Music by Bergman: The Delgados

In 2005, The Delgados got fed up with being a band more respected than listened to and decided to put an end to a decade of bittersweet indie, of lyrical devastation, melodic preciosity and guitars that fought against angels. We understood the decision, but it hurt us to be left without the woven vocals of Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward, without those songs that were both painful and comforting. Fortunately for us, the quartet has decided to make a comeback and begin to reap the rewards of a cult following that has now put them where they deserve to be, at the top of the Glasgow music community.

The muses of La Musa: CMAT

The joker CMAT says in her Spotify biography that she is recovering from “an AliExpress addiction”, but the few songs she has published so far in her career seem to suggest an addiction to Vinted: the specialty of the Irish artist Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson is to give a second life (and a better life) to those second-hand melodies that have been gathering dust in a trunk for a long time. Singles like I Don’t Really Care for You and I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby! transform textbook country music into sparkling fringed pop with that proves that revival, like everything else, can be done right or wrong, with or without flair, by adding or taking away. Retro is also new with CMAT.

Divus Julius presents: The Armed

The Armed are a modern band with modern ideas. So much so that beyond being a rabble of hardcore smothering pop tendencies – particularly on the aptly named, 2021 release ULTRAPOP – they’re also a morphing manifestation of anger, creativity, and refuting restrictions, with all the switches that ignite these ideas cranked to eleven – all whilst also not strictly having any official members. Simply utterly ambiguous with the the most direct intention.

Introducing…Leon of Athens

If there is one thing Leon of Athens seeks in his songs, it is to create a musical landscape to accompany you in good times. The Greek American singer finds this by embracing the folkier sounds of indie pop, although his latest single, Mad Into You, features some of his most electronic sounds to date. His latest LP, Xenos, has been critically acclaimed, with a thumbs up from the likes of The Guardian, NME, Q and The New York Times.

Music by Bergman: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard these words will definitely be out-of-date because the band will have released two or three new albums. The Australians are prolific labourers of music without a cause (you cannot talk about them only as spearheads of garage-rock and modern psych-rock). Also, each album feels like the seven members of the band have gone through the front door of a costume shop and come out of the backdoor with the first thing they laid their hands on: A Voivod T-shirt, Beatles-style tails, a pair of second hand trousers worn by one of the Butthole Surfers, a Motörhead badge, Jethro Tulls’s ankle boots, one of those The Flaming Lips’ feather boas…

But really, at the end of the day, there’s only one truth: whatever they play, they will make a party out of it. And it doesn’t look like that’ll go out of fashion any time soon. They’re the most entertaining rock band in the world and they’ve just released a new album Omnium Gatherum.

Divus Julius Bonasera presents: Jamie xx

As if the trip he made into the depths of the history of electronic music with In Colour in 2015 had not been one of the most important albums of the decade. As if his role in The xx had not acquired a fundamental weight over the years, gradually making him the backbone of the trio on I See You. As if We’re New Here, the album of remixes with Gil-Scott Heron, was not one of the best gifts that could be given to the Chicago icon in his last few months of life. As if, after the release of his solo album, he had not revealed himself to be a versatile DJ able to bring any dance floor to life, as he did at the last minute at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2017 with that Stop Bajon by Following the release of ‘Idontknow’, Jamie xx has returned with a new single ‘LET’S DO IT AGAIN’.

Music by Bergman: Interpol

Almost 25 years after their formation, Interpol have survived everything. Post 9/11 New York that saw them emerge as the rock saviours of the 21st century, a debut album connected to the best memories of an entire generation, the post-punk revival that they spearheaded, the revival of that revival, their imitators, the parallel projects of their members and even themselves. At this point, Interpol have dodged so many bullets that they have earned the right to make their story theirs and no one else’s. But, above all, Paul Banks, Daniel Kessler and Sam Fogarino have earned the right to stretch that story as far and as long as they want: they will survive whatever comes next, and as a testimony they will give us new choruses that hurt and comfort at the same time.

Interpol have marked their return by sharing the cinematic video for new single ‘Toni’ and announcing details of their seventh album, ‘The Other Side of Make-Believe’.