Scottish New Music Round-up: July 2022

With festival season fully back in June, it was hard to keep up with new releases. Towards the end of the month Glasgow funk and hip-hop collective DOPESICKFLY released the infectious Red Light, while Glasgow brother and sister pairing Cloth released the eerily sublime Lucid, announcing in the same breath that they'd been signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action label, with new EP, Low Sun, to follow in October.

In July, there are some pretty big releases to look out for in the world of Scottish music. Idlewild celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Remote Part with a special vinyl reissue on 15 July, Amy Macdonald releases Don’t Tell Me That It’s Over, a new collection of reimagined fan favourites on 8 July. Following a run of small shows ahead of his headline slot at TRNSMT this month, Paisley’s favourite son Paolo Nutini returns with Last Night in the Bittersweet, out now. Read our full review of the record here. At the more experimental end of the spectrum, on 15 July Glasgow’s Kay Logan releases Music for Counterflows under her Helena Celle moniker. 

Fresh from playing our stage at Kelburn Garden Party, Edinburgh-based Indonesian-Swedish singer-songwriter Nicole Cassandra Smit releases her debut album of original material on 8 July via Liljekonvalj Records. Having already caught the ear of BBC 6 Music’s Craig Charles for her inaugural single, Strong Woman, her debut album Third In Line truly levels up. In places, the record calls to mind artists like Nuyorican Soul, Nitin Sawhney and Moloko-era Róisín Murphy, the latter particularly on the bass-led Quest.

A record conceptually split into three parts, it reflects the role Smit plays within three generations of women in her family. Effortlessly fusing together a multitude of styles from jazz, blues, trip-hop, hip-hop, R’n’B, alt-soul and more, instrumentally it's a wonder as soaring strings dance with shuffling drums, guitar, bass, brass, electronics and more. The addition of guest vocal turns from the likes of Philadelphian rapper Kameelah Waheed and Edinburgh’s Joseph Malik feel perfectly placed, too, elevating the record. But the star in all of this is Smit’s exceptional and always assured voice which is nothing short of captivating throughout; no matter if it’s at a more vulnerable moment or over a thick groove, Smit oozes with soul and endless character.

Finlay MacDonald released his self-titled debut album as wor_kspace on 1 July; he's an artist whose glitchy music concrète compositions and bending synths of his ext_ended EP had us smitten last August. Recorded on laptop in MacDonald's own 'Analogue Mountain' tape-based studio (see: brick shed), three of the tracks from that EP – song, transfer and weekend – now have a new home on wor_kspace. They're perfectly peppered throughout this 11-track record, where even more delicious electronic beeps, bloops and more collide with MacDonald’s dreamy vocals. Oh, and there's some lovely vocoder work to be found here too. Yes please and thank you very much.

Further into the month, on 15 July self-professed purveyors of ‘soupy rock’, Glasgow’s The Wife Guys of Reddit (named after a King Gizzard subreddit) release The Wife Guys Walk Into Oncoming Traffic. Opening with the charming Wife Guys Diss Track, it's quickly clear that their music is just as tongue-in-cheek as their name. Overall, this EP is an incredibly satisfying brand of slacker indie all its own; sounding just as good when they ramp up the BPM as when they slow it right down, lazy, jangly guitars, murky underwater vocals and unexpected bossa novas keep us well and truly on our toes.

On the same day, Ballboy frontman Gordon McIntyre releases his debut solo record, Even With the Support of Others, via Lost Map Records. Born out of a commission from Elizabeth Newman, artistic director of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, following a request from her to write some songs to form part of their Shades of Tay lockdown special. Conversations about the natural world, cities, landscapes, countrysides, bridges and rivers form the basis of this ten-track album. Delightfully connected to the world around us, there's a gentle and melancholic sincerity to McIntyre's voice making for a wholly soothing listen.

Elsewhere, Declan Welsh & the Decadent West release their Impermanency EP on 4 July, with Jack Brotherhood’s hilariously titled Live, Laugh, Jack Brotherhood EP due on 22 July. There are a whole host of singles out this month too from the likes of Blush Club, who release the exciting Ornamental Ponds (1 Jul), the title track of their forthcoming EP due later in the year. On the same day Zak Younger Banks released Shadow in the Sun, while Clare Grogan’s Altered Images released Beautiful Thing. On 6 July, Scotland-based rapper Psweatpants releases the UK garage-indebted The Rave (ft. Priya), while on 8 July, Edinburgh-based R’n’B and electronic artist philomenah releases lavender, singer-songwriter Rachel Jack releases Colour Me Unimpressed, and Lou Mclean goes all synthpop on RBF – short for resting bitch face, of course.