Time for another installment of my Fresh New Tracks series. Today I’m featuring new songs by, in alphabetical order, Italian electronic/synthwave duo eLxAr, English singer-songwriter Joe Peacock, Scottish singer-songwriter Kevin Robertson, and Los Angeles-based indie pop/rock band Sorry Ghost. I’ve previously featured the first three on this blog, while this is the first time I’m writing about Sorry Ghost.

eLxAr – “Lights at the Edge of the Road”

eLxAr is a fascinating electronic/synthwave act from Italy consisting of Luca, a pianist, composer, producer and game designer, and Alex (short for Alexandra), a singer-songwriter, digital designer, illustrator and multi-faceted artist. Not only are both of them multi-talented and creative, they’re also passionate about social justice and environmental issues. I first wrote about them in March 2024 when I reviewed their powerful anti-cyberbulling single “Nessuno Vede”. They’ve since released a lot more music, and I thought it was time I featured them again on this blog. Their latest single is the enchanting instrumental track “Lights at the Edge of the Road”. About the song, the band states: “I think there’s something mystical about traveling at night. Look out the window and it’s only darkness. Darkness and the streetlights, passing by the car as if they were divine fires, falling directly from the sky.” The darkly sensuous groove and crystalline synths beautifully capture the aura and mystery of a night drive.

Joe Peacock – “Not Love”

Joe Peacock is a British singer-songwriter and musician born and raised in rural Herefordshire and now based in Birmingham. Describing himself as “a genre-hopping storyteller, whose music has been compared to Bowie, Blur and Costello”, he’s a hard-working, thoughtful and talented musician who continually experiments and pushes himself beyond his comfort zone. And like eLxAr, Joe also cares deeply about the environment, social justice and inequality. The prolific artist has released a tremendous amount of music over the past four years, including three albums – I’m Only Here in 2021, Before the robots told us where to go in 2021, and Mirror Neuron Generator in 2022 – as well as numerous singles and five EPs, two of which, The curse of the mind and Beast Mode, I reviewed. He’s also one half of art-folk duo The Missed Trees, his side project with singer/fiddle player Louisa Davies-Foley.

His latest single is “Not Love“, an alternative rock song exploring the futility of trying to make someone love you when they’re just not interested. Joe elaborates: “The single’s about reversing the traditional lines in songs about unrequited love, as I find that a bit creepy and people should realise that going after someone who doesn’t reciprocate never works and just makes both sides unhappy. All the incels and toxic masculinity stuff comes in there a bit, too.” I love his shimmery and grungy psychedelic guitars as well as clever lyrics like “I tried to woo her with charm and wits, but she was just not having it./ I danced close to her in a club to get the opportunity to rub myself against her body.” 

Kevin Robertson – “Kings Of Most Of Yesterday”

Hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland is Kevin Robertson, a singer-songwriter and guitarist who makes a very agreeable style of jangle and psych pop. Strongly influenced by a range of influences including 60’s pop, classic and psychedelic rock, 80’s jangle music and 90’s Brit pop, he’s been actively recording and releasing music both as a solo artist and as a member of Aberdonian (I love that word) jangle pop five-piece The Vapour Trails since 2019. In a relatively short period of time, Kevin has released an impressive amount of music under his own name, including four albums – Sundown’s End in 2021, Teaspoon of Time in 2022, Magic Spells Abound, an aptly-titled collection of nine exquisite songs I reviewed in 2023, and The Call of the Sea in 2024.

Now’s he’s back with his latest single, “Kings of Most of Yesterday“, which dropped yesterday, June 20th. The song is the second single from his forthcoming fifth album Yellow Painted Moon, to be released July 11th. Written and sung by Kevin, who also played acoustic and electric guitars, the song includes additional eclectric guitar and bass played by his son Scott Robertson, with drums and mellotron by Nick Bertling, who also produced the track. The song features Kevin and Scott’s beguiling twangy guitars that remind me in spots of Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing”. It’s a beautiful song with an understated, yet powerful message about the ephemeral nature of each generation’s dominance within a given culture, with each gradually passing the torch to a younger generation who will then lead: “Change it has to come. The generations live and die. The kings of most of yesterday shall fall. Tomorrow goodbye.”

Sorry Ghost – “polyester (yes sir)”

Without question, one of the most irrepressibly charming – and might I add best-looking – bands around today is indie pop/rock four-piece Sorry Ghost. Originally formed as a pop punk band in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by guitarist and vocalist Matt Polito and bassist and vocalist Dan Anton, along with Ryan DeJean and Nick Broyles, they released their debut EP Win By Default in late 2016. Ryan and Nick later left the band and Tyler Hernandez briefly joined the lineup as drummer, at which point they released their debut album The Morning After in April 2020. Tyler departed in 2021, after which Matt and Dan relocated to Los Angeles, where they were eventually joined by Tate Silver on drums and Sean Duong on guitar and vocals to complete their current lineup. The new location and lineup steered their musical direction toward a breezier indie pop/rock sound, and their popularity has continued to grow.

The guys have a wickedly cheeky sense of humor, calling themselves ‘iconic indie idiots’ whose music is “a potent blend of optimism and frustration, loud and soft edges, encouragement and rejection“, and frequently delight their fans and followers with hilarious and endearing video reels of themselves on Instagram and TikTok. I follow then on Instagram, and their posts never fail to put a big smile on my face. Their videos are also highly entertaining and creative, evidenced by the one for their new single “polyester (yes sir)“, which dropped yesterday. Directed by Jeremy Stewart, produced by Katherine Myers and shot by Luis Adrian Lara, the video shows the guys performing the song in a bucolic setting in the Santa Monica Mountains, with Dan playing a decidedly frustrated office executive. My take on the lyrics is that they speak to feeling stuck in a job or lifestyle you hate, acting out a part that doesn’t feel genuine or fulfilling, with ‘polyester’ representing the wardrobe you’re forced to wear: “When I step right into line. Just a little to the left. Step right don’t you lie, There’s so little to me. Left my life ‘low the frame. Now I’ve found me to blame. Polyester that’s a yes sir, I can’t take another gesture.” I love the song’s mellow vibe that sits in a sweet spot between sunny and melancholy, as well as the colorful blend of jangly and chiming guitars accompanied by pleasing harmonies.