Husband and wife Carl and Kat Mann are Wiltshire based duo Shapes Like People. Carl is originally from Kent, U.K., and Kat from Wellington, New Zealand. Carl Mann is the lead vocalist and guitarist of The Shop Window and co-wrote Kylie Minogue’s Ocean Blue. His intention at first was to record demos to pitch to Kylie, but as the project developed, he loved the sound of his wife Kat’s guide vocal on the demos. So much so that they decided to turn the project into Shapes Like People. Their first album, Ticking Haze was released in 2025 and praised as a lush mix of jangle-pop and Americana, with a shoegaze twist. Firmly committed to continuing to make music together, Carl’s masterful guitar driven melodies and Kat’s layered vocals are the driving force behind their new twelve track album Under The Rainbow released in April 2026 on Jangleshop/Subjangle.
Neon Pink, the second album from Sunlit, confirms how Joe Moore (also active with the magnificent The Yearning – recently returned with a new single- Julie et Joe, and The Perfect Kiss) has refined the introspective direction of his debut into something more immediate and emotionally exposed. Rooted in a gentle, caressing strain of dream pop, the album unfolds as a direct meditation on love in its many forms: Beside recounts a fulfilling and reciprocated relationship; the title track captures the exhilarating moment when you sense that your loved one reciprocates; Pompeii Moment, like a more mature version of the Smiths’ There Is a Light…, revels in the idea of dying beside your loved one when the world ends. Its sonic palette draws on familiar atmospheres, and its ethereal guitars are wrapped in soft, enveloping production. Yet Moore shapes these influences into something distinctly personal, where nostalgia and melancholy are balanced by a quiet, dreamlike sense of contentment. The melodies, supported by restrained arrangements that enhance their mood, are subtle yet memorable, almost as if Cigarettes After Sex had suddenly stopped writing the same song over and over again. What stands out most is the emotional arc: the record moves seamlessly from warmth and connection to longing and quiet pain (the album’s saddest song, Let You Down, describes the end of a relationship), capturing fleeting moments with disarming sincerity. Moore’s vocals, intimate and unguarded, reinforce this closeness, lending the songs a human fragility that anchors the lush instrumentation. Neon Pink ultimately maintains a delicate balance between vulnerability and clarity. An album of shadowy, understated beauty that simultaneously fascinates and enthralls.
Taking their name from a coastal flower, Golden Samphire Band is a new project from brothers Mik and Rich Hanscomb and fellow Sussex seaside dweller, Hannah Lewis. Having worked together on tracks for the brother’s previous album as Junkboy (2023’s Littoral States), the three resolved to move forward as one with a set of songs that expand on those earlier ideas—maritime suburbia in all its mythical and marvellous mundanity. This time, however, they approach it through a cycle of home-recorded, informed psych-folk-pop-pocket-symphonies. Their debut album, Dream Is The Driver, released on Wayside & Woodland, was recorded at home between 2024 and 2025, with the band handling writing, production, and much of the engineering themselves. The band itself describes it as “psychogeographically-informed” music, meaning it draws heavily on place and environment, particularly the Sussex coast. Across its nine tracks, the tone is reflective and atmospheric, focusing on small, everyday experiences elevated into something slightly surreal or poetic. At times (I dare to say) it recalls a 1960’s psych-folk band gently flirting with dream pop. The title track comes from a phrase used by Rich’s pen friend’s young son to describe pictures of bullet trains he drew from his home in Yokohama. Upon seeing these pictures, Hannah developed the idea into a meditation on movement: municipal transport passing by trees, as well as on aspiration, self-actualisation, and the search for creative agency in what can feel like an artless, screen-mediated world. The result is a suite of songs that are the culmination of three friends’ shared interests and intersecting lives along the Sussex coastline, while also expressing a sense of hope and a beautiful tomorrow. After all, in seaside towns, surf’s never really up…
Italian duo Pinhdar return with Comfort in the Silence, an intimate yet subtly defiant album. Across its nine tracks, the Milan-based band refine their signature blend of trip-hop, darkwave, and electronica, dreamlike and rich in texture, yet never lapsing into imitation. Instead, they delve deeper into a sound that is unmistakably their own: understated, atmospheric, and deeply emotional. There’s a strong sense of identity here. The sound recalls their previous work, yet nothing feels recycled; it’s about continuity rather than repetition. The minimalist arrangements leave space for feeling and reflection, with ethereal synths and subtle guitar flourishes creating a nocturnal, almost suspended atmosphere. The result is less about catchy hooks and more about immersion. Lyrically, the album explores fragility in a fractured world, touching on themes of war, alienation, and the struggle to remain human. Tracks like Fade and Neiko stand out not for their grandeur, but for the way they linger, balancing melancholy with a quiet sense of calm. There’s a poetic weight to the silence they evoke. What makes Comfort in the Silence so compelling is its quiet confidence. In a landscape often dominated by trends, Pinhdar choose consistency and authenticity. It’s a mature and cohesive work, quite possibly their best yet.
Indie Sunset in Rome 