Any artist is welcome to send us a track via freshonthenet.co.uk anytime between Monday lunchtime and Thursday morning (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 8th February: 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/batch394

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 that have been previously submitted and tracks from banned artists will also be removed.

ENTIRE INBOX: Batch 394

William A Ferguson: guitars, bass, drums.


“Ship of Fools” is a lyrical voyage into the heart of human delusion. Its verses paint a surreal picture: a creaking ship, adrift with “no compass, no anchor, no shore in sight.” The crew, lost in hollow laughter and tangled lies, dances “in circles, round and round,” chasing a horizon that offers no joy. The song’s tone is mournful, almost ghostly, with lines like “the waves, they whisper, they call us home / but we’re too far gone, too far to roam” tugging at the soul. It’s not about one person or one failure—it’s about all of us, those moments when we cling to broken dreams or deny the truths staring us in the face.The song’s power lies in its universality. It doesn’t name names or point fingers; it invites us to see ourselves in the “splintered deck” and the fading moonlight. Whether it’s a career we chased too long, a belief we couldn’t let go, or a relationship we knew was sinking, we’ve all boarded a ship of fools at some point. The repetitive chorus—“lost at sea, where no truth is found”—drives home the cyclical nature of our missteps, yet its poetic cadence makes the journey feel almost beautiful in its tragedy.






Ship of Fools

“New Rhythm” is about inherited weight — the moods, silences, and patterns passed down before we even know who we are. It’s not a song of ghosts or victims, but of turning those invisible burdens into movement. A body can learn a new rhythm. Survival can become music. This track is both confession and experiment: what happens when we translate psychology into sound?

New Rhythm

GONE

Lost bullets find their way to little hearts 
big dreams of classes and all their parts
Shots fired, little lungs run out of air 
they’ll be good if they survive, they swear 
Their school bleeds from all corners
each week they welcome new mourners
Stray bullets, shots fired, the war on drugs 
little dreamers between cops and thugs
Corpses that never got to grow full size
Too much pigment for politicians to empathize 
Their education lost to the drug trade 
Their lives lost to bullets that strayed
Battles on the news between vain fixes
Ignored by those worshiping crucifixes

The day life stopped in the shanty town
days, weeks, months, it comes back around
Build walls here to keep them out
little girls sold there to the local talent scout
The bricks are designed to keep you in
Freedom up to the choice of your guillotine 
Those bellow gave up hope long ago
Those above maintain the status quo

This year he had single digit geography lessons
But he can name tons of vicious weapons
Conditioned to find life a normality 
with the constant threat of senseless brutality
born to brown parents with empty pockets
1% indifferent as living-cost skyrockets
Legal pharmaceuticals profiting from the sick
Those trying to decriminalize seen as lunatics
Exclusion begins with a lack of arithmetic
Inclusion is stalled by insidious politics
They stare at the same sky but their roofs are different
Watch them die on a new t.v., their suffering insignificant
Favelas periodically suffer a disease outbreak
Not enough think about which side to take

The day life stopped in the shanty town
days, weeks, months, it comes back around
Build walls here to keep them out
little girls sold there to the local talent scout
The bricks are designed to keep you in
Freedom up to the choice of your guillotine 
Those bellow gave up hope long ago
Those above maintain the status quo

Deferred Hope

I wrote this song thinking about things I wish I could forget. With all my music, I want to capture a feeling and create a little universe.

lyric video: https://youtu.be/X80KAShPLYg

littleuniverses

Those Things

Heirloom

Our Love

ALTAR

http://penfriend.rocks

I can’t do much of anything when I’m feeling down, let alone write a song about it, but one day in 2019 when I was trudging my way back, I made an attempt to leave a breadcrumb trail for my future self. 

"The Only Way Out Is Through" is my attempt to trap the "shapeless forces" that "pull at me", making them solid by assigning words to them, reducing their power and size to something I might feasibly be able to overcome. The aspirational sentiment that “resistance is crucial, forgiveness is beautiful” is one I find very hard to enact in the moment, but something I can at least continue to strive for. 

Ironically, this song is being released during my lowest fortnight of the last 12 months, so the safety line of lyrics I knotted inside the music is a helpful reminder of brighter days. 

The choice to release music in a universally dark time isn’t one I take lightly. “The Only Way Out Is Through” is the most resonant and useful piece of music I have to offer right now, a rescue raft for whoever needs one. 

That’s what this song is for me.

