What an incredible Halloween release this is. The stories are very immersive; I found myself entranced and, dare I say, bewitched by Charlotte’s captivating story. The murder ballad vibes are strong in this EP actually the vocals remind me of Murmaider for some reason, like a less growly version of the delivery and storytelling beats.

Musically, however, my favorite song has to be Blackbird. I love the dissonance and the darkness of the bassline. It’s so heavy it feels like stomping with the shuffle groove and together with the reverbed out guitar, they create an incredible atmosphere for the vocals to really shine. This song might actually be terrifying to listen to if you play it in the woods. It has that ominous quality

The rest of the EP fills out the shadowy world. “Bedbugs” is an instrumental interlude that the press materials describe as all atmosphere and no reassurance, and “Leechcraft,” “Long Meg” and “Sister Midnight” close things out. Coven follows 2024’s Mud Music, 2025’s A Carnival of Reveries and the singles “Dead Water and the Seeds of Despair” and “Addict,” continuing a catalog the band seems increasingly comfortable keeping hard to categorize. The press materials call the result less a straight path than a collection of dark tales gathered around the same fire. It is available wherever music is streamed and sold. The opening track, “Charlotte and the Witch,” is the key track and the natural place to start.

Musically, it is a classic ballad that feels both epic and intimate. At the same time, it’s cheesy in the way the third act of a romance movie is cheesy, which means it’s actually genuine and heartfelt. The production quality is stellar. The drums are just incredibly punchy and cut straight through the wall of acoustic harmony from the banjo and guitars. The beat is driving, but it’s not harsh; there is a pleasant warmth to the overall sound.

Adkins has plenty of company behind him on this one. His Franklin Gotham bandmates Jarrett Nicolay and Brittany Valint helped shape the acoustic instrumentation, and Nicolay is the longtime creative partner with whom he co-founded that project in 2013, which his bio says has released nine EPs. Before that, he fronted the Celtic-rock band Icewagon Flu, which his bio says played club stages and Irish festivals for more than a decade. “Last Life” is a good look at what he sounds like out front under his own name, with familiar collaborators close at hand.

Built on fresh acoustic instrumentation, adventurous new arrangements, and a remarkable roster of guest musicians, Under My Canopy is among the most soulful and thought-provoking works of Sage’s prolific career. It is reflective and mournful, yet irrepressibly optimistic. Sage describes it as “an intimate musical refuge” woven from resilience, longing, and the determination to find light in the darkest of places. It moves across Americana, pop, and neo-folk, and finds common ground in themes of purposeful and joyful living rooted in inclusivity, equality, and non-violence.

Under My Canopy is a record of remarkable breadth and emotional range. It moves from sun-drenched Americana warmth to achingly intimate balladry, and from joyful pop exuberance to quietly devastating reflection. Across its tracks, Sage and The Sequins navigate self-acceptance, political disillusionment, queer identity, grief, and the stubborn insistence on hope, all with an acoustic intimacy that invites repeated, close listening.

The album was preceded by a run of releases across the summer and early autumn:

• “Everyday” (7th August): Sage’s long-awaited take on Buddy Holly’s beloved classic, reimagined with finger cymbals, claps, violin, cello, and acoustic guitar from Christie Lenée. Sage has called it perhaps her very favourite pop song, one she has carried with her since childhood, and she recorded it in two distinct arrangements once the sessions began. She will donate proceeds from the Maxi-Single to the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation.
• “Canopy (Acoustic)” (28th August): The title track, featuring Kristen Ford, is an inspirational anthem about radical inclusivity, pacifism, and environmental consciousness, built around one of the most memorable hooks of Sage’s career. It arrives as an emotional exhale and, in her words, an invitation “to gather, to feel safe, and to start by doing no harm.”
• “Underneath (Acoustic)” (18th September): A quietly devastating response to the epidemic of school shootings in America, first performed the very day Sage wrote it, at an intimate show at New York’s Rockwood Music Hall. On the album it is preceded by an acoustic rendering of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” which Sage frames as a deeply patriotic act: caring enough about the human cost of gun violence to demand change.
• “Colorized World (Acoustic)” (2nd October): A deeply personal coming-of-age love song written in Sage’s mid-twenties, around the time she came out as bisexual. Revisited with lilting accordion and cello, it carries new emotional weight following the recent passing of the woman who first inspired it. “I hope that by including this coming-of-age love song in the record, it makes even just one person feel more seen, and less alone,” Sage shares.

