Scottish New Music Round-up: October 2025

As we've come to accept over the years, it's impossible to know about everything in time for a monthly print magazine. Releases we didn't find out about in time for last month’s issue included Beat, the debut album from Edinburgh experimental electronic artist Sam Wood, and Escalate, the debut from Glasgow rave-punks Vlure. As the month unravelled, there was also new music from Saint Sappho, BPK, corto.alto, Bratakus, Lou Mclean, Midi Paul, Aylee and Pictish Trail among others.

At the time of writing, October is already very busy. At the start of last month, my tally for new October albums and EPs was comfortably over the 250 mark, with a decent chunk from Scotland. As I type this in the final flickers of September, that number continues to rise. A last minute entry from Edinburgh trio Stillhound discovered via a very-late-in-the-day post on Instagram caught me off-guard, but of The Scene Is Spotless they say they “didn’t make this record to chase trends, prove a point, or win anyone’s attention. They made it for themselves.” Due on 3 October, The Scene Is Spotless is a delightfully hazy, laid-back return to form; with gorgeous warm and clean production and some lovely guest features, it could well be the perfect antidote to the ensuing shorter days of autumn.

On the same day, for something far more outlandish, seek out Male Pattern Narcissism, the latest EP from Glasgow pop provocateur Possibly Jamie, a record he describes as “an exploration of queer love, anxiety and euphoria on dancefloors, inspired by late-night memories and the desire for belonging.” Across its five tracks, Jamie Rees packs in earworms left, right and centre, proving his expertise at penning a catchy pop chorus on Geometric Heart. Seek out the bonus track, an edit of the already brilliant FTDJ (that stands for ‘Fuck the DJ’ btw) featuring striking new verses from Glasgow-based artist EYVE.

On 10 October, the debut album from Leith-based producer and pop behemoth SHEARS arrives following a good few years of solid single and EP releases. After writing the album’s tracks and realising there was an even split in themes, the album has been deftly cut into two halves, the first taking her experiences and frustrations both as a woman and as a woman in the music industry into account while the second sees her celebrating the wins and letting go. Bringing together a glut of influences (read about those on p29) and styles and drawing from SHEARS’ learnings in production and songwriting over the years, it’s her pristine vocal, singular vision and deft production style that helps her achieve something pretty close to dance-pop perfection.

Auntie Flo. Image: Rachel Shnapp.

An interesting sidestep this month comes courtesy of Lomond Campbell who releases his 14-track Transmission Loss EP via One Little Independent (10 Oct). It’s been a minute since he’s been in these pages, but here he’s not producing Kathryn Joseph, reworking Dot Allison or turning cosmic rays into music. Rather, he’s experimenting with the rhythm of his own body with each of the EP’s tracks built around Campbell’s own heartbeat. But don't let this statement mislead you, this is not a dance record built upon beats. Transmission Loss is a largely ambient and experimental exploration of sounds rooted in ethereality, feeling cosmic, atmospheric and futuristic; like the product of an 80s dystopian sci-fi flick, it unsettles, intrigues and constantly surprises.

On 23 October, Brian d’Souza returns as Auntie Flo, releasing Birds of Paradise on his own A State of Flo Records label. The last time we spoke, d’Souza was using biosonification to turn electronic pulses from mushrooms into music, but here the former SAY Award winner is back in a far more familiar mode of musicality, although nature still plays a big part in the record. Birdsong features prominently across Birds of Paradise, owing in part to his time spent in Goa, where a lot of the record was written and recorded in a small riverside studio. There's a warmth from the record's use of vintage drum machines, with rubbery basslines, textured repeated motifs and Latin-American polyrhythms making the record feel immersive and meditative; deeper listening offers up something different each time, with subtle gear shifts that both delight and ground.

Pick up the October issue for full reviews of new records from Rianne Downey, Admiral Fallow and Idlewild, the latter of whom in turn review Brogéal’s single Draw the Line from their forthcoming album Tuesday Paper Club. Elsewhere, anthology The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe: 1982-87 lands on 10 October, with Edinburgh’s politically charged outfit Gutterblood releasing Good Dogs Will Never Die on the same day. On 13 October, Glasgow-based rapper Psweatpants releases his brand new full fat EP Life Was Shit, It’s Better Now, while the 17th sees singer-songwriter Liv Dawn blend folk, pop and country on latest EP Hope Wandering, recorded at Chem19 and produced by Jamie Savage. We’ve also been promised a new EP from Post Coal Prom Queen at some point. Finally, expect singles from Feyvo, Casual Drag, Hen Hoose, Tina Sandwich, wojtek the bear and Thundermoon, along with an overwhelming number of other EPs and albums we've run out of room for. Support your local scene, it's thriving.

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Listen to our New Scottish Music playlist on Spotify or YouTube, updated every Friday, and check out our new Music Now podcast – listen to our chats with Malin Lewis, Alice Faye and Kim Carnie