LYRICS 

Gotta get out of this 
Making a meal of distress 
Fatalistic to the bone 
Thunderclouds in every home 
Gotta get out of this 

The only way out is through 
Not gonna lose my heart - I never meant to 
The only way out is through 

Gotta get out of this 
Drowning in yesterday's tears 
Intimate conspiracies 
Shapeless forces pull at me 
Gotta get out of this 

The only way out is through 
Not gonna lose my heart - I never meant to 
The only way out is through 

The only way out is through 
Not gonna lose my heart 
I never meant to wish on a falling star 
But I won't let it go 

Denial take me away 
Pretend like I'm not the queen of stretching the days 
In all the wrong ways - til they break 
Denial take me away 
I crave your sweet mistakes but 
Resistance is crucial 
Forgiveness is beautiful 

The only way out is through 
Not gonna lose my heart - I never meant to 
The only way out is through

CREDITS
released September 8, 2020 
Written, produced, performed and engineered by Laura Kidd. Mixed by Dan Austin. Drums by Max Saidi.

The Only Way Out Is Through

"Belfast Bobsled duo create a laid-back hazy jangle pop atmosphere on their latest single ‘Drive’."
Nialler9
12 new songs from emerging Irish artists you should hear

"Irish duo bobsled team have swooned their way into our hearts with their latest offering, “Drive.” It’s a humble, but hooky dream-pop song, lush with jangly guitars and ethereal vocals. These two seem to thrive in this bedroom niche, but have a real knack for rhythm and melody. “Drive” evolves into a catchy chant while never losing it’s in-the-aether vibe that makes it sincere and heartfelt in the first place. We think you’ll love this one too – check it out below or add it to your Spotify playlist."
buffaBLOG

"Channelling some dreamy goodness of acts of the 90s with some soothing atmospheric production that perfectly compliment their dream-inducing vocal work and arrangements. The track is a bit of an ear-worm that slowly but surely showcases a hint of art-pop appeal, the sort of song that will help lift your spirits a bit during this pretty tough time. There’s a genuine heartfelt emotional element to “drive” that casts its spell on you and never lets go, and before you know it you’re hitting the replay button and let the music do the rest."
We All Want Someone To Shout For

"The band only released their debut single, This Pink Moon, back in July, yet have already caught the ear of BBC Introducing as well as a smattering of the best small blogs around... The track sits neatly alongside This Pink Moon’s indie-pop influenced sounds, and previous single You’re So Cool, which dialled up the slacker-rock tones to create a slice of fuzz-pop perfection. What impresses most about Bobsled Team is the way they dip their toes into a vast array of styles while still maintaining their own unique sound; even right at the beginning of their musical journey, they’re a band more than worthy of your time.."
For the Rabbits

Drive

Track 11 of 12 

A crippled space laboratory falls rapidly towards the Earth...

We're Losing The Will To Survive (The Skylab Disaster)

Old Ways (Radio Edit)

from propeller (inner workings), released December 4, 2020 
https://hungersleeprecords.bandcamp.com/album/propeller-inner-workings

An unplugged version of The Cage from GRICE'S album Propeller featuring the late (magnificent) Raphael Ravenscroft on sax.  

The album cover and track artwork images are also early incarnations of the Propeller CD artwork. (original artwork courtesy of British artist Elizabeth McAlpine)

GRICE: lead vocals, electric guitar, horn arrangements. 
Raphael Ravenscroft: saxophone. 
Joe Breban: drums 
Jerri Hart: trumpet 
Ondrej Pochyly: acoustic and electric violin 

Album cover images originally from 'Quintet’ courtesy of Elizabeth McAlpine. 
Cover designs: GRICE 

Recorded at Sound Gallery Studios, UK 
Engineered by Duncan Chave & GRICE 
Mastered by Duncan Chave 
Composed, arranged and produced by GRICE 

www.gricemusic.co.uk 

© 2020 GRICE 
℗ 2020 Hungersleep Records

Propeller (inner workings)

The Cage (Bird Cage mix)

"Little Alien" by Butterjunk - Track 1 on the 'Normalised EP'
Release Date: 25 January 2021

Facebook: bit.ly/FB-Butterjunk
Spotify: bit.ly/Butterjunk-Spotify

Little Alien

Butterjunk - Little Alien

Can We Stay

Weakness

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: 
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Marrying the sounds of vocal Soul, modern Jazz and 90s Hip-hop; Bristol collective CURA offer a new twist to the emerging UK Neo-Soul scene. Comprised of saxophonist and vocalist Rosie P, George Thomas on the bass, and producer beat maker Ben Charlton as multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. After assembling in June last year, CURA have already been championed by BBC Introducing. With their debut single ‘Full House’ scoring in BBC Music Introducing in the West's top 20 songs of 2020, the new year is set to hold multiple exciting releases for this up-and-coming trio.

Can We Stay

CURA

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