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New Music: Must-Listen Tracks To Start 2025.

Writer's picture: Stephen TaylorStephen Taylor

As we slowly drag ourselves out of the Christmas and New Year period and into the cold, grey dark January, what better way to start the year than falling in love with a bunch of new songs, finding new artists and bands to fall in love with. January is always an exciting month for new music, there are always some big album releases to kick start the year, magazines and blogs are full of new music recommendations and ones to watch. My notebook is full of recommendations to go back to and keep an eye on over the next twelve months. Rather than start the year with an album review I thought I would turn my attention to new songs that have caught my attention and filled me with hope and optimism during these last two weeks. As with a lot of new music I am introduced to and write about I have to give thanks to Adam Walton whose introducing show on BBC Radio Wales is one of the best sources of new music in the world. Every song I am featuring below I heard on Adams first two shows in January.


Beal - White Rooms Alone


White Rooms Alone is the latest single from Beal, I had not heard of Beal until two weeks ago and I have not stopped listening to and thinking about this song since. If you are anything like me and you like songwriting with an element of vulnerability, honesty and heartbreak then White Rooms Alone is a song that you are going to love from the moment you press play. If you mentioned this song in the same breath as the greats such as Eliott Smith and Conor Oberst you would be well within your right to do so. The song is perfect from start to finish, the emotion within the lyrics, the singing and the instrumentation will make you stop what you are doing, the hairs on the back of your neck will stand on end and you will find yourself listening to this song over and over again and have that same rush every time you do so.



Mudmowth - Brushstrokes in Blue


Mudmowth treated us to a new EP From Tree to Seed released on the 3rd January, taken from that EP is Brushstokes in Blue which is a hip hop and soul and its very best. Mudmowth is one of the greatest voices in hip hop and if you haven’t had your world blessed by the talent of this artist dive into Brushstrokes in Blue right now and I guarantee you will have a new favorite artist. Brushstrokes in Blue is a beautiful reflective song about friendships, the lives we lead, how what we go through in our younger days make us the person we are today. There are so many lyrics I could highlight from this song but the one that made me smile, and one that I could see myself in is “Playing kerbsie till the sun came down / All the neighbours came out and started going wild / From the bounce of a ball  the echo of childhood ran through it all”.


The Double Diamond Club - The Double Diamond Club


Is it ridiculous of me to make a statement this early in January that The Double Diamond Club is the greatest pop song of 2025. I know I probably shouldn’t give such an accolade so early in the year but have you heard The Double Diamond Club? Seriously have you? If you haven’t do so now and tell me this is not going to be one of your favourite, if not your favourite, pop song of the year. The Double Diamond Club is a collaboration between Helen Love and John Mouse and I have made no secret of my love for both of these song writers over the year so when you combine the two together of course it is going to be a pop song for the ages.



Shale - It’s Not Right


If you think the era of bands is over, and there are no bands coming through then think again. Wrap your ears around It’s Not Right, the latest single from Cardiff based band Shale and you will realise there is a band out there who are ready to take over the world. In fact Shale are not the only band ready to take over the world, the media and the industry may have changed but bands are still forming, bands are still writing music that will change your world you just have to tune in, check your listings of your local venues, take the chance and trust me you will find bands like Shale doing what they have always done. It’s Not Right is soulful, beautiful pop music that is stadium ready. Get on this now!!!!!



Deyah - Somewhere Over There


Many of you will be familiar with Deyah who has released two albums, Care City (2020), an album that was more than deserving of winning the Welsh Music Prize Album of the Year which she followed up with Black Glamour (2022). As we welcome in 2025 it is amazing to have Deyah back with her new single Somewhere Over There, a captivating, mesmerising single that is full of beats and groves that will ensure this is a song that goes straight to your heart. This is a song that once heard you will not get it out of your head and is another one that you will return to many times throughout the year. There has not been any announcement about a new album as far as I can see, but I am sure this will not be the last we hear from Deyah in 2025.



Frankie Wesson - Paper Planes


Frankie Wesson is a singer songwriter from Abergavenny whose new single Paper Planes is going to send her into the mainstream. Whatever that may mean. What I am trying to say is this is a songwriter who needs to be heard by everyone in the world. And I do mean everyone. This song should be racking up millions in terms of streams, however these figures are collated these days. Basically just ignore all that, don’t think about the numbers. Listen to Paper Planes and you will find yourself reaching for the skies, this is a perfectly put together pop song, that draws you in, and then makes you feel that the world is yours for the taking.   Its anthemic, beautiful and as I mentioned with Shale and It’s Not Right, with Paper Planes Frankie Wesson has a song that is ready for the stadiums. All she needs is people to hear this wonderful song and get behind it.



These are just a handful of songs I have already fallen in love with this year. If you have made it this far, hopefully you will share my enthusiasm for the songs above, be making notes in your notepad, or on your smart phones if you are more digitally minded, and reminding yourself to go back to these songs as the year progresses, see if they are playing your local venues, sign up to their mailing lists and do whatever you can to show these artists how much you appreciate what they do. Because let's face it, without people recording songs like the ones above the world would be a much sadder place.

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