This review holds two firsts: 1) it’s my first time reviewing for NMR in a long time and 2) it’s my first time hearing of The Dahmers. “In the Dark” is the band’s third and final single from new album “Creature Feature” which was released yesterday. Initially listening to “In The Dark" and checking out their socials, I can already pick up what the whole appeal of the band is. They (probably) love horror, the occult, and they make good music. Although one thing I do struggle

Of course, as I’ve said many times before, when I’m in charge of the Universe I will use my powers wisely to immediately legislate that any new artist / band has to name themselves in such a unique way that they’re easily found online and on Spotify - so I’m not searching through photos of hip replacement operations (Danish band Total Hip Replacement), endless pictures of fjords (Norwegian band The Fjords), and now Tax Incentivised Investment Schemes (ISA of Sweden). But I pr

There are certain phrases that immediately feel familiar round here, and “ losing your grip on reality” is definitely one of them - as regular readers will testify. So it feels entirely appropriate that Misty Coast have returned with a song based around that subject: ‘ Hallucinating ’, focussing on that blurred space between clarity and confusion. It also arrived at the same time as Misty Coast (along with VEPS) were announced for Indiefjord Festival , pretty much our favou

I liked the new Rädslan track ‘ Offline ’ as soon as I heard it at the weekend. It’s energetic, raw, and driven with real purpose, but I also wasn't quite sure whether it belonged in our slightly skewed and weird universe. It is very focused and direct, and with the lyrics in Swedish I didn’t know if it was something which would quite resonate - lyrical content is always important to me. So, anyway, in a rare moment of actual diligence, I asked the band what the song was ab

There’s a couple of reasons why I’ve stopped writing detailed album reviews. The first is that I think music is so accessible now that people just want to be pointed in a helpful direction and listen for themselves, and don’t necessarily want to read 1000 words of me just wittering nonsense about hats and Lemon Meringue Pietini's. The second is perfectly summed up by the new Phogg album ‘ I Need You Without Fear’, which is that most albums I really like are so complex they

I always have a bias for gentle indie folk music, so when Birds are better released his latest single ‘ Hymns for the Hope and the Sorrow’, I was pretty sure I’d like it. Fronted by Stian Fjelldal, Birds are better is an Oslo-based folk band birthed from the former’s desire to make music that he’d actually enjoy if he were a listener. This isn’t Stian’s first musical expression as he has been making music for many years (we briefly featured a previous album), even releasing

We should have between 5-10 features this week partly thanks to Harri finally returning from Tuvalu, and which hopefully will include Phogg , Girl Scout , Vilde Bye , The Dahmers and one of our favourite bands, Norwegian duo Misty Coast . That gives us the perfect excuse to give a quick mention to this years Indiefjord festival, which takes place on 11th and 12th July 2026. It is the most astonishing festival, which you can read about here , and they've hosted some of ou

Regular readers will know, of course, that we discovered Pinegaze last week, a genre of music specifically aimed at Scandinavian musicians who spend their time starting slightly mournfully into a forest. It’s a genre cousin of Shoegaze , which we haven’t featured much so far this year, so we’re delighted to introduce Indonesian band Meraung, who’ve just released EP ‘ Change ’. Meraung , of course, means “roar”, with the band helpfully explaining to us that the name was chos

Fake Mannequin arrive with debut track ‘ Same Tree ’, and it’s an interesting, if slightly unsettling, first impression from the Danish duo. Built on machine-driven beats and a hazy nod to 90s trip-hop, early Massive Attack perhaps, the track moves with a steady, hypnotic determination. I really like the vocals here, but they will slightly mess with your head. They drift between something almost innocent and something far more commanding, occasionally sounding like two diff

“If the world is at stake, but you feel nothing.” That’s how Bellefolie describes ‘ Beautiful Madness’ , and it turns out to be an accurate way in, with opening track ‘ Modern Apathy’ setting the tone perfectly. Lyrically it gets your mind working straight away: “ Apples hoppin’ off trees into modern apathy, they don’t sound alive at all, staring into coloured walls ”, a line that neatly sets out the albums temperature. While the opener quickly grabs your attention, it’s t