Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Wednesday evening (or when we receive 200 submissions, whichever is sooner) - and all our moderators, including Tom Robinson, will listen to every track. This is our full inbox from the week beginning Mon 11th December 2023: from Friday afternoon you'll be able to hear our shortlist and pick your favourites on this week's Listening Post which will appear at freshonthenet.co.uk/batch513

If a track you submitted does not appear in this list, it’s probably because another of your tracks appeared in our Fresh Faves or on the BBC Music Introducing Mixtape during the last three months — we ask that artists featured on either wait three months before resubmitting to give others a chance. 

We also don’t accept short previews or SoundCloud Go tracks that can only be heard as 30 second previews, and tracks made private after submission, which cannot be included in playlists. You will be able to resubmit the track in future. Tracks (and remixes of tracks) that have been previously submitted, and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

Christmas songs and the like are also not eligible for the Listening Post, although we will collect these into a playlist that will be published on 24 December.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 513

Thanks to everyone who came by Fresh On The Net at the weekend to check out  Listening Post 513 and tell us which tracks they liked best. Here, in alphabetical order, are our readers' top favourites. Our reviews are written by Fresh On The Net's Neil March - and you can read them at http://freshonthenet.co.uk/faves513

Fresh Faves: Batch 513

Not Enough

Emma Johnson’s Gravy Boat return this Autumn for the release of their second album Northern Flame, a free-flowing, cinematic jazz record inspired by stories of the strength and resilience of Northern women past and present. 

Developed from a commission for Lancaster Jazz Festival 2022, Northern Flame ties together tales from the history of Lancashire about lighthouse keeper Janet Raby (in first track Force of Light) and local hospice founder Sister Aine Cox (in track 3, Sister) with wider themes of light and the feeling of home. 

Celebrating the launch with a debut performance at London Jazz Festival on the 12th November, key Autumn festivals (Marsden, Hull), and tour dates at Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds, NQ Jazz in Manchester and more, the band share their ‘characteristic Northern warmth & charm’ in live settings through both the music and stories that inspire it. 

Recorded at Giant Wafer Studio in Wales and produced by Ivor Novello nominated James Hamilton, the quintet explores dynamic and interplay further in this new album, which marks a more open and exploratory way of writing and recording for Johnson and Gravy Boat.

Embers - Emma Johnson's Gravy Boat

I Know, I Know

BAD DREAM

Find Sion here: https://on.soundcloud.com/83gmd

Fraudster & Sion - The Bug (Radio Edit)

Trust

I guess it ain't over until the poet speaks...

I thought I was done with music for 2023. 

But London Poet TheNarratorSpeaks sent me his vocals for my song We Was Once and I simply had to finish it for Christmas.

We Was Once explores the theme of a parent's love and wisdom for their child. The song is based on a poem written by TheNarratorSpeaks, who delivers the poem with his distinctive voice and style making the words resonate with the listener whether a parent or child.

The song is a powerful and moving tribute to the bond between a parent and a child, and the lessons that are passed on from one generation to the next. 

The song will be released on December 18th and will be available on all major streaming platforms, the video is out now.

We Was Once Ft TheNarratorSpeaks

The Melancholic’s lament, oh the time I’ve spent.
All the lies I’ve told myself, all the stories on my shelf.

If I’d had more sense, saved more for less expense
my liver wouldn’t be so blue, I would have held on to you

with my hands around each glass I tell myself this will be my last
but at the bottom of the jar is another trip up to the lonely bar.

I may be in denial but I can quit for quite a while
when things settle down for me I won’t need this dependency.

It’s a habit I can kick if I loosen up a bit
my luck will change, my mood will lift, my head will clear a way through this.

My mind’s as sharp as it ever was, I’ve every faith in myself because
I’ve every reason to think I can lose myself and become the man I always wanted to be.

I always wanted to be able to choose to lose this man
and become the one I know I can

but then with my arms around this glass reflecting my deadlines past
I know that it’s not true and looking back so do you.

A Melancholic's Lament

Having taken their time and not simply rushed out another release, the band have honed and perfected their art and are now ready to unveil to the world their brand new single release of ‘Do Ya’ 
‘Do Ya’ with its strumming and thrashing guitars and pounding, crashing drum rhythms is perfectly offset with the almost dark and brooding vocals that positively open up in the chorus hook lines with a rousing upbeat melody. Its pure indie rock grittiness personified to perfection!
The band have said of the track: 
“‘Do Ya’ is about asking questions in life really; easy questions, hard questions, and questions you already know the answers to, really. It's funny, as the verses I'd had for a while, but I never found a place for them. It wasn't until I revisited an old song Reece had written that I found the chorus. The chorus echoes a sentiment most listeners will understand when your mood is completely opposite to someone else's, so much so that it's almost an annoyance, as you can't grasp how they're okay with everything and you're not. From there, the song fell into place as Josh and Reece worked together on the rest of the structure, and the band finalised the music.”
‘Do Ya’ was written by Josh Tallis and Reece Howe. It was recorded at The Nave Studio  in Pudsey, Leeds and was produced By Tom Orrell.