Among the album’s highlights is “Nexus (Acoustic),” already available alongside its acclaimed music video directed by Nick Clark. The song honours Nex Benedict, the nonbinary student who lost their life after being violently beaten by school peers, and it stands as one of the most powerful moments in Sage’s live set to date.

Under My Canopy was produced by Sage with Mikhail Pivovarov (Tom Rush), a Grammy®-nominated engineer and bassist who also mixed and mastered the record.

The Sequins, violinist Kelly Halloran (Lainey Wilson), drummer Andy Mac (Pete Muller and the Kindred Souls), harmonica player Trina Hamlin (Susan Werner), and cellists Dave Eggar (Paul Simon) and Ward Williams (Sara Bareilles) are joined by an exceptional roster of guests:

• Guitarists: Christie Lenée, Ben Butler (Dar Williams), James Mastro (Jill Sobule), and Jack Petruzzelli (Joan Osborne)
• Percussionists: Doug Yowell (Suzanne Vega) and Quinn (Tracy Chapman)
• Accordion: Rob Curto (The Klezmatics)
• Clarinet: David Krakauer (John Zorn)
• Upright bass: Kerry Brooks (Amy Ray Band)
• Vocals: Cassandra Kubinski, Kristen Ford, and Americana duo Annalyse & Ryan
• Guest: UK Blues Award Winner Will Wilde

Under My Canopy arrives just ahead of a run of UK dates supporting British singer-songwriter Emma Stevens, with Rachael Sage & The Sequins joining her at the following shows:

• 22nd October: The Bedford, Balham, London
• 23rd October: Chapel Arts Centre, Bath
• 25th October: Heartbreakers, Southampton
• 28th October: The Greystones, Sheffield
• 29th October: Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
• 30th October: The Castle Hotel, Manchester
• 31st October: The Stables, Milton Keynes

Sage has performed thousands of shows across the world and shared stages with artists including Imelda May, Rufus Wainwright, Jamie Cullum, Howard Jones, and Judy Collins, and most recently supported Wet Wet Wet on tour.

Sage’s official video for “Albatross (Reimagined)” is the musical and cinematic culmination of several years of creative reflection on the loss of loved ones, Covid, political divisiveness, cancel culture, sociopolitical unrest, and the ever-present quest for global justice and equality. Against colourful, fractured urban landscapes and the yearning improvised movements of an expressive contemporary dancer, Sage sings the question so many of us have asked in these tumultuous times: “What does it mean to be human? / What cruel misdeeds cannot be undone…”

Directed by first-time director Pearl Flanagan, filmed by Mike Flanagan, and edited by John Shyloski, it may be her most artful and thought-provoking video yet.

Based in El Sereno, Los Angeles, Feathers & Arrows draws on a wide range of influences, from the horror-punk theatrics of The Misfits and Oingo Boingo to the country traditions of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. Led by singer-songwriter Thunderbird, the band brings these seemingly contrasting worlds together through acoustic and electric guitars, fiddle, pedal steel, and driving percussion. The result is a distinctive blend of alternative Americana that moves beyond the conventions of any single genre.

“Monster Bride” explores how trauma can shape our identities and, if left unchecked, turn us into versions of ourselves we may struggle to recognise. Drawing on the imagery of classic Universal Monsters, the song uses horror as a framework for examining the effects of unresolved pain. It skilfully turns the metaphor inward, asking what happens when the things that hurt us begin to define who we become.

The musical arrangement reinforces this tension. Gritty guitar riffs and pounding drums meet the unmistakable twang of pedal steel, while traditional country elements add an unexpected dimension to the track’s darker rock sensibility. This interplay gives “Monster Bride” its character: familiar Americana textures are pushed into more abrasive territory, creating a sound that feels equally at home in a country setting and a punk venue.

There’s also an interesting history behind the release. Thunderbird originally wrote the song during his high school years, and its eventual arrival reflects an idea that has continued to develop alongside the band. Recorded at Schecter Guitar Research and produced by Michael Rozon, the single brings together years of songwriting with an arrangement shaped by the musicians’ diverse backgrounds.

