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Dark Folk Trio Saltaire Release Instrumental Single “Slip Jigs & Jenny’s” From Debut EP ‘Only Moonlight’

Eric Alper
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Dark Folk Trio Saltaire Release Instrumental Single “Slip Jigs & Jenny’s” From Debut EP ‘Only Moonlight’

Saltaire, the Dublin-based dark folk trio of singer and cellist Kaitlin Cullen-Verhauz, guitarist Ian Kinsella, and bodhrán and bouzouki player Conor Lyons, have released “Slip Jigs & Jenny’s,” the latest single from their debut EP ‘Only Moonlight,’ out now. Following their RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends debut original “The Axe” and their rendition of “Matty Groves,” the new single shifts the focus to the traditional instrumental dimension of what Saltaire offers, with Cullen-Verhauz’s cello taking the lead melody before flute by Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, banjo by Ryan McAuley, and piano by Catherine McHugh each take over in turn, layering over a foundation built by Kinsella and Lyons on guitar, bouzouki, and bodhrán.

The set of tunes has a history that stretches back to 2021, when Cullen-Verhauz, Kinsella, and McAuley performed together representing Ireland at the World Expo in Dubai, where the first two slip jigs, “Fig For A Kiss” and “The Foxhunter,” were fixtures in their set. Back in Ireland, Cullen-Verhauz brought the tunes to sessions with Lyons and Ó Ceannabháin, who added a third slip jig, “Elizabeth Kelly’s Delight,” before “Jenny’s Chickens” rounded out what the band began calling “the slip jigs and jenny’s.” Cullen-Verhauz reflects on what the track means to her: “Playing with this particular group of heads feels like a particularly appropriate love and thank you letter to a greater community that has given me so much. The arrangement came together rather organically as each instrument layers, weaving over and under one another, building momentum that ebbs and flows from start to finish.”

Saltaire’s combined experience runs deep. Cullen-Verhauz performs with 2025 RTÉ Folk Award winners Natalie Ní Chasaide and Iarfhlaith Ó Domhnaill and has played with Frankie Gavin and De Dannan alongside Kinsella. Lyons is a founding member of The Bonny Men, and all three appear on Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin’s debut solo album ‘The Deepest Breath,’ awarded four stars by The Irish Times. The trio have performed at Whelan’s, The Duncairn, The Cobblestone, and the Button Factory, and graced the main stages of Vantastival, Wild Roots, and the St. Patrick’s Day Festival at Collins Barracks, among many others.

New Jersey Rockers The Melancholy Kings Release Pynchon-Inspired Psychedelic Single “UV” From Album ‘Her Favorite Disguise’

Eric Alper
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New Jersey Rockers The Melancholy Kings Release Pynchon-Inspired Psychedelic Single “UV” From Album ‘Her Favorite Disguise’

The Melancholy Kings have released “UV,” the latest single from their sophomore album ‘Her Favorite Disguise,’ out now via Magic Door Record Label. A quasi-psychedelic musical journey drawing from Thomas Pynchon’s postmodern novel “V,” the track weaves rock, psychedelia, rap, and classical strings into a kaleidoscopic whole, featuring trumpet improvisations from Mac Gollehon (David Bowie, Al Jarreau, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, Hall and Oates), cello arrangements by Carolyn Jeselsohn, and soulful vocals from Olivia Selig. Produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ray Ketchem (Guided by Voices, Luna, Elk City) at Magic Door Recording Studio in Montclair, New Jersey, the album also features Elk City vocalist Reneé LoBue, accordionist Carl Riehl, and Ketchem on percussion.

