Daily Newsletter, June 1, 2025

The New Smu: The best new and unsigned artists in my inbox from May 2025, wading through the audio slush pile so you don’t have to.

Here are the albums and songs from the last month that we think you should hear, as selected by tQ's staffers

RAIN PARADE CRASHING DREAM (DELUXE REISSUE) LABEL 51 RECORDS Paisley Underground flourished in Los Angeles in the 80s as a response to cotton candy electro dance that was dominating the charts at the time (think Kaja Goo Goo) and punk not going anywhere. The goal was to revive those sounds of the late 60s that […]

AVA McCOY DRAGONFLY ACROPHASE RECORDS As a singer songwriter, how do you fit Pacific Northwest countryside (Oregon, to be precise) along with New York City as a somewhat stark contrast? Ava McCoy seems to be able to do that on her latest album Dragonfly without flinching. It might sound like a tricky affair, but McCoy […]

LETTERS FROM TAYLOR STILL ASKING INDEPENDENT It is a bold move to have your debut EP with two prominent covers right up front. It might indicate that you don’t have much faith in your originals. Yet, that is not a worry that Calgary, Ab trio Letters from Taylor should have about their debut 7-song EP, […]

Looking back at Kevin Ayers and his 1971 masterpiece 'Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes', which expertly captures the free spirit of the hippie counterculture.

The New York Times headline “ The New Deal: Band As Brand ” would not look out of place in today’s pages. In the article, the writer explores how record labels are responding to a need to diversify revenue streams by seeking to monetise fandom, via expanded rights deals.

A selection of releases that connect the dots between frenzied footwork and contemporary jazz.

Jazz-funk poet Gil Scott-Heron always tackled big societal issues within his work, but 1974's 'The Bottle' remains perhaps his darkest and most profound.

1975, The Year The World Forgot By Dylan Jones Published by Constable 12 June 2025 Dylan Jones former editor of I-D, the Face, GQ and best selling author 1975, The Year The World Forgot - Book Review and Interview with the book's author Dylan Jones by Louder Than War's Peter Harvey

Al Jardine got to know Brian Wilson when the two of them played high school football together in Hawthorne, California, and he started off as a founding member of the Beach Boys in 1961 — the only one who wasn’t related to Wilson by blood. Jardine remained with the Beach Boys until Carl Wilson’s death in 1998, and he’s spent much of the time since then recording and performing with Brian. Today, Jardine releases a new surprise solo EP called Islands In The Sun, and one of its tracks features Neil Young and Flea, two other legends who made big impacts on Californian music.