We’ve hit the final Friday of the month, which means it’s time to clock out and dive into another edition of Noteworthy Nods – our monthly curation of the 20 tracks currently holding our office stereo hostage.
As always, the playlist pulls together a sharp mix of urgent new discoveries, reader-submitted gems, and fresh cuts from the longtime favorite artists we’ll always stand by. (Got a track we missed? Don’t keep it to yourself—drop your suggestions HERE).
This month’s selection leans into towering riffs, late-night introspection, and a few familiar names boldly charting new creative terrain.
Below are a handful of highlights to give you a taste of what’s dominating the mix this month.
Leading the charge are alt-rock newcomers thistle., who dropped their backflip EP today, with ‘mean eye’ serving as the clear standout for us. Born from a desire to tear up the rulebook and start from scratch, the band traded their usual comfort zones for strange new writing and production styles. The result is a track that’s gloriously idiosyncratic, holistic, and carries a hell of a lot more than just their worst feelings.
Elsewhere, on the cusp of releasing their ninth studio album Avalanche on June 12th, Embrace return with ‘Up In Your Feelings’ – easily one of the darkest, most obsessive tracks to date. It’s a massive, stomping beast fueled by crunchy guitars and pining keys, diving straight into the brutal reality of post-breakup fixation. Frontman Danny McNamara gets completely raw here, capturing that toxic loop of replaying memories like a weapon of war just to keep a dead connection alive.
South Yorkshire’s finest The Reytons keep things grounded with ‘Busker’s Paradise’, the second sharp taste of their upcoming fourth album, A Love Letter To A Broken Town. This is a quintessential, high-energy indie anthem that tracks the gritty, everyday hustle of a street performer trying to survive in a fading town.
Finally, rising indie outfit Stanleys return today with their brand-new single, ‘Never Like You’. The track follows February’s ‘Pass The Time’—their first new material in over a year, and a vital, purposeful reintroduction to the band. What makes this new cut work so well is that it captures the group at their absolute, most confident best, serving as another full-throttle declaration that they’re ready to push onward into a brand-new chapter.
These are just a handful of our top picks for the month. But whether you’re looking for a moment of quietude or a full-throttle jolt to the system, the latest Noteworthy Nods playlist delivers a cracking, eclectic mix of tracks. We’re 100% confident it’ll tide you over nicely until we’re back at the end of May.
Alongside our weekly track picks, Noteworthy Nods also brings you regular videocast interviews with the artists we’re genuinely excited about. You can catch every episode on the playlist HERE, featuring everyone from The Enemy and Kula Shaker to Stanleys, The Subways, Lottery Winners, The Slow Readers Club, and Shed Seven, alongside a deep archive of essential voices.
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