At first glance, Dua Lipa might seem cut from the same cloth that gave the world Ariana Grande – that auto-tune driven, melodically acrobatic melting pot of music and, more crucially, image that ensures that Instagram is somehow an important service to the world. But not so! Dua Lipa comes at you with an added dosage of sharp rebelliousness, like biting into a chilli with your corn flakes or hearing a kids show presenter swear. It’s things you’re certainly familiar with and like, but with that added kick in the pants that takes it from being wholly generic to bitingly catchy.

Caravan Palace seem to have adopted the style of the time, which is to take a hiatus between releases. Case in point: their last album, < |°_°|> (or Robot Face if you’re trying to use words) was released all the way back in 2015. Ah, were we ever that young? But as they say, good things come to those who wait, which the ol’ Palace has proven rather cannily. This track seems to pull away from the swing part of the electro swing tag that they’re consistently saddled with and instead slip into the warm and stylish dressing gown that is downtempo. Whether it’s the trend they’ll follow for whatever their next album will be remains to be seen, but this is a damn fine track, make no mistake.

The Shins have been kicking around for well over 20 years now in their cunning guise as indie darlings. But it’s a well-earned title, as their music is undeniably catchy with just enough lo-fi pizzazz to make it seem like they’re a plucky group recording EPs in someone’s basement. And hey, sometimes their videos are like that too, with this charmingly dated bit of CGI tomfoolery involving communist penguins and various oppressive moments. Sometimes, I wonder how I manage to live my life without having to type the words ‘communist penguins’ but that streak is unalterably broken now.

This is it! This is either/or’s 1000th post! To celebrate, I’ve gone ahead and tidied up the place: I’ve put all the cushions back in place and vacuumed. It scrubs up well, doesn’t it?

Like this blog, Slowdive went 22 years between releases but have come back with a sumptuous batch of shoegazing cookies for us to munch on. Richly distorted guitars whirl around dreamy, almost incomprehensible vocals, all driven forward at a rather pounding pace. It is well and truly up my proverbial alley, and possibly yours too?

Sometimes, I drop draft posts into the either/or machine with the intention to write about them later. Usually, I’ll put a link to a song or something so that, you know, I remember what I wanted to post about. All I did for Martha Tilston was save her name as a draft post… AND THAT’S IT. Dangit past me, that is super not helpful! I don’t even remember how I stumbled onto her music in the first place, but that just means I get to rediscover her lovely, folky-twangy songwriting style that evokes a lovely, autumnal feeling.

Holy cow, it’s 2018! When did that happen? Who snuck it in here when I wasn’t looking? Oh well, it’s here and I’m determined to get it started right! So, let’s pep it up with a… haunting, emotional track… from 2017. I… dangit. I am bad at this!

Daughter went ahead and created a soundtrack album to the game Life is Strange: Before the Storm, which is a graphic adventure about a girl who can rewind time. Which seems pretty rad! As per usual though, Daughter have come through with the supremely sumptuous goods, dishing out this beautifully powerful track.

Awwwwwww, snap! It’s time for our favourite, honey-loving bear to drop some phat beats in his incarnation as DJ Honey Potz and the Robin! Now, we all know what a remix of a cherished, childhood cartoon means: Pogo’s back in town, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint. This is equal parts dreamy, chill and magical, plus it serves to remind us all of how gosh darned friggin’ adorable silly old Pooh is! The feels are strong with this one…

My, my, how time flies! Radiohead’s seminal 1997 release, OK Computer is 20 friggin’ years old. When I was a kid, I always felt that the music of the 70s and 80s (some of which was pushing 20 years at that point) was ‘old’. Ah bless, kids are so stupid. Great music never belies its age, which OK Computer quite adeptly proves. Radiohead decided to brush the dust off the archives and release this previously bootleg-able track from the recording sessions of the aforementioned album to celebrate its legacy. And boy, it’s a cracker of a track – haunting and poignant, yet catchy in a similar vein to Karma Police. Shine on, Radiohead, you bunch of talented oddballs!

Josh Homme and the rest of the Queens do tend to surprise me sometimes. Their last album featured a guest appearance from none other than Sir Elton John (who remarked to the group that they needed an actual queen on their album), which probably should’ve given me some kind of indication that craziness abounds in this group, but who am I to actually learn anything? Hence my surprise that their upcoming album, Villains, is being produced by none other than Mark Ronson. Yes, that Mark Ronson. While I doubt we’re gonna get any 70s funk-inspired catchiness on the new album, this track is eminently danceable, with a crisp, hella funky composition underpinned with some beautifully crunchy guitar work. Let’s get dancin’, kids!

Man, it is a good year for long-running musical acts to release new stuff. Radiohead has some new (old) stuff (that I’ll post about soon); Queens of the Stone has some new stuff (that I’ll post about soon); and Foo Fighters have some new stuff (that I’m posting about now). Fun for the whole family, provided they like those bands!

Foo Fighters have been relatively quiet since the release of the pretty crackin’ Saint Cecelia EP in 2015. Evidently, they’ve spent this year recording a new album which is out in September, but in the meantime, they’ve dropped this hard thumping single from it. If you’re after a tune that inspires you to run, this probably won’t do that, but it will gladly boot you in the ass instead!