Slipping seamlessly into the middle of another week with an eye firmly on the approaching weekend like a desert oasis…. here’s another selection of those tunes that have been gaining traction this week.

Pixies – Chicken

As the Pixies prepare to drop album ten (with bass player number four) The Night The Zombies Came, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the vibe of the single (do they still call it that? Is asking ‘do they still call it that?’ a signifier that I’m old?) they released this week, it’s a little different to their usual flavour but, as with the vast majority of things Frank Black, I’m here for it.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – First Flash of Freedom

I’ve been giving Mojo a good bit of attention recently. I didn’t when it came out but after a few tracks came up on shuffle I’ve lined the whole album up for my commute a couple of times and while there are a few duds (someone really needed to have nuked ‘Don’t Pull Me Over’), if you trim those out there’s a more concise and close-to-perfect album there. The blues-based, jammier style they tapped into for their last pair of albums fitted them perfectly.

Muna – Anything But Me

Sitting there waiting for a tire to be changed the other day I caught a tune on the radio that I could’ve sworn I knew. It was this, and I did – having enjoyed their self-titled album in 2022 but failing to have listened much beyond that until hearing it again this last week. Sometimes there’s just so much to listen to that I feel more slips through the cracks than gets the attention it deserves. I think I read that Muna‘s singer has got a solo record about to drop too.

Slowdive – Cath The Breeze

Slowdive’s gorgeous 1991 debut Just For A Day – pressed on a nice translucent red marble vinyl – arrived in the post on Monday and I’ve since been covering myself in a lush blanket of shoegaze.

David Gilmour – The Piper’s Call

Due to arrive in the post at some point in the second half of this year, David Gilmour’s upcoming album Luck and Strange is touted as taking a different approach in production values with younger hands at the helm that weren’t in thrall to his legacy and the ‘deluxe’ sound that’s been slapped on all things Gilmour / Floyd since the ’90s. ‘The Piper’s Call’ is a pretty strong tune and Gilmour’s guitar, as always, is definitely worth tuning in for.

Mdou Moctar – Oh, France

Two thoughts here. One: I haven’t seen Mdou Moctar’s fucking PHENOMENAL Funeral for Justice in any where enough mentions for ‘best albums of the year so far’ conversations and B: I’m heading off to France for a couple of weeks in a couple of weeks – timed to slip between the Olympics and hopefully avoid too much faff. Three: this song is a fucking belter.

Pearl Jam – In Hiding

Anyway, here’s some Pearl Jam. ‘In Hiding’ is one of those beloved deep cuts for me – while my battles with the black dog of depression continue it’s lines like ‘No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now, it’s funny when things change so much it’s all state of mind’ to a tune like this that help me up just enough.