One phrase Thunderbird associates with the song is “Lifestyle of the living dead,” a line that invites more than one interpretation. It can suggest a way of living that gradually wears us down, but it can also point towards the struggle to free ourselves from the habits and burdens that keep us emotionally stuck. This ambiguity sits comfortably within the song’s central metaphor: the monster is not simply a symbol of what has happened to us, but a question of what we choose to do with the aftermath.

With “Monster Bride,” Feathers & Arrows bring horror-inspired storytelling into an unconventional meeting point between country, rock, and punk. By pairing the darker corners of human experience with the raw energy of alternative Americana, the band challenges familiar genre boundaries while exploring a deeply human question: how do we keep our pain from becoming our identity?

Led by Dutch songwriter Joseph Turner, the project blends country, dark Americana, and alternative rock, balancing acoustic songwriting with a rawer, road-worn sound. On “Missouri,” acoustic guitar and Keenan Schuck’s wistful pedal steel establish a reflective mood, while bluesy guitars and Wes “the Weasel” van Werkhoven’s harmonica bring additional grit as the arrangement develops. An intimate, one-take acoustic guitar recording adds to the track’s organic character.

Written early in Turner’s songwriting journey, “Missouri” has taken on new meaning with time. Rooted in the experience of losing loved ones, the song explores how grief can challenge our understanding of life, death, and faith. The imagery of an angel and a demon captures the tension between moving forward and giving in to the thoughts that keep us looking back, reflecting the difficult choices that can emerge when life takes an unexpected turn.

With “Missouri,” Joseph Turner & The Dudes of Hazard turn a personal story of loss into a musical journey that gradually gathers momentum. The transition into roots rock brings a welcome sense of movement, mirroring the struggle to find direction amid uncertainty. The song allows its contrasting moods to speak for themselves. What begins as a quiet country ballad gradually reveals another dimension, showing how both music and memory can change meaning with time..

⇒ PRE-SAVE “SHOOT THE MESSENGER” NOW! ⇐

Now working as Rumour Den, with Simms on music, guitars, bass and arrangements and Gilmore on lyrics and lead vocals, they release “Shoot the Messenger” on October 30th. Running around four and a half minutes, it takes aim at the manipulation of truth: language twisted, inconvenient facts dismissed, and the person who speaks out made the target. The recurring line “Up is down if you control the words” sums up the idea.

This song is simply epic. It’s a theatrical rock song with an absolutely huge sound. Even if the lyrics weren’t good, this would still be one hell of a song, but the lyrics are actually incredible. The textures work together to create that huge wall of sound, from acoustic guitar to gospel-style backing vocals that flesh out the sound and have a great call and response dynamic with the main vocals.

⇒ PRE-SAVE “SHOOT THE MESSENGER” NOW! ⇐

The single was recorded at Einstein Studios in County Antrim with producer Frankie McClay and session drummer Eamon “Lenny” Lenehan. It’s one of the songs on Relapse, a twelve-track album the duo is conceiving as a complete listening experience, with vinyl, CD and cassette editions planned. Rumour Den are not pursuing live performances for now, choosing to put their energy into making the records they have always wanted to make. If this single is a fair sample, the album is worth keeping an eye on.

This is not an album that follows a formula. It is an album that follows an idea — wherever that idea decides to go.

Anything but Me moves freely between the playful and the personal, and that contrast is the point. Songs about the absurd and songs about the profound share the same playlist because that is how life actually operates — the ridiculous and the meaningful sitting next to each other, often in the same conversation, sometimes in the same song.

The album’s more unusual side includes “Hell’s Bell Bottoms,” “The Fleas of Hercules,” “Umpire Vampire,” and “Modern Person, Ancient Solutions” — tracks that embrace the offbeat with complete commitment and dry humour sharp enough to leave a mark. On the other end of the spectrum, “Some Things Never Change,” “The Old Me Was the Young Me,” “It’s the Little Things That Matter Most,” and the title track “Anything but Me” turn inward — examining memory, identity, change, and the accumulation of small moments that quietly define a life.

