Scottish New Music Round-up: January 2024

Okay okay, so when we sent the December issue to print, not much had been announced yet in the way of Scottish releases, so this column didn't exist last month. Since then, however, some pretty good stuff has happened, especially on 1 December. Hudson Mohawke released his collaborative album L’Ecstasy with Tiga featuring lots of rubbery bass, synthetic sounds and otherworldly bloops across its 73-minute runtime. Almost exactly a year on from releasing their debut EP, Humour returned with another, entitled A Small Crowd Gathered to Watch Me, featuring more of frontman Andreas Christodoulidis' manic and intoxicating yelps over stringent guitar lines.

The same day also brought the debut self-titled EP from Get Wrong, which opens with the line ‘Happiness is a warm sandwich in the back of a Toyota Corolla on the hard shoulder’, which is just, *chef's kiss*. The new project from The Spook School’s Adam Todd and Martha’s Naomi Griffin, Get Wrong was produced, recorded and mixed by Field Music’s Peter Brewis, and mastered by his brother and bandmate David; the EP’s five tracks ooze 80s, all swirling synths and party drums – we can’t get enough.

Elsewhere we missed Deterioration, pt. 2, the second EP from Glasgow post-punk outfit Poster Club, as well as a slew of singles from philomenah (i can’t wait), Doom Scroller (Cold River Flow), rEDOLENT (How are you making this look so easy?), Rudi Zygadlo (Fuck AI), Doss (King of the Castle), Maxwell Weaver (Where You Wanna Go), Health and Beauty (remix of Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Bee Asha (Gitika), and Water Machine (Art Fair / Blisters). So yeah, we missed a lot, please forgive us.

Looking forward to new releases this month, here’s some of what we’re excited about. First up is Lomond Campbell’s remix of Kathryn Joseph’s exceptional 2022 record for you who are the wronged (19 Jan, Rock Action). Featuring remixes of five of the album’s tracks, Campbell has worked wonders here, turning the heart-shattering originals into cathartic dancefloor-worthy bangers. Electronics are dark, eerie and witchy, but bright and breath-giving as hints of 90s trance euphoria, rave, techno and piano house lift Joseph's voice to new blissful heights. This coming together of two masters of the Scottish music scene is the exorcising punch through the cold winter that we all need, hopefully leading us to a more prosperous 2024. Not to be greedy, but more of this please.

If leaning into the gloominess of winter is more your bag, then the beautifully sombre and questioning Radical Abundance from Victoria Hume is the one for you. Out via Lost Map on 19 January, the record draws its inspiration from Jason Hickel’s book Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World, as well as discussions with Hickel and others who are attempting to challenge capitalism across their work in Scotland.

Kathryn Joseph & Lomond Campbell. Credit: Mark Bevan.

Combining alt-folk, jazz and ambient, the record perfectly captures the mood of the numerous difficult subjects Hume touches on. It’s in the long-held violin that cries over Steady State as she sings ‘There is a great funnel in the sky / That sucks up nature and time / And they call it enterprise’. It’s in the sluggish, lilting, almost eye-rolling guitars of Bad Lover as Hume likens the state of the economy to that of being in a toxic relationship. It’s in the gentle and delicate picked strings of Daughter’s Song as Hume sings ‘But if it’s all you do / Think of me / And their future too’. It’s in the hypnagogic piano motif of Borrowers as Hume muses: ‘I dreamed a dream that no one had to work to buy a house to live in’. Radical Abundance is a hopeful and stunning collection of songs, the ideal listen for those ready to start a gentle revolution.

Another stunning record we’re excited about for January is the gorgeous and atmospheric Together With Yourself At Sea Level (31 Jan) from Gillian Fleetwood. A collaboration with C Duncan recorded at Hospitalfield House, the record’s goal is 'to celebrate art and its ability to help us restore, recover, connect and learn.' Across its 13 tracks, everyone involved is given time to shine. Laura Wilkie’s fiddle soars, Suz Applebe’s cello adds a rich depth, Mike Owers’ brass adds pomp and menace. But the real star is Fleetwood’s deft playing of Hospitalfield's 200-year-old Erard Grecian harp which sparkles like frosty blades of grass on a bright winter's day, adding an almost mystical feel to a record that otherwise sounds undeniably rooted in Scotland. Perfect new year winter listening.

Beyond those three releases, Beth Karp’s thoughtful Roots/Routes arrives on 3 January, while on the 12th we get My Reptile Brain, the brand new upbeat and boisterous record from Glasgow outfit Bunkhouse. Plus there are new singles from Pedalo (Mystery, 5 Jan), Quiet Houses (What My Heart Is For, 5 Jan) and Crush Mouse (Stunt Pegs, 16 Jan).

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