MUSIC ROUNDUP: February 2024 Releases

In alphabetical order

Words by Ewan MacDonald

Black Cat Bone - Blue for You

Edinburgh rockers Black Cat Bone show no sign of slowing down as they gear up to release their highly anticipated studio album 'Tales of The Amplified’. The quartet cook up a mean batch of rock and roll with this latest track ‘Blue For You’, bringing a bluesy racer of a song complete with blistering guitar solos. Catch there band at their biggest headline show to date at Edinburgh’s La Belle this April.

Evie Waddell - Cailleach Mhòr Staidhlaigh

Renowned singer and fiddler Evie Waddell has been nurturing her musical talent since she was young, leading her down the path of musical exploration and earning the BBC Young Traditional Musician Award this year. Waddell’s influences are deeply rooted in Scottish and Gaelic traditional music but have a modern artistic twist to them. Experimenting with instrumentation and time signatures, Waddell’s new single ‘Cailleach Mhor Staidhlaigh’ is sparsely populated but heavily impactful. Simply just percussion and Waddell’s enchanting vocal acrobatics are enough to make this a sensational listen.

ili - It’s Giving...

Hot off the back of a dates across the UK, including a packed headline in Glasgow’s Poetry Club, Scottish Pop artist ili crafts impactful and punchy tunes. ‘It’s Giving..’ Is the title track of the Glasgow based singers new EP, filled with tracks that bounce off the walls with energy and charm. The track builds around ili’s soulful vocals into an explosion of colourful synths and tight drum machines.

J Wax - Nasty

J Wax is rapidly establishing himself as a juggernaut in the Electronic music scene in Scotland and beyond, with music featured in the Formula One console game and an upcoming appearance at Tallin Music Week in Estonia. The DJ/Producers latest single ‘Nasty’ is hooked around the infectious vocal sample whilst the breakbeat and throbbing synths propel the track.

LeisureLand - Bliss

LeisureLand follow their stellar 2023 single “Jamaica Street” with the equally beautiful “Bliss”. After establishing themselves properly within the Glasgow music scene in the last year, the quintet are charming singing songs that are soulful and carefree that embody youthful ignorance. Merging elements of indie rock with a more classic rock approach, all the while embalming it in their fervent energy and swagger, “Bliss” sways through its woozy chords and soaring vocals like a cigarette doubt breezy through the weary summer streets of Glasgow.

Mickey 9s - Who Do You Love?

Post-Funk stalwarts Mickey 9s are once again unleashing their twisted take on spike funk-punk across the country. The latest single from the group ‘Who Do You Love’ pulls you in with its bouncy baseline and then turns up the heat at the peak of the track, thrusting raucous guitar chords to the forefront. Catch the band at selected dates across Scotland this April and March.

Nathan McDermott - Concrete Countryside

Ayrshire indie rocker Nathan McDermott has released his sophomore single ‘Concrete Countryside’ through Sun Turle Records. The young artist, who had a live session with BBC Introducing Scotland broadcasted, carves a frenetic take on the genre that echoes the greats such as Frightened Rabbit and Fatherson.

No Windows - Fibbs

Lo-fi indie heartthrobs No Windows have expertly pieced together some of the most poignant tracks to come out of the East Coast recently. Having headlined King Tut’s as part of the New Years Revolutions gig series, and scheduled to appear at the Great Escape and a support slot in multiple cities with Lime Garden, the band are soaring into the upper chambers of the music scene. On the new single ‘Fibbs’, the duo of musicians compose a wrenchingly lovesick ballad that sways between the tender acoustic passage with the distorted release of each chorus.

Rose Chrissy - Bad Bitches

Rose Chrissy is one of the rising stars in Scottish Hip-hop with her modern trap influenced beats that are propelled by her infinitely charismatic bars. ‘Bad Bitches’ is the opening track for Chrissy’s debut album ‘Diary of a Baddie’ and is absolutely jam packed with venomous bars and sleek 808 bass lines.

SILVI - Visions

No stranger to the Scottish music scene, West Lothian artist SILVI has had a trailblazing few years since her first release and this latest cut is no different. ‘Visions’ is a thundering storm of distorted guitars and SILVI’s stunning vocal runs, that wrap around each other like a murky tornado of sound.