Each song begins with an original concept and human-written lyrics. AI is used as a production tool to realise the musical arrangements and performances, with repeated revisions, instrument choices, musical direction, and careful render selection shaping the final output. The songwriting — the concepts, the characters, the humour, the reflection — is entirely human. The idea comes first. The song then decides where it wants to go.

At its heart, Anything but Me is about perspective: the way ordinary life can become funny, meaningful, frustrating, nostalgic, or unexpectedly profound depending on how you look at it.

⇒ Check our thoughts on Mogipbob’s album. Read here.

Mogipbob is from Hythe, Alberta — a small town that provides exactly the kind of ground-level human perspective his songwriting depends on. His music draws from warm 1970s-influenced easy listening, folk, soul, and light funk, building character-driven songs around working people, imperfect moments, and the inner narratives that shape how we see ourselves.

Humour runs throughout his work — but it never replaces sincerity. It sits alongside it, which is considerably harder to pull off. Anything but Me is his third album and the fullest expression yet of a songwriter willing to follow an idea into genuinely unexpected territory, without apology and without the need to fit neatly into any single box.

His primary hope for this release is simple: radio airplay. “There is something uniquely rewarding about hearing one of your own songs appear unexpectedly on the radio.” Independent, college, community, roots, Americana, soul, folk, country, and eclectic-format stations are warmly invited to dig in.

That is not a small claim. Fiona Amaka has been building one of British independent music’s most diverse and consistently compelling catalogues throughout 2025 and into 2026. But the feedback on “Sometimes Forever” has been something different — the word catchy coming up again and again, alongside exciting, alongside the kind of enthusiasm that doesn’t get manufactured. Fans are calling it her finest work. And when your own audience says that, you listen.

“Obviously, that kind of feedback is an absolute delight for a songwriting artist like me. I hope your listeners will love it too. Let’s send this one viral!” — Fiona Amaka

⇒ Read our review for “Sometimes Forever” here.

“Sometimes Forever” sits in the rich intersection of folk-rock, Americana, and classic rock — warm, melodically strong, and carrying the kind of hook that arrives on the first listen and stays considerably longer than that. It is a departure in tone from some of Fiona’s more intense recent releases, but fully consistent with everything that makes her voice distinctive: the bluesy quality, the emotional directness, the sense of a real songwriter at work rather than a formula being followed.

For listeners who have followed her across “No Daylight,” “Cowards and Shadows,” “Honesty (Psalm 139),” “Desert Flower,” and the June 2026 release “Justified,” “Sometimes Forever” represents a new peak — the sound of an artist finding her range and expanding it.

Fiona Amaka entered 2025 with a clear artistic identity and has spent the year proving how much territory that identity can cover. Her 2025 singles “No Daylight” and “Cowards and Shadows” brought raw, soulful indie-rock energy to the themes of betrayal, trust, and ghosting. “Honesty (Psalm 139)” added a spiritual dimension and a folk-rock sensibility. “Desert Flower” shifted into chirpy indie-pop and earned significant radio play — marking Fiona as genuinely versatile at a moment when most artists are trying to pick a lane and stay in it.

“Justified” in June 2026 continued that evolution. And now “Sometimes Forever” arrives as the next chapter: folk-rock and Americana from an artist who has already demonstrated she can move across blues, rock, soul, pop, and the spiritual without ever losing the thread that makes her distinctly herself.

Influences ranging from Stevie Nicks to the Smashing Pumpkins have always shaped Fiona’s sound — and in “Sometimes Forever,” both the acoustic warmth of the former and the driving guitar instinct of the latter find a natural home.

How the album was made deserves a plain statement up front. According to the artist, the concepts, lyrics, structure and creative direction are human-written and human-directed. AI was used as a production tool for the musical performances and arrangements, with repeated revisions, instrument choices, and careful selection of renders shaping each final track. Genre follows the idea: he says each song is left to find the sound that best suits its story, which helps explain why the record covers so much ground.

The album starts out with “Set-Back Out Back,” which immediately sets the vibe that this will be a different kind of album than typical albums that use AI production tools. There is a real character to this music, actual artistic integrity that remains mostly consistent throughout the album. The rhythm section feels alive and not flat like a lot of AI music, and serves to create an energetic base for this catchy and very melodic pop country tune. The strongest element in this song is definitely the melodic hooks, which is what Mogipbob is best at after listening to the whole album.

