NBHAP’s Daily Tunes of July 2018: Our 5 Highlights Of The Month

Ain't it wonderful to start your day with a fresh piece of music? A song you can experience for the very first time, free from any expectations. Every day the writers of NBHAP pick a new one for you, present them on our page and add the to our paylist. These have been our highlights from the past weeks.

01/08/2018
by NBHAP Writers Staff

Boy Azooga – ‘Breakfast Epiphany’

There’s quite some hype surrounding today’s Daily Tune artist. Boy Azooga from Cardiff have already performed on the legendary Later… with Jools Holland and been given some airplay on the BBC’s radio stations. The quartet is the project of the Charlotte Church-drummer Davey Newington and has been around since their first single Face Behind Her Cigarette which was released in late 2017. Since then, Boy Azooga have released their debut album 1,2 Kung Fu! in early June. On the release day they also released the video for the first song Breakfast Epiphany. It’s a warm and melancholic indie rock tune which lets us follow the lads on a Guiness drinking spree. With their debut in the back, the quartet will head out on a lengthy UK and Ireland tour in autumn. They’ll also make stops in Berlin and for Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival, so don’t miss them. (Louisa Zimmer)

Hatchie – ‘Bad Guy’

Photo by Alex Wall

The hype is already pretty strong in this one. Australian newcomer Hatchie is right here to become your favourite new indie pop crush of this summer. Her recent debut EP Sugar & Spice delivers all the arguments in the form of five really tempting tunes. Hatchie‘s musical territory is the hazy sound of early 90s dream pop/ shoegaze in the style Slowdive and Cocteau Twins. But compared to the iconic role models she’s really heading straight for pop catchiness as well, giving her music the best of both worlds, sort of. Bad Guy is a fine representative of that combination.

For a few people and lovers of the original shoegaze sounds she might be trying a but too hard (doing a similar thing like Pale Waves and The 1975 did with indie/new wave) but personally I think the songs speak for themselves. Hatchie knows how to craft a good pop tune and with her ability to embrace influences from multiple musical worlds she’s another great example of that new post-genre generation. Jump on the bandwagon right now, before everyone does, kids. I surely do. (Norman)

Majken – ‘Lovely Daughter’

Majken Formerly a harp-slinger who called herself Stella Lugosi (s/o to Bauhaus and old-school horror fans), Malmö songwriter and musician Anna Majken reincarnated herself as just Majken late last year. And now she’s got new music to go with the new name. Lovely Daughter is her debut single as Majken, and it’s a soft, acoustic song that flickers like a candle in the breeze. Harp notes dance around the scrappy acoustic guitar in a stripped-back musical soundscape, and Majken’s voice unfolds slowly over the scene. She makes her vocal mark subtly here, matching the music’s mood by keeping her voice reserved and gentle, with a ghostly and gripping refrain. It’s out now on Kollektivet, and a debut album is due later this year. (Austin)

Art School Girlfriend – ‘Moon’

‘At night, it feels like you can interact with people in a way that daytime doesn’t allow; or if you avoid the light, you can simply move through the world unseen’, Art School Girlfriend from Margate (Kent) her track Moon. The song by the Wolf Tone label (it hosts artists such as The Horrors or Glass Animals) signing is a sizzling track that creates its own, dark song landscape. The video also questions the typical gender rules as Art School Girlfriend focusses in her music on topics like lust, queer identity, infatuation and disillusionment. Her influences include artists such as Nick Cave, Patti Smith and The Velvet Underground. And you can definitely sense that in her dark, atmospheric music. The first EP Meausures was released last September with Moon being her first track in a while. Art School Girlfriend will also head out on a lengthy UK tour throughout October. (Louisa Zimmer)

Hater – ‘I Wish I Gave Your More Time Because I Love You’

Oh sweet, sweet Hater! By now I probably told you more than once that the four Swedes I my favourite new indie crush of the season. After painfully ignoring her lovely 2017 debut album You Tried and its quick follow-up EP Red Blinders I fell in love with both of them simultaneously this spring following a really charming performance at Groningen’s Eurosonic festival. Thank god, it looks like Hater are just warming up for a promising future. September 28 will see the release of their second album Siesta and the band just released a charming double single to tease the record. While the A-Side It’s So Easy is indeed a charming uplifting indie gem I personally fell more in love with the melancholic flipside. I Wish I Gave You More Time Because I Love You is a great example of that youthful and dreamy melancholy the band often spreads. Distinctive singer Caroline Landahl carries the bittersweet song that feels like a warm summer breeze. Yes, I am still in love and you should be too. (Norman)

NBHAP’s Daily Tunes from July 2018

Find all of those songs and plenty of other new music in the following playlist which – obviously – gets updated daily … except for August as the section will have a little summer break then.