Happy New Music Year

Six under the radar recommendations for January 2025

The time for retrospectives is over. It’s January and another year of brand new music lies ahead. My motivation to unearth new gems is peaking, as it always does in January, but it can be hard to find new material worth investigating in the early weeks of a new year.

The various release schedules don’t always appear to overflow with early promise, but there is always music worth listening to if you’re prepared to dig around.

In terms of notable releases, January 24th looks to be the biggest week of the month, with new records from The Weeknd (Hurry Up Tomorrow), FKA Twigs (EUSEXUA), and Mogwai (The Bad Fire) all set to drop. But you already know those artists and their new albums will be covered extensively everywhere.

So, let’s look under the radar a little. I’ve compiled a list of six promising January releases from artists that you won’t necessarily find in everyone else’s preview articles. I hope you find something here to get excited about.

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THE LAUGHING CHIMES
“Whispers in the Speech Machine”
Release date: January 31st on Slumberland Records

My recent end-of-year list featured not one but two Slumberland releases in the top ten. Could Ohio’s Laughing Chimes match the success of label-mates The Umbrellas and Chime School (no relation) with Whispers in the Speech Machine? The early signs are certainly promising. “High Beams” delivers the expected jangly goodness, with a hint of 1980s melancholia. Are we entering a new golden age of jangle?

GOBLYN
“Stray”
Release date: January 24th on La Pochette Surprise Records

This Hamburg post-punk duo specialise in a nocturnal brand of indie-rock that recalls Turn On The Bright Lights-era Interpol. Indeed, “Fright” immediately reminded me of “Stella was a diver and she was always down”. I love that Interpol record and I’m excited to hear what Goblyn have in store for us

BROWN SPIRITS
“Cosmic Seeds”
Release date: January 10th on Soul Jazz

Melbourne trio Brown Spirits fuses Krautrock, psychedelia, and prog to create a sprawling, jammy groove.

RATS ON RAFTS
“Deep Below”
Release date: January 7th (digital), February 7th (physical) on Fire Records

Could Rats On Rafts be Rotterdam’s answer to Slowdive? Perhaps. There’s also a strong Cure influence here, too. I’m excited for this one.

PRISM SHORES
“Out From Underneath”
Release date: January 24th on Meritorio

Montreal’s Prism Shores sit a little more on the indie-rock side of jangle, with hints of C86 thrown in for good measure. It’s a heady concoction, and the quality of the available tracks suggest Out From Underneath could be an early 2025 highlight.

GUS BALDWIN AND THE SKETCH
“The Sketch”
Release date: January 31st on Permanent Teeth

Prolific Austin songwriter Gus Baldwin is no newcomer, but The Sketch is his first full-length with his latest line-up — you guessed it — The Sketch. This immediately reminded me of The Exploding Hearts and the late, sorely missed Jay Reatard, which is another way of saying it’s really good.

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Please let me know your favourites and share any January releases that you’re excited about in the comments.