After meeting at university, French songwriter, Mathilde Bataillé, and London based artist, Joseph Futak, came together through a mutual love for Frank Ocean and Big Thief before combining on their debut single together, Entertain The Thought.

A song that begins in the murky shadows of an underpass, the flickering of percussion grows before making way for a rumble of electronic lo-fi. The pair’s voices take turns before they meet – wandering out into the city night scape together. And having already picked up support from 6 Music’s Mary Ann Hobbs, Entertain The Thought suggests she should not be on her own in highlighting this exciting duo.

These are their Five Right Now picks:

Picked by Mathilde: Still House Plants – Fast Edit 

Still House Plants are a three-piece band from Glasgow and London. I met Jess at our day job, listened to the band and was hooked. They released their album last year and it’s one of my favourites of 2020. So many styles blended together – it’s really moving. I think that’s what I find really exciting about music at the moment; artists are being less restricted by genre and you can see all these influences seeping through and merging together. I’m excited to see them live when gigs are up and running again!

Picked by Joseph: Cat Shit City – Michael Gove Performing Slam Poetry In A Jacket Made From Mousetraps

Jon is my housemate and a good friend of mine. He also might be one of the best musicians I’ve met. He makes really beautiful, softly spoken folk music, but I have to highlight his noise project, Cat Shit City. I won’t see him for days on end, but hear the most insane noises coming from his bedroom and occasionally he’ll come out wearing nothing but a massive fluffy pink dressing gown to get a coffee – so I know he’s okay.

Picked by Mathilde: Will Lister – HLD001 Gridlines / Shadow Stem

My housemate, Will Lister, has just set up his own label: Heald Recordings. Really looking forward for what’s to come with his music and the label. His interest in design really comes across in his music. That’s something that really draws me to his tracks: the way he explores sound and this kind of mediation of the organic and the synthesised. I should say he’s releasing physical objects with each release too, so that’s pretty great – good candles and other physical products to come. It’s pretty special to see someone’s creative process; to see things from your living room go out into the world.

Picked by Joseph: Paddywak – Pete 

Paddywak are a London based noise pop trio. I’ve never met them in real life, but I think they might be one of the best things I heard in 2020. Listening to them makes me excited about music and just flipping pumped. I first heard their song, Pete, deep into November last year, but it made me excited about life and the summers to come and crushin’ hard. I’d recommend listening to this really loud while possibly naked and definitely thrashing around as much as possible.

Picked by Mathilde and Joe: Jamie Keegan – DA 2 Years on Tape

We picked this one together. Jamie is one of the best musicians I’ve ever met. He’s a great writer and released this tape in collaboration with his mates. I think I play guitar on one of them which is cool. Get your walkman, go outside, put on this tape and feel the sun on your back. It’s been my soundtrack to many lockdown walks.

Joe here! I mixed most of the songs on this EP nearly a year ago now! This ended up mainly consisting of putting as much digital distortion on everything as possible. It’s a fantastic collection of songs and well worth a listen all the way through!

“YOU WANNA GERMAN CAR, BUT CAN’T MAINTAIN IT!”

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