Scottish New Music Round-up: June 2025

There were marvellous records that we missed in the May column, like the intricate, prog-pop album Clients of Suddenness by Louise Connell, or pop-rock band Copper Lungs’ debut Broken Beautiful, the intimate acoustic EP Rent Is Due by Francis Bondd, the introspective pop of Erotic and Mostly Empty by Possibly Jamie and the gorgeous widescreen folk-rock of Glasgow outfit Lacuna's new EP What If I Told You I'd Been Lying the Whole Time. Give them a listen, and then catch up on some singles from KuleeAngee (Push It), LAMAYA (Walk Away), Maaike Siegerist (Cosmonaut), Erin Meg (Drenched), TEOSE (Part II) and Ellyn Oliver (Dressed in Daylight).

As for June, arriving at the height of the month is the second album from synth sorceress Elisabeth Elektra. Named after Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison’s concept of an artwork that also functions as a spell, Hypersigil (13 Jun) is a reliquary for all the Glasgow artist’s willpower and charm. The fascination with magic that has influenced Elektra’s discography since her 2020 debut Mercurial is perhaps what has also led to such a rigorous and ritualistic composition style, and the resulting, bewitching record.

The main elements of Hypersigil are buzzy, banging synth stings, and Elektra’s rich, ethereal vocals. Yearning opens a heavy storm of scuzzy drumbeats, over which the synth-pop priestess’s voice dominates; but only the faintest veil of instrumentation introduces Surround Me, where Elektra shows the place of quiet and solitude from which she can build a performance. The relationship between Elektra and electronics shifts from track-to-track, but the fusion always shines brightly. In flashy, 80s-adjacent dance hit Desire, Elektra takes the form of Madonna, and Unbreakable is an amped-up ballad about resilience, with bright chimes appearing like guiding stars. With the assistance of CHVRCHES’ Jonny Scott, Elektra has concocted a bespoke album, each track a talisman, refined to reflect a new dimension of her artistry.

Until then, get excited for 6 June, when Bridge the Gap release Pippa Blundell’s common thread. Blundell’s first album is a journal of tender lyricism, with the words having come to her in travels between Marseille and Glasgow; the high altitude of her flights across the Channel undoubtedly inspired the dreamy imagery, full of longing for the more grounded points of her past. The third track, lay of my land, scribes 'Well it’s so good to stay with you / Now you’re miles away / I remember the shape of you / Left indents where we lay'. Blundell confronts unwanted temptations in a dusty country ballad called crave, while will to take is a fireside acoustic requiem for a dark night of lonely memories. The guitar is Blundell’s constant companion on her travels, but the busier jazz accompaniments on opener say, and the title track, are ornate enough to still complement Blundell’s breathy, heartfelt delivery.

Elisabeth Elektra. Image: Greta Kalva.

Smallpipes virtuoso Brìghde Chaimbeul is back with Sunwise (27 Jun) via tak:til / Glitterbeat. Since 2023’s Carry Them With Us, the two-time SAY Award nominee has only deepened her understanding of this oft-overlooked instrument, resulting in a folk record like no other. The organic drone effect of the pipes is fully embraced across Sunwise, creating metronomic, almost mechanical, rhythms, particularly in songs like A’ Chailleach and She Went Astray.

Following on from his return to the scene as a member of Jewel Scheme, former De Rosa frontman M. John Henry releases Strange Is the Way via Gargleblast Records (20 Jun), a collection of ten heavenly, folk-rock ballads, that centres intricate guitar technique and an illuminating use of effects. Folk fans are well-fed this month, as the surrealist cabaret performer Paul Vickers collaborates with folk-punks The Leg for Winter at Butterfly Lake (9 Jun), a twisted storybook of icy vignettes that dance between theatrical and discordant. 

Another collaboration that raises the temp this summer is that of Conscious Route and Supermann on da Beat – the Edinburgh-based rapper and MC has teamed up with the prolific Ayrshire beatmaker for LP Shadows (17 Jun). When it’s too hot to headbang, perspiring punks should have a drink of God Park (20 Jun), a refreshing art-rock record from Glasgow’s Water Machine. Keep an eye on our music section for a full review, and if you’re hungry for more, Feed Me Hope, the new EP from her picture, is also getting a full review on the site later this month.

Speaking of EPs, we’ve longed for Azamiah’s follow-up since their debut In Phases was our album of the month two Junes ago. Where In Phases was grounded and meditative, the spiritual jazz collective’s new EP Two Lands (3 Jun) has an almost extraterrestrial groove. There are also debut EPs worth checking out, like Everything Worth Having by Folke (13 Jun) and Broken Pieces by So So Sad (15 Jun), plus, some sunny-weather rock singles and uptempo anthems like Sleeping by Maxwell Weaver & The Fig Leaves or Wallace by Bad Knees (both 6 Jun). Maya's Radio Orchestra drop Garden Variety on the 11th, and on the 27th Carl Marah gives us Roll the Dice.