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 May 20: 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/batch530

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.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 530

03 St Ives

‘Straight For You’ is a deep dive into the feelings so many young women feel due to the unrealistic expectations put to them by society. I wrote this song on my bedroom floor after feeling overwhelmed by all of the noise from the media directed straight at anything and everything enjoyed by young women. I wanted to take these big, heavy feelings and convert them into something empowering and whimsical, so I drew inspiration from some of my favourite strong female characters, ‘Daenerys Targaryen’ and ‘Arya Stark’ from Game Of Thrones. I later went on the work on the track with platinum selling producer Jack Gourlay.

Straight For You

A Magpie Came Today

Casa Los Abuelos

The music of "Sorrow & Pain" is inspired by the classical piano piece "Sonata for Piano No. 20 in A major, D 959" by Franz Schubert and is Betty's own arrangement.
Portobello Express will once again venture into the interpretation of a piano classic, as they did with 'Unique' - inspired by Tchaikovsky. One of Betty's favourite classical composers is the Austrian romantic Franz Schubert (1797-1828).
This piece is from the composer's last collection of sonatas, written in the last months of his life, between the spring and autumn of 1828. He died of siphilis at the age of 31.  
As so often in the past, 'Sorrow & Pain' was born from a bass line that Betty had dreamed up in the night after studying Sonata No. 20 the previous evening.

____________

LondonPeaky (find him on X @LondonPeaky) said: 

"For me, I absolutely love 'Sorrow & Pain' It's really got under my skin.
Upon hearing the first few seconds, I thought, "here we go, it's going to have a touch of goth..." 
How wrong I was, although I can imagine Siouxsie singing it. But then again, Grace Jones would also do it justice - in a kind of pre-war, Parisian La Vie en Rose style.
There's some blues floating in there ever so gently too. But the song is 'Betty's,' her vocals are a mix of strength and tenderness/vulnerability and I doubt there will be many better releases within the 'indie/unsigned' community this year"

MAL HALLETT (Transvisions Vamp/ Rotten Hill Gang) said:

"My initial impression is that it’s very Germanic, torch song and vaguely expressionistic"
___________________________________________________________________
released May 10, 2024
Bass, vocals, backing vocals: Happy Betty
Guitar: Patrick Slowhand
Guitar: Andy Abraham
Drums: Bertl Baumgartner

Words and Music by Happy Betty

A big shout out to Matthew for all the help, inspiration and friendship he has given me!

Arranged and produced by Happy Betty, Patrick Slowhand, Andy Abraham

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Andy Abraham at farbTon Studio,
© Vienna 2024

Copyright Ⓒ & ℗ 2024 Happy Betty

Sorrow & Pain

Best described as dreamy sad-core, “With You All the Way” is a bittersweet tale about escaping the bad days by dreaming up an alternative world, and guiding others to do the same. The 80s industrial beat is contrasted with cinematic shimmering synths and reverberant piano melodies, evoking the romance of a Billie Eilish song with the energy of a Kenya Grace track.

Manchester born, Brighton based independent artist HEIGHTS creates the kind of emotive alt-pop that could soundtrack your favourite coming-of-age indie film. The self-produced songwriter blends 80s new wave with 90s dream pop, sprinkled with 00s alternative indie. The result - soothing electronic soundscapes perfectly complimented by her celestial vocals.

open.spotify.com/artist/5EdogtWIz…fpQeODUJJnJEWe1Q
www.instagram.com/heightsmusicxo/
https://www.tiktok.com/@heightsmusicx
www.heights-music-xo.uk/

WITH YOU ALL THE WAY

Atlantis

Don't You Want Love Like That

Whole World Watching Me (2024).
A rerecorded piano and vocal version of a song from my first album, Nowhere Is Here.

Whole World Watching Me (2024)

Rookie Manners - Whiplash (Feat. Jae Joven)

breadcrumbs eaten
you're beaten
cracks deepen
when they strip you down
let it burn to the ground

is that all you can take
if you fall, will you break
and let it seal your fate
is that all you can take
yeah

are you going to break now
are you going to break now
when they push you down
deep into the ground

Breadcrumbs

Follow ToTheBurrows

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@totheburrows_
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/totheburrows_/
Twitter | https://twitter.com/totheburrows_
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/totheburrows/

Mood Number One

Totality From Zanzibar... A Cosmogonic Odyssey

Hornet Plus Three

Nothing

Medal

I Gave You All My Love

SugarFüt - Thorn

A Scottish Americana song with a nod to the Pogues. It features a tight, pop structure while staying true to the band’s Scottish roots, Adam Sutherland’s well know fiddle tune was played during the development of the song and fit so well that the band agreed it should stay

Sailing a Boiling Sea

Falling Far

I Saw A Bloody Rose

Fresh On The Net is a music blog hosted by Tom Robinson and Team Freshnet, offering independent artists an open door and a level playing field for their music. Our inbox is open at http://freshonthenet.co.uk every Monday to Thursday morning - if you share a track with us there it will be heard by every member of our moderation team.

IMPORTANT: 
Only send ONE track, and make sure the dropbox says "OPEN".  Sorry, but tracks sent while the dropbox is closed - or shared drectly with this Soundcloud account - will not get heard.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 530

freshnet