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 25th November 2024. 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/batch551

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 551

Our moderators listened to every track we were sent this week and have picked their favourites for your listening pleasure this weekend:

Listening Post: Batch 551

Apocritical Mass

Geiger

Chameleon

‘Deadly Sins’ is the second full-length LP by London/Devon indie-pop quintet Lemonade Sin, based around the songwriting partnership of Lee Friese-Greene and Simon Aldous.

Each song was inspired by one of the Seven Deadly Sins: wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, pride, lust and envy.

Musically its eclecticism is in keeping with previous Lemonade Sin releases, described by the Other Side fanzine as “an ever-changing style, wandering from grunge to pop, folk and indie-rock” as well as some forays into a more electronic dance style– but united by the common threads of Lee and Simon’s interplaying vocals and lush harmonies.

“You hear the word ‘sin’ and most people probably think of lasciviousness,” says Simon. “In fact we probably did too when we had the initial idea. But you start to delve into the different sins and if anything it’s more about human frailty in its many difference guises.

This is particularly the theme of “Having A Better Time” which deals with social-media-inspired fomo; and “Plenty in the Pantry” which begins as almost a celebration of gluttony before looking at why someone might feel the need to overindulge in this way.

Other songs act more as defences for sins. Album opener “Clutter” makes the case for sloth, a spoken word section listing the vast number of songs, videos, books and podcasts created every day “the vast majority of which is entirely unremarkable”. With such an abundance of stuff, it suggests, isn’t doing nothing a greater contribution to the world?

As with previous releases, Lemonade Sin have enlisted the production talents of Lucy and Matthew Board (of the band Pale Blue Eyes). The band recorded the first seven songs in Lucy and Matt’s Devon studio but ended up being the last people to record there as the studio was then packed up and moved to their new base in Sheffield, with resumption of recording delayed while they constructed their new studio.

And there is a noticeable difference in the feel of the two sets of songs with the Sheffield tracks featuring more electronic drums and synths and being very much studio creations while the Devon recordings make extensive use of Lemonade Sin’s live band, Simon and Lee being augmented by Charlotte Beale (bass and backing vocals), Jennifer Denitto (drums) and Robin Morgan (keyboards).

I Want It All

Figure It Out

Inspired by Floyd Patterson and Karl Jaspers

Motivation

Burning up

When the worst of things has happened, 
And the rain goes on and on, 
Still the kids play cricket in the rubble all summer long… 

Fella with his bowler hat on, 
Says we’re bold and brave and strong, 
And the kids play cricket in the rubble all summer long… 

It’s the 1940s Britain, 
I don’t mind admitting that they went through hell and back, 
I guess that I’m proud of that… 

I guess we just remember what we choose,
And paper over things with glue… 

The world is something like a baby bird just hatched in spring, 
How I love to hear that little bird sing, 
Love to hear that little bird sing

Now the best of things has happened, 
And the war we fought is won, 
And still the kids play cricket, they play cricket, the kids play cricket… 

It’s the 1940s Britain, 
I don’t mind admitting that there’s a lot to feel good about, 
To never forget and to sing about

If only we were brave enough to tell, 
The stories of our gory deeds as well

The world is something like a baby bird just hatched in spring, 
How I love to hear that little bird sing, 
Love to hear that little bird sing

Ooh la la la, 
Ooh la la la, 
Ooh la la la ooh

And when we muddy the waters, 
We sell out our sons and our daughters, it’s true 

The world is something like a baby bird just hatched in spring, 
How I love to hear that little bird sing, 
Love to hear that little bird sing 
And the world is something like a baby bird just hatched in spring, 
How I love to hear that little bird sing

Little Bird Sing

A couple of new songs. First one was written in September there, the other one in October. All parts written, recorded, performed and mixed by Josh Healy.

Both tracks home recorded to 4 track cassette tape using a tascam portastudio 7, with some digital overdubs added later to both tracks.