NME Radio Roundup 28 September 2020: Fleet Foxes, Pixies, Sunflower Bean and more

The wistful ‘Can I Believe You’ sees Fleet Foxes collaborate with a host of their fans. Eschewing typical collaborators, instead the song’s choral backing vocals are made up of over 400 different voice clips from fans, sent to the band via Instagram and then repurposed for the song – and it sounds pretty darn sweet.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Little is known about the mysterious collective that call themselves SAULT, but that hasn’t stopped the group from releasing four stellar albums over the past two years. Their latest release, ‘Untitled (Rise)’, includes the song ‘Free’, a soulful ode to freedom with a funky bassline.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Sunflower Bean’s first single of 2020 is a euphoric slice of indie pop perfect for the final days of summer. The followup to their 2019 EP ‘King Of The Dudes’, the band explained: “‘Moment In The Sun’ is about finally recognising what is important in one’s life, the people you decide to spend it with.”

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

The South London MC holds nothing back on biting new single ‘Unveiled’. The title track of her forthcoming mixtape (out later this year), it sees Flohio spitting confident bars over a hypnotic beat courtesy of hitmaking duo Take A Daytrip, and it’s excellent.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

The Brighton duo tease their upcoming third album, the long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s ‘How Did We Get So Dark’, with ‘Trouble’s Coming’, a disco-inflected pop-rock number that draws inspiration from the likes of Daft Punk and AC/DC. “This track was a really pivotal moment for us,” frontman Mike Kerr explains, “We needed something that we genuinely hadn’t done before, and this was the first song that came together.”

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Frequent collaborators Bonobo and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs have teamed up on ‘Heartbreak’, a glittering ode to New York City’s disco scene from the ’70s and ’80s.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Just a few seconds into Pixey’s new single and you’ll want to do exactly what the Liverpool singer-songwriter commands: ‘Just Move’. Shimmery guitars, upbeat percussion and Pixey’s charisma combine to make this a slice of pure sunshine.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Earlier this month Sinead O’Brien released her latest EP, ‘Drowning In Blessings’. On the single ‘Most Modern Painting’, the Irish post-punk poet, in a hypnotic chant, diagnoses the ills of our society, from “the dark mirror narcissus” to “soft core addictions” and “mountains out of matter”.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

In June, TV Priest told NME they sound like “1/10th of the power of Mark E Smith with an AS Level in Politics and access to fuzz pedals.” Judging by new song ‘Slideshow’, that sounds about right – and that’s not a bad thing. The second single from their debut album ‘Uppers’, which will be out in November, it’s a post-punk smasher.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

On bristling single ‘Bleary Eyed’, Exit Kid (the side project of Years & Years’ Emre Türkmen and touring drummer Dylan Bell) take aim at the politicians leading our pandemic-stricken world today. Written “tongue-in-cheek from the perspective of these leaders”, the sarcastic snarling tune evokes Queens of the Stone Age, and absolutely slaps.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music

Pixies new one ‘Hear Me Out’ was recorded during the sessions for their 2019 album ‘Beneath The Eyrie’. Set to be released next month on a 7-inch alongside ‘Mambo Sun’, the band’s bassist Paz Lenchantin explained the song “is about things not turning out the way we hoped, but knowing that it’s going to be OK regardless”.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music