Together, Akers and Macdonald have created a track that pulses as synths soar, it feels like a post-rock interpretation of U2’s collaborating with Panda Bear, determined to make their most epic sounding record yet.

Miracle is taken from the Nashville duo’s forthcoming album, I am a Prism, due out 14 August via Dualtone Records. Check out the single below.

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Listen: Cold Warm Green Blue by Olive Wreath

Opening with layered instrumentation, Cold Warm Green Blue unfolds like a collage. Percussion and guitars are roughly assembled with overlapping edges. From this textured picture emerges Olive Wreath’s gently processed vocal. Like a forgotten photograph fluttering out of a well thumbed paperback, it lands in our laps. It feels like a memory we had forgotten, yet one that instantly puts us back in a previously forgotten emotional state.

Based in London, Olive Wreath creates pop music through a combination of folk instrumentation and electronic production. Here on Cold Warm Green Blue, she depicts the experience of growing up against a background of shifting relationship dynamics and an emerging identity, as she describes:

‘I made my debut single cold warm green blue to express feelings of getting older and relationships changing in the context of an LGBT identity — like you're wandering through woods at night and a concert's fading through a mile away.’

The result is a song that quivers with a kind of nervous emotion — it is fragile and vulnerable, and yet wearing a layer of abstraction as a form of protection. The result is beautiful and intimate, a series of Polaroid-like snapshots of someone growing up, scattered across a bedspread, raising as many questions as they answer.

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Watch: Lover, You Should’ve Come Over by Penny

UK artist Penny blends indie influences and alt pop to create a distinctive and emotional sound. Originally from Huddersfield, she released her debut EP, My Secret Powers, in 2022, introducing her bedroom pop aesthetic.

With her new EP, entitled Prom? and released today, Penny has looked to deliver the most fully realised version of her vision. Regularly collaborating with Michael Lovett, of Metronomy and NZCA Lines, and Ash Workman (who has worked with Christine and the Queens, Metronomy and the Klaxons), there is a wonderfully distinctive and wonky edge to Penny’s sound. This is something you can hear on the thick fuzz of bass on the EP’s song Dirty, and the way the whole thing slows to a stop like someone just yanked the turntable’s power out of the wall.

With the release of Prom?, we get to hear Penny’s bold cover of Jeff Buckley’s classic, Lover, You Should’ve Come Over. Covers of such established and influential artists’ work should be treated with caution, and you can hear Penny deliberately lean into that risk on what turns out to be a staggering performance. The result is a track that feels like a gymnast attempting their biggest routine — part of the thrill is in the risk that she falls. Her vocal is warm, syrupy, and yet sounds a little terrified as she retraces Buckley’s footsteps.

What really sets this cover apart is the instrumentation and production. Doing away with the folksy warmth of the original, Penny is instead wrapped in layers of synths, arpeggios and thick bass swirling around her performance with all the drama of stage lights. The result reminds me of the hard left turn that was True Affection on Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear… Both sit somewhere in the intersection of American folk and experimental widescreen electronica. With this cover, we witness Penny take a massive swing for the fences — and we get to hear her nail it.

Check out Lover, You Should’ve Come Over below, and hear the full EP, Prom?, on your streaming platform of choice here.

In addition to listening in the post, you can find almost all the music BlackPlastic covers on the music player of your choice. Add the dedicated playlist below:

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