The core of The Melancholy Kings is singer-guitarist Mike Potenza and bassist Scott Selig, Manhattan corporate world colleagues who discovered a shared history in the nineties and early 2000s NYC indie scene before rededicated themselves to music, rounding out their lineup with drummer Paul Andrew and guitarist Peter Horvath. Potenza is direct about the ambition behind “UV”: “I wanted both the music and lyrics to embrace multiple genres like the book and the main character, who transforms in many unexpected ways. So we worked in rock, psychedelic, some rap and a classical vibe with the strings, and the lyrics being purposefully impressionistic. This kind of mixture with a lot of different things happening, but in the end comes together.” Selig adds that from the start they wanted “a kaleidoscope of aural ear candy, with trippy effects, multiple guitar layers, electric piano, strings and horns.”

The accompanying video juxtaposes colourful outdoor band performance footage with black and white vignettes shot on 16mm film, featuring filmmaker Madeleine Grace Smith as a V-like figure moving through indeterminate time periods in and around New York City, ultimately joined by beatniks, punks, flappers, and intellectual revolutionaries in a bacchanalian nod to the novel’s Whole Sick Crew, with cinematography by Jordan Miller. ‘Her Favorite Disguise’ is available now on limited edition 12″ vinyl and all digital platforms, with The Melancholy Kings playing their official album release show at The Meat Locker in Montclair, New Jersey on March 21.

The Melancholy Kings Tour Dates:

March 21 – Montclair, NJ – The Meat Locker

Kraut-Psych-Rock Collective Bad Mothers Union Unleash Explosive New Single “God’s Intercom”

Eric Alper
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Kraut-Psych-Rock Collective Bad Mothers Union Unleash Explosive New Single “God’s Intercom”

Bad Mothers Union have released “God’s Intercom,” a euphoric, unbridled kraut-psych-rock single that explodes from its opening bar and never quite lets go. Established in Kilkenny by frontman Conor Kavanagh, the band operates as a musical collective, thriving on collaboration and the distinct voice each player brings to their sound. The current lineup of Kavanagh (vocals, guitar), Shay English (bass), James O’Neill (drums, percussion), Tim Flood (bass), Céin O’Dowd (guitar, bouzouki), and Ethan Corcoran (synth, bass, vocals) is joined on the single by Joel Pitcher, Michael Lanigan, and Aaron Harbourne, with Brandon Murphy of Peer Pleasure contributing vocals during the staccato middle section and Fiachra Carey on saxophone, who, when recording his parts, dressed like a member of Madness. Because of course.

“God’s Intercom” was initially conceived during a jam session in a Methodist Church in Kilkenny, hanging around in various forms for years until Michael Lanigan pushed up the BPM and transformed it into the celestial force it is today. There is no verse-chorus-verse structure here. Aaron’s drums propel the track forward while guitars swirl untethered around each other, Shay’s bass keeping things anchored with a driving pulse before erupting into a flurry of notes that sounds like Entwhistle and Butler fighting each other as things take off again. Kavanagh’s lyrics are stream of consciousness, pulling in characters from his youth alongside insecurities, self-doubt, and teenage reminiscence, while Murphy’s lines during the middle section, “I’ve been looking at you while you’ve been laughing at me and I’ve been laughing at you this whole entire time,” land like how a conversation with God might actually go, should he ever answer that intercom.

Drawing on Sonic Youth, The Osees, Mogwai, and Primal Scream alongside the surrealist influence of David Lynch, Bad Mothers Union create music that feels like an unrelenting, infinite spiralling force of energy, unperturbed by what the outside world thinks. “God’s Intercom” is exactly that, a track that builds to crescendo, drops to recharge, and then takes off again, blissful euphoria concocted from voice, drums, bass, guitar, and some ska saxophone.

Post-Punk Icons Inca Babies Share “Superior Spectre” From Reinvented Back Catalogue Album ‘Reincarnation’

Eric Alper
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Post-Punk Icons Inca Babies Share “Superior Spectre” From Reinvented Back Catalogue Album ‘Reincarnation’

Manchester post-punk outfit Inca Babies have shared “Superior Spectre,” a single from their recently released album ‘Reincarnation,’ a project that sees the band re-record and re-envision select tracks from across their back catalogue. A live favourite and a cornerstone of the band’s goth credentials, “Superior Spectre” was originally included in their 1984 John Peel Session and later appeared on their 2014 ‘Scatter’ EP. The accompanying video was largely filmed in Rome by photographer Jandi Moreno and directed by Harry Stafford, with live footage drawn from a recent Manchester gig at Big Hands.