“Walking Bass” is surprisingly soulful. Every element here feels purposeful; the arrangement is stellar, but the pacing is what’s really extraordinary here in this piece because it’s very dynamic. Usually, AI-produced songs are very flat, but here you can see there is a level of attention to detail that really brings this to life, and lyrically it’s a very fun song.

“As Is Where Is” is a warm ballad that invokes the 80s sound with those Phil Collins-style drums. It is a blast to listen to; it fuses that 80s sound with classic Country-style bright textures for a familiar but ultimately fresh sound. My favorite part was those muted acoustic guitars with a chorus effect; they add to the movement and the width of the sound beautifully.

“The Fleas of Hercules” is one hell of a funky and witty jam. The interplay between the instruments is very fun and rhythmically sits in the exact correct pocket you’d want it to. There is a bit of gospel here as the retelling of Hercules’ story is brought to life in a hilarious new garb. As a fan of puns, Fleece and Fleas is an all-time classic.

“Umpire Vampire” is even more humorous, and I really enjoyed how funny it is, but texture- and production-wise, it’s less consistent with the established style and feels more like what other AI songs feel like.

The album ends on the two strongest songs, in my opinion: “It’s the Little Things That Matter Most” and “Anything but Me.” The former is a warm song about celebrating the little things and expressing gratitude for them. If one takes something like the summer rain for granted, then one can never be satisfied with anything in life. Every moment is a chance to feel love, and if a moment is painful, then that should make us feel more gratitude for the beautiful moments. The latter, however, is a painful and dark foil to this warmth. It’s a song about feeling like an alien, an outcast, a person that just doesn’t fit quite into the boxes. Its execution is very soulful; it does feel like a standard blues song, but it is exactly how it’s supposed to be.

The press materials point to more territory than these tracks cover, including “Hell’s Bell Bottoms,” “Modern Person, Ancient Solutions” and reflective songs such as “The Old Me Was the Young Me,” so there is plenty left to explore across 16 tracks. Mogipbob says this record reflects a growing willingness to follow an idea wherever it leads, and the distance between the playful songs and that last stretch of the album backs the claim up.

His main goal for the release is radio airplay. He says there is something uniquely rewarding about hearing one of your own songs turn up unexpectedly on the radio, and he is especially hoping to reach independent, college, community, roots, Americana, soul, folk and country stations. For a record this eclectic, those are sensible places to look, and Anything But Me is best taken in one sitting.

Opening with astral guitars and rolling drums, the track gradually welcomes Amaka’s soulful, breathy vocals into an arrangement that feels both intimate and cinematic. There’s a warmth to its classic rock influences, while Andy Zanini’s slide guitar adds a dusty Americana character, almost becoming another voice in the story. Recorded in London with Zanini as producer and session guitarist, alongside vocal recording by producer and vocalist Kate Proudlove, the track leaves plenty of room for its songwriting to breathe.

“We gave it all we had / And that’s not bad,” Amaka sings, capturing the emotional honesty at the heart of the song. There’s no villain here, no dramatic betrayal to make sense of the ending. Instead, she embraces a much more complicated reality: sometimes two people can genuinely love each other and still reach a point where there’s nothing left to give.

The chorus, “Sometimes forever is a lot to hope for,” offers a gentle challenge to our romantic expectations. Why do we measure love by its ability to last? Amaka suggests that a relationship can be meaningful without being permanent, delivering this perspective with a refreshing lightness rather than overwhelming the listener with heartbreak.

Even the everyday details of separation find their place in the narrative, from folding a dressing gown to dividing kitchenware. These small, almost humorous moments make the song feel lived-in, reminding us that endings aren’t always grand gestures; sometimes, they’re simply the quiet business of moving on.

Following releases including “No Daylight,” “Cowards and Shadows,” “Desert Flower,” and “Justified,” Amaka continues to demonstrate her versatility while keeping honest storytelling at the centre of her sound.

With its soulful vocals, glowing guitars, and quietly devastating lyrics, “Sometimes Forever” captures the grace of letting go. Fiona Amaka proves that an ending can still carry gratitude, tenderness, and the possibility of a new beginning!