Recent and Decent #134 - Shangles

Feat. Vanishing Twin, PJ Harvey, POLIÇA...

I forgot to schedule it didn’t I? There you all were on the edge of your seat, ear to the radio, mouth pre-salivated, Pavlovian-conditioned to receive some recent and decent tuneage into your face at 7pm GMT on the dot. And now it’s 8pm. You must be dry and hungry and in need of a pat and a tummy rub. I can only apologise. Here. Have some belated songs to elate your thongs.

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Recent and Decent Playlist (click on pic for Tidal playlist)

Every week, I take it turns with my mate and fellow new-music discoverer, Chris, to share and write about 7 songs. All songs under 1 year old, all decent. This week’s playlist is curated by Chris and includes some Appalachian folk-rock, some left-field house and krautrock-inspired kosmische.

• Vanishing Twin - Bring Me the Axe (1st July 2026)

  • These guys are a trio, so the name ‘Vanishing Twin’ must be some hilarious in-joke, right?

    No.

    Actually, it’s because of Vanishing Twin Syndrome (aka foetal reabsorption) and the fact that lead singer Cathy Lucas was a surviving half of this condition. Their first album, Choose Your Own Adventure, drew on a created personal mythology centred around the adventures the lost twin might have had.

    Insert head exploding emoji here.

    Wait up - I can do that

    🤯

• Lola Hammerich - Going about my day (10th June 2026)

  • This is Lola’s debut single apparently, so if this is a taste of what’s to come then I’m all in, already. Googling the artist tells you that she is the daughter of Jacob Binzer. No doubt you hip-cats all know who that is, but this just requires more googling this end.

    He’s the ‘famous guitarist of the Danish rock band D-A-D.’

    Yet more googling required then, it would seem.

• GB - Starsound (10th June 2026)

  • GB is one Gustav Berntsen, an experimental artist based in Copenhagen. No doubt he lives there so he can hang out with Lola Hammerich, and ‘casually’ ask her if her dad (or, her D-A-D) is popping round for a brew anytime soon.

    Top Gustav facts include - Berntsen completely funded the recording of his upcoming album, Herzsprung, using a pay check he earned from starring in a Jaguar commercial.

    Which begs the question, how do you get to be one of these people - you know, people who find themselves making music whilst starring in car adverts, walking on the moon, serenading piranhas or other such unlikely life-doingsizz? Was there a special queue you had to get in when you were younger? Gustav is making me question my whole existence now, when I only wanted to say how much I loved his track.

    Flippin Nora.

• Zoh Amba - Weed Eating (5th June 2026)

  • Zoh evidently loves Bron-Y-Aur Stomp and Adrienne Lenker.

    And so do we all.

    Her ability to push her voice far, far into the red makes for something truly memorable although I hope she has a pack of strepsils, soothers or lockets (original flavour, of course - we’re not animals) around nearby after that.

    Spots says the album ‘courses with sweet burnishes of Appalachian folk’.

    And I definitely can’t top that.

• PJ Harvey - Voyager (24th June 2026)

  • Megawomble PJ can’t stop shining as bright as the sun, as talent does that to the odd one or two amongst us. And, although we’re agreed that all hope of a reunion with ‘n Duncan’ now seems well and truly lost after so many years, we can still enjoy the stunning gifts she shares with us all.

    Transport yourself into the depths of the universe whilst gazing at the mind-melting dazzling spectacle out of your space window of some silent intergalactic space cruiser with this otherworldly offering. Contemplate why you volunteered for that mission in the first place, and whether you should have rehydrated bolognese or chilli for tea.

• POLIÇA - The Matter (5th June 2026)

  • This falls into that rare subcategory of tunes - ones that turn out to have been live all along, but you would never have known until the very end. I’m thinking of The Unthanks, Sea Song. And others, definitely, although they have escaped my powers of recall at present.

    Anyway, if Wikipedia is to be believed then Bon Iver founder Justin Vernon told Rolling Stone Magazine, “They’re the best band I’ve ever heard.”

    Beat that!

• Romare - Breathe (24th June 2026)

  • How do you write k backwards in computerland? It must be possible, surely?

    Google suggested this, but I’m too IT illiterate to know what to actually do with what it gave me: ℭ (U+212D) or 𝐊 (U+1D40B).

    In the wrong hands, this may as well be the code for Chocolate Teapot.

    And I am ok with that.

    My attempt would be >| .

    But that ain’t fooling anyone.

    I was hoping to write ‘old skool’ with a backwards k.

    And now I see that autocorrect has helpfully written this as ‘old stool’ anyway, which beats anything I was going to write, quite frankly.

    So here it is - you’re very own old stool offering that will make you glad to be alive. The meditative utterings are brilliant if you can get into them, too.

    Take a moment.

    And meditate to old stools.

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Recent and Decent Album Journal

• POLIÇA - Better Live (5th June 2026)

  • I’m glad I listened to Chris’s playlist ahead of time so that I could enjoy POLIÇA and then discover that they have a new album out and that it’s all live and that it’s full of cool electronica whizzing and bassy dubbing.

• Oxis - Oxis 9 (17th July 2026)

  • Apparently I’m big into brooding female electronic artists at the moment who can juxtapose a softness in the vocals with an industrial, hard-hitting hostility to it all.

• Polly - Death Drive (22nd September 2025)

  • Yes! Ambitious and sexy, loud and guitary. There are some bluesy elements, some sparse and moody bits, and some funky pyschy do-daas. Good ol’ fun.

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Sign off

I’ve been asked to interview some bands for a local festival so I’ll probably do a little write-up about it soon. I’ve also got the details for my next three gigs so I’ll share details about those too. If you’re into that sorta thing. If not, there will be the same old brilliant music shared next week as well as the monthly round-up.

You been to see anyone live recently? Any song/album recommendations?

Keep it recent and decent peeps.