‘Reincarnation’ was recorded and mixed over two years at 6Db Studios in Salford by renowned producer Simon “Ding” Archer (The Fall, PJ Harvey) and Harry Stafford, with Ding contributing sonic and dub flourishes throughout. Mastering was handled by Marco Butcher at Boombox Studio in North Carolina. Stafford is clear about the motivation behind the project: “Looking through our back catalogue, it occurred to me that there were tracks that should again be made available in some manner and others that would benefit from reinvention. This whole project was to be an innovative re-imagining of old tunes, re-invented for contemporary consideration. All of them re-awakened and Re-inca-rnated.” In the lead-up to the album, the band shared two singles in A/B-side format, “Candy Mountain” and “Two Rails To Nowhere,” the latter featuring an expanded version with guitarist Vincent O’Brien alongside the original 1988 uptempo version featuring Inspiral Carpets’ Clint Boon.

Formed in 1983 in Manchester’s now-legendary Hulme deck-access flats, Inca Babies were a vibrant part of Britain’s early post-punk and death-rock scene, amassing a following through intensive touring, six singles, four albums, and four BBC John Peel Sessions between 1984 and 1988, all charting on the UK Indie Charts. After reforming in 2007, the band has released four more albums and toured three continents, continuing to explore goth, punk, death-rock, and jazz-blues with a current lineup that includes guitarist Jim Adama, bassist Dave Carmichael, and drummer Rob Haynes (The Membranes, Goldblade). Their journey since reformation was documented in the 2024 film ‘The Making of Ghost Mechanic Nine.’

Post-Punk Duo Lowsunday Return With First New Material In 25 Years On ‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP’

Eric Alper
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Post-Punk Duo Lowsunday Return With First New Material In 25 Years On ‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP’

Lowsunday have returned with ‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP,’ their first record of all-new material since 1999, out now via Projekt Records on digital platforms and as a limited vinyl pressing of 200 copies. The Pittsburgh duo of Shane Sahene (vocals, guitar, synth, bass, drums) and Bobby Spell (bass, guitar, drums) have been blurring the lines between post-punk, shoegaze, dreampop, and darkwave since 1994, and this five-track EP serves as both a reflection on that three-decade legacy and a genuine resurgence. Delving into emotional isolation with a counterbalance of escapism, dreamlike sounds, drones, feedback, and carefully placed melodic hooks, the EP pushes atmospheres to the limits of noise at its most expansive and into a dream-pop air of deeper melancholia at its most delicate.

The ‘White EP’ is the first of a two-EP series via Projekt, and arrives on the heels of the extended 30th anniversary remaster of their debut album ‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine,’ a two-CD release pairing the original nine tracks with a second disc of seven unreleased tracks, remixes, and reinterpretations. Projekt also released the 25th anniversary remaster of their sophomore album ‘Elesgiem’ in 2024. Alongside the EP announcement, the band has shared a new video for “Love Language,” offering a visual entry point into the record’s layered, arsenic-laced sonic world.

Sahene and Spell distill years of exploration into classic post-punk rhythms, guitar-driven atmospheres, synth textures, and stripped-down drum beats, using those elements to express simple, fundamental emotion with bittersweet and emotive vocals at the centre. The ‘White EP’ demonstrates a confident connection to the band’s history while expanding naturally into darker, more expansive territory, making Lowsunday’s return one of the more quietly essential releases in the post-punk and shoegaze underground this year.

