This week’s recommendations come from Common Holly, Camille Christel, Black Country New Road, Van Houten, The Hold Steady, Tegan and Sara, Marika Hackman, Black Belt Eagle Scout and a Greta Thunberg/The 1975 collaboration.

It’s been a busy week for Dalliance Records this week – first they shared Central Booking – the first single from Montreal based Common Holly’s upcoming sophomore record, When I Say to you Black Lightning. The LP will be released on 11th October.

And this was followed by Camille Christel’s new single, Chicago. At just 19, the Nottingham based songwriter follows New York, which was critically acclaimed by 6 Music’s Mary Anne Hobbs.

Black Country New Road prove why they’re the most talked about new band in Britain on their latest single, Sunglasses. Although released digitally yesterday, the track will be come out on 7″ single on 6th September, and as is tradition with Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground label, it will be limited to 500 copies.

Out on Clue Records, Moon is the new single from Van Houten. Definitely one for fans of Mac DeMarco and Connan Mockasin, it precedes an August tour that includes a slot with Bill Ryder Jones in Leeds, and their self titled debut album, which will be out on 13th September.

Five years on from their last long player, The Hold Steady have spent the intermittent period sporadically releasing one-off singles. Now though they have a follow-up to 2014’s Teeth Dreams ready for release. Thrashing Thru The Passion is out next month but for now we get to hear new single, You Did Good Kid. Packed full of joyful riffs and brass, the song will no doubt excite fans ahead of the record’s release.

Tegan And Sara return with a new album, Hey, I’m Just Like You in September. Made up of songs that the twins wrote during high school, the release coincides with their first-ever memoir, High School, out the same week. Before that, they’ve shared first single, I’ll Be Back Someday, which returns to the guitar-driven indie of their early work, only with a tad more studio polish.

Now only a fortnight out from the release of her new album, Any Human Friend, Marika Hackman has put out a single that can only be described as a love letter to cunnilingus. “I thought it would be exciting to write a really overtly sexual song about a woman from the perspective of a woman,” Hackman said recently. “You don’t hear much about sex between women in music, or if you do its usually from a fetishised male perspective, I thought I’d reclaim a bit of that power.” 

My Heart Dreams is the new single from Black Belt Eagle Scout. Preceding her new Saddle Creek-released sophomore album, At The Party With My Brown Friends, the song is a beautiful, yearning track from the Portland resident, that makes us even more excited for the new album than we already were.

Finally, The 1975’s new self-titled track isn’t really a song (or The 1975 for that matter), so much as an overt statement. Featuring a speech by Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate crisis activist whose protests and speeches have inspired millions across globe, it is anchored by an ambient piano line to accentuate her words. All proceeds from the track will be donated to Extinction Rebellion.

Want to keep up to date with all our latest pieces? Follow us on social media…