20 Best Songs of the Week: The WAEVE, Anika, Deep Sea Diver, Destroyer, Andy Bell, Doves, and More | Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
Saturday, February 15th, 2025  

20 Best Songs of the Week: The WAEVE, Anika, Deep Sea Diver, Destroyer, Andy Bell, Doves, and More

Plus Bartees Strange, Japanese Breakfast, Wings of Desire, and a Wrap-up of the Last Two Weeks’ Other Notable New Tracks

Feb 14, 2025

Welcome to the fourth Songs of the Week of 2025. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week, as I was out of town covering MegaCon, a comic-con in Orlando, FL. So this week’s supersized list covers the last two weeks. And what a couple of weeks they were for new tracks!

This week Andy Von Pip, Matt the Raven, and Scotty Dransfield helped me decide what should make the list. We considered over 50 songs and narrowed it down to a Top 20.

Issue 73 is still out now. It features Maya Hawke and Nilüfer Yanya on the two covers and can be bought from us directly here.

In recent weeks we posted interviews with Marinero, Heartworms, Drew Hancock (the director of Companion), Squid, Lilly Hiatt, Tank and the Bangas, HotWax, DITZ, Saint Etienne, and more. We also posted our print article on Twin Peaks, featuring interviews with many of the cast members.

In the last week we reviewed some albums.

To help you sort through the multitude of fresh songs released in the last two weeks, we have picked the 20 best the last 14 days had to offer, followed by some honorable mentions. Check out the full list below.

1. The WAEVE: “Love Is All Pain”

Earlier today, The WAEVE—aka Rose Elinor Dougall and Blur guitarist Graham Coxon—announced a new EP, Eternal EP, and shared its first single, “Love Is All Pain,” via a music video. Simeon Leeder directed the song’s video, which was shot on black & white Super-8 film in London.

Eternal EP follows City Lights, a new album the band released last year via Transgressive (stream it here). It was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2024. Last month The WAEVE also released City Lights Sessions, a live album recorded live in the studio.

The band shared the album’s title track, “City Lights,” in May. It was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced in June, they shared its second single, “You Saw,” via a music video. It was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared its third single, “Broken Boys,” along with a live performance video for the song. “Broken Boys” was #1 on our Songs of the Week list. When City Lights was released, both “Druantia” and “Song For Eliza May” made our Songs of the Week list, with “Druantia” at #1.

City Lights is the band’s sophomore album and follows the duo’s self-titled debut album, which was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2023.

As with their debut album, James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine, Foals, HAIM) produced City Lights. As with their last album, the album features Coxon on saxophone, among other instruments.

Coxon and Dougall first met backstage at a charity concert in London in 2020 and soon the idea was hatched for them to collaborate.

“I didn’t know when I was going to work again or try writing again until Rose came out and said, ‘How about we try writing together?’” said Coxon in a press release announcing City Lights.

“When I listen to the first album, I can hear me and Graham getting to know each other through making the record,” said Dougall.

They not only hit off musically, but romantically, falling in love and having a baby daughter together, Eliza, who was born in August 2022.

The WAEVE were interviewed in Issue 71 of our print magazine (get it here). By Mark Redfern

2. Anika: “Hearsay”

Last week, British-born, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson, better known as Anika, announced her new album Abyss, out April 4th on Sacred Bones, and shared its lead single and video, “Hearsay.”

Born out of frustration, anger, and confusion with the modern world, the 10-track album promises to be raw, urgent, and emotionally charged. “Hearsay” hones in on the extreme divisions between the left and right in contemporary society. Anika explains, “This song is about media moguls—about the power of the media, whether social, TV or beyond—we are as much under its spell as we ever were and some nasties are exploiting it for their own gains. Parasites feeding off the blood of the public—PJ Harvey inspired for sure.”

The track arrives alongside a video directed by Laura Martinova, who says, “The ‘Hearsay’ music video is inspired by vampire aesthetics and seeks to connect with the grungy essence of Anika’s new album. We aimed to create a dark yet dynamic and surprising video. My collaboration with contemporary dancers and the use of raw camera movement transcends this imagery, while Zeynep Schilling’s creative direction elevates the video to another level—somewhere between evil and heaven. We worked with stylist Danny Muster and emerging designers to craft a timeless aesthetic.” By Andy Von Pip

3. Deep Sea Diver: “Let Me Go” (Feat. Madison Cunningham)

Deep Sea Diver (the band led by Jessica Dobson) are releasing a new album, Billboard Heart, on February 28 via Sub Pop. Last week they released its third single, “Let Me Go,” which features Madison Cunningham.

The album’s title track, “Billboard Heart,” was shared in September via a music video. It was one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was announced, its second single, “Shovel,” was released via a music video. “Shovel” again landed on Songs of the Week.

Deep Sea Diver is singer and multi-instrumentalist Jessica Dobson, drummer Peter Mansen (also Dobson’s partner), and keyboardist Elliot Jackson. Billboard Heart is their first album for Sub Pop.

Dobson and Mansen directed the “Let Me Go” video with Tyler Kalberg. The video was filmed in Los Angeles on January 5, 2025 and also features Cunningham. It was inspired by French New Wave films.