Pop-Rock Newcomer Holly Nicholson Unleashes Angsty New Single “i forget we’re friends”

Eric Alper
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Pop-Rock Newcomer Holly Nicholson Unleashes Angsty New Single “i forget we’re friends”

Holly Nicholson has released “i forget we’re friends,” her most anticipated single to date and a track that has already proven itself a fan favourite across sell-out shows and a UK tour. Channeling the ache of forbidden love through tormented vocals, blistering synths, powerful guitars, and relentless bass, the song pulls from the friends-to-lovers trope with a rawness that feels both deeply personal and immediately universal. Holly describes its creation with striking clarity: “It came out of me in a single, unbroken, thirty-minute rush. I slipped into an uninhibited state where the feelings and lyrics poured out, messy, intense waves of unrequited love and emotional chaos. This song is about falling for someone who feels so right but is, in every practical sense, so wrong. You’re star-crossed lovers who will never make it to the starting line, held back by how much there is to lose.”

Raised on bright eighties melodies and shaped by the bold honesty of today’s unflinching pop storytellers, Holly has built a growing fanbase on the strength of her fearless emotional edge and heartfelt songwriting. She describes her sound as “pop music with a little bit of edge,” a phrase that carries a double meaning: sonically, it’s the guitar tones and rock-leaning attitude she grew up loving, and lyrically, it’s the honesty she leads with. “I was raised on 80s music and that influence blends with today’s artists, like Olivia Rodrigo, who inspire me to be bolder and more vulnerable,” she explains. “The sound of this track feels like a step toward what I want to claim as my own. Something with more grit, more truth, and more emotional bite.”

“i forget we’re friends” arrives as Holly lays the groundwork for her sophomore EP, and it signals something bigger than a single release. The track’s crashing intensity and undeniable emotional pull mark the opening chapter of a bolder creative vision from one of the UK’s most exciting emerging voices, an artist unafraid to confront the messiness of love and turn it into something that hits hard.

Sony Music Nashville Singer-Songwriter Ian Harrison Pours Raw Emotion Into New Single “Games”

Eric Alper
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Sony Music Nashville Singer-Songwriter Ian Harrison Pours Raw Emotion Into New Single “Games”

Ian Harrison has released “Games,” his latest single and one of his most emotionally direct tracks to date. Written alongside Dan Agee and Carson Wallace, the song tackles the toxic reality of modern situationships, loving someone who takes advantage of your feelings without offering real commitment or accountability in return. Harrison is candid about the inspiration: “‘Games’ is a song about loving someone who abuses the feelings you have for them. I think we’ve all been in relationships where someone has taken advantage of the things you would do for them and as much as you want to say no, it’s not always easy to let go of that rope.”

The Delaware, Ohio native now based in Nashville signed to Sony Music Nashville after years of grinding through co-writes and dive bar gigs while working construction and bartending to pay the bills. Inspired by Maroon 5, Noah Kahan, Billy Joel, The Lumineers, Bruce Springsteen, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, Harrison developed a sound that blends Americana, rock, alt-pop, and indie with lyrics brimming with candor and self-awareness. His recent releases “Cheap Shots” and “If You Ever Loved Me” have been building momentum, and “Games” pushes that forward with a track designed to hit both emotionally and viscerally. “I hope they feel the emotion and intention, but I also hope they can scream it at the top of their lungs in the car because it feels so big,” Harrison says. “I hope it gives people a couple minutes to feel heard and not like they are alone in their experiences.”

Harrison has joined the lineup for Extra Innings Festival in Tempe, Arizona, adding another chapter to what is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for one of Nashville’s most compelling new voices.

