Pollyfromthedirt Anglo Gray vibes and this week’s best new tracks | music

from (Darlington, County Durham).
Recommended if you like Blood Orange, Dean Plant, Elliott Smith
the next The Dirt Pt 1 EP is available now

As the Internet spreads underground artists like mouthwash, it’s becoming harder to separate the visionaries from the hackers. But Pollyfromthedirt’s sinuous pastoral pop demands more than just a passing pass. Released independently this week, the County Durham native’s debut EP collides brass band samples, quivering MIDI strings and eerie acoustic guitar together. There’s a trace of Elliot Smith in his grey-toned songwriting, but he crafts them entirely with raw drum machines, soaring vocals, and DIY production. At best, like the strangest song on the EP, Kalm, the music strays away from traditional song structure and indulges in a swirling, delay-soaked atmosphere.

He doesn’t share his real name and often plays the role convincingly, channeling a healthy touch of Dean Blunt in both voice and atmosphere. However, his most immediate peers may be fellow UK outfits Worldpeace DMT, Westside Cowboy and Aya. His deft realism cuts through a crowded landscape: his new song “There’s No Such Thing as England” subtly speaks to the country’s growing right-wing nationalism as a metaphor for abandoned romanticism and suburban gloom – “There’s no such thing as England / There’s no such thing as us for me” – while a weekend in Mallorca allows those same sentiments to melt into a classic trip: “I’m in love, I’m brave / For a weekend in Mallorca.

His descriptions of cold nights, broken-down cars, strange neighbors, and teenage escapism all feel vaguely familiar—attempts to reshape the frayed edges of memory from nostalgia into something new. Archie Ford

The best new songs of the week

Hen ogled – the scales will fall
Featuring a spleen rap from Dawn Bothwell that denounces today’s political leadership as feudal, followed by the most impassioned choruses and ready trumpet terror, this is an invigorating anthem from the UK’s psychedelic thinkers. BPT

Fine – moment
“Sometimes I call you right then,” Dane sings impetuously — but her slow, country-tinged Mazy Star-ish ballad, made for the last souls on the dance floor, burns steadily, waiting for them to come to her. L.S

Tims – What you need
The Nigerian star lets her stunning vocal tone sit at the forefront in this song as she recalls a time in a crisis-ridden relationship: “Your love is like an endless sea: it won’t lead me anywhere.” BPT

Lucinda Williams – We’ve come too far to go back (with Norah Jones)
The union of these two powerhouse singers suggests Americana take on VH1’s old Divas format, where they whine about getting out of the way into Hammond organ and stately piano. L.S

Closeness – Love is not enough
The returning metalcore pioneers argue for a more combative and less dovish stance when dealing with society’s ghouls, but they don’t shy away from self-examination either: “We must grow to taste our own blood.” BPT

Haley Hendricks and Max Garcia-Conover – each with a point
“And if I look at you and your anger as a testicle / Humanity’s interest is a round thing,” Hendricks sings, tempering her anger in this folksy lament about man acting against his own interest. L.S

Svalbard – If We Could Still Be Saved
After great albums like The Weight of the Mask and When I Die, Will I Get Better?, this metalcore epic becomes the Bristol band’s final song. “Think of it as the metal version of ‘Goodbye by the Spice Girls!'” says singer Serena Cherry. BPT

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