Metalcore Outfit Capsize Drop Brooding New Single “Under A Hollow Sky” Ahead Of First Physical Release Since 2016

Eric Alper
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Metalcore Outfit Capsize Drop Brooding New Single “Under A Hollow Sky” Ahead Of First Physical Release Since 2016

Capsize have released “Under A Hollow Sky,” their second new track since signing to Roux & Ruin Records, following late 2025’s “The Fracture” and building toward their first physical release since ‘A Reintroduction: The Essence Of All That Surrounds Me’ arrived via Equal Vision Records in 2016. Co-produced by Cody Stewart (Falling In Reverse, nothing, nowhere), the track adds another piece to a picture the band is deliberately revealing slowly. Singer Daniel Wand frames it plainly: “With the release of this new single, we’re opening another window into what we’ve been building without revealing the full picture just yet. Cody Stewart helped bring the production to the finish line on this one, and we’re excited about where things are quietly headed.”

Power Metal Pioneers Iron Savior Transform Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax” Ahead Of Album ‘Awesome Anthems of the Galaxy’

Eric Alper
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Power Metal Pioneers Iron Savior Transform Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax” Ahead Of Album ‘Awesome Anthems of the Galaxy’

Hamburg power metal pioneers Iron Savior have released “Relax,” a crushing metal reinterpretation of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s legendary 1984 hit, and the latest single from their upcoming album ‘Awesome Anthems of the Galaxy,’ due March 27 via PERCEPTION, a division of Reigning Phoenix Music. Following their previous metal makeovers of Irene Cara’s “Fame” and Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” the band once again proves their ability to transform iconic pop songs into uncompromising power metal anthems without losing the spirit of the original. Frontman Piet Sielck is direct about his connection to the source material: “Relax is one of my all time favorite non-metal songs. It’s been on my mind for a very long time to do this and I really think this version serves the original well. We did a good job in transferring the vibe and the energy of the original into the Iron Savior cosmos.”

‘Awesome Anthems of the Galaxy’ transforms some of the most iconic pop hits of the eighties into full-throttle power metal epics, drawing on A-ha’s “Take On Me,” Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds,” Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora’s “When The Rain Begins To Fall,” and Michael Sembello’s “Maniac,” among others. The project has been two decades in the making. “After the huge success of the 2002 ‘Condition Red’ bonus track ‘Crazy’ by Seal, we have been asked by fans and media almost constantly to do a complete cover tracks album,” Sielck explains. “So, two decades later here we are. ‘Awesome Anthems’ continues the transformation from pop-to-metal in Iron Savior style. We are absolutely proud of the outcome. I guarantee a lot of smiles.”

With soaring vocals, massive guitars, and their unmistakable melodic precision, Iron Savior inject each track with the fire that has defined their sound since the late nineties, reforging pop classics into something heavier, brighter, and unmistakably their own.

Gothic Rock Legends The 69 Eyes Release “I Survive” Featuring Billy Idol’s Steve Stevens

Eric Alper
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Gothic Rock Legends The 69 Eyes Release “I Survive” Featuring Billy Idol’s Steve Stevens

The 69 Eyes have released “I Survive,” a brand new single featuring Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, and the first release under their newly inked deal with BLKIIBLK, the heavy metal imprint of Frontiers Label Group. Formed in Helsinki in 1989 and still operating with the same lineup nearly four decades later, the Helsinki Vampires have built one of the most enduring legacies in gothic rock, releasing thirteen albums and achieving gold and platinum status in their native Finland while touring the world without notable interruption for twenty years.

The band occupies a singular space in rock, one foot in glam and one in goth, keeping the Johnny Thunders flame burning with leather jackets, midnight sunglasses, and low-slung guitars at a time when true believers in that aesthetic are increasingly rare. Their biggest hit, “Lost Boys” from 2005, was immortalized in a music video directed by MTV Jackass star and skater Bam Margera and remains a fixture on Halloween rock playlists to this day. “I Survive” carries that same sleazy, atmospheric charge, now amplified by Stevens’ unmistakable guitar work.

With a classic rock lineup of vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, bass, and drums, The 69 Eyes have always relied on the magic that happens when those elements lock in on stage. That chemistry, combined with a cult following that has grown across generations, makes “I Survive” feel less like a comeback and more like a band that simply never stopped.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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