Dobson had this to say about the song and its video in a press release: “I’ve been wanting to collaborate with Madison for a long time, and I was over the moon when this song came in such an unexpected moment. We were just jamming in the studio and I started playing a guitar riff that I’ve had kicking around since high school that Madison started immediately winding around on her guitar. We looped a drum machine that my co-producer Andy Park started playing and a few hours later most of the song was finished. This song felt effortlessly cool from the start; It reminds me of some of my favorite PJ Harvey songs, full of grit & power. We shot the music video with the same spirit, and as two LA natives who both love the city—we wanted to explore our hometown. Not knowing that it was two days before the LA fires, it has subsequently taken on a new meaning as a love letter to the city we both adore.”

Deep Sea Diver’s last album was 2020’s Impossible Weight, released via High Beam/ATO. Read our interview with Dobson on that album.

Dobson has previously also performed in The Shins and in Beck’s band. Billboard Heart also features Dobson’s former The Shins’ bandmate Yuuki Matthews, Caroline Rose, and Greg Leisz. Dobson produced the album with Andy D. Park (who also mixed the album), with additional production from Adam Schatz. Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone mastered the album. By Mark Redfern

4. Destroyer: “Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World”

Destroyer (the project of Dan Bejar) is releasing a new album, Dan’s Boogie, on March 28 via Merge. Last week he shared its second single, “Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World,” via a music video. Sydney Hermant directed the video.

Bejar had this to say in a press release: “Me and Sydney started this off as a ‘Hydroplaning’ visualizer, dusting off her 24-year-old Canon GL2 after many dormant years. I love the grain of the picture. Then things ballooned into a full-on video. I walk around in it, trying to look Parisian, talking to the crows. Basically a day in the life of…. I shot the nighttime stuff and it is my finest hour. Sydney did the rest.”

Hermant adds: “The video is a nesting doll of visualizers that are relaxing until they are not: Enter Dan’s night footage. Dan was trying to capture the wind. He did, but not in the way he thought he did.”

Previously Destroyer shared Dan’s Boogie’s first single “Bologna,” via a music video. The song features Fiver’s Simone Schmidt and was one of our Songs of the Week.

Destroyer’s last album, LABYRINTHITIS, came out in March 2022 via Merge. It was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2022. Read our interview with Destroyer on the album here. By Mark Redfern

5. Andy Bell: “apple green ufo”

Andy Bell of British shoegazers Ride is releasing a new solo album, pinball wanderer, on February 28 via Sonic Cathedral. This week he shared another song from it, the eight-minute long “apple green ufo.” It’s got a Stone Roses gone Afrobeat vibe.

“I had this riff on an acoustic and it was kind of like one of those Led Zeppelin folk bangers, but I brought it into the Serge Gainsbourg world and gave it a glass of absinthe,” says Bell in a press release, referencing Dougie Wright’s bass and Dave Richmond’s drumming on Gainsbourg’s classic “Histoire de Melody Nelson” as an influence on “apple green ufo.”

“The lyrics imagine if I met an alien and had to show them around Earth, what would I want to show them?” Bell continues. “It also references The Simpsons’ Mr Burns (‘I bring you love’) and ET (‘If you’re lonely, phone home’).

“I would like to highlight the ‘ring modulated’ fuzz guitar solo, which I couldn’t have made without an effect pedal called Randy’s Revenge’ by Fairfield Circuitry—my favorite company. This is not an ad!”

Ride released a new album, Interplay, last year via Wichita and PIAS. It was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2024.

Read our interview with Ride on Interplay. By Mark Redfern

6. Doves: “Saint Teresa”

Manchester-based trio Doves are releasing a new album, Constellations For the Lonely, on February 28 via EMI North. This week they shared its third single, “Saint Teresa.”

Constellations For the Lonely was due out today, but its release has been pushed back two weeks due to manufacturing delays.

Doves is Jimi Goodwin (lead vocals, bass) and brothers Andy Williams (drums, vocals) and Jez Williams (guitar, vocals).

“Saint Teresa” was inspired by a late night internet search by Goodwin, as a press release explains: “The 16th Century Spanish nun and reformer caught the band’s imagination after discovering that her burial, pre-canonisation, was interrupted. Following two, initial exhumations, numerous body parts were removed and taken to locations in Rome, Paris, Lisbon and elsewhere.”

The song had a protracted writing and recording period. Goodwin says: “By keeping it to one side, we were able to reappraise it and make it better. Andy and Jez helped out with it and it’s great that it’s found a home. My Catholicism went out of the window years ago, but I love the iconography associated with the church. They put on a really good show. I identify with it all from my childhood. The story of Saint Teresa is fascinating.”

Jez Williams adds: “Sometimes songs can be like a Rubik’s Cube. You play with it but have to go back to it after a time and, only then, do you really know what to do with it. ‘Saint Teresa’ was still knocking on the door when we came to record the album, so we took it into sessions with Dan [Austin—co-producer], replacing some of it, changing a few of the lyrics and it turned out great.”

Previously Doves shared the album’s first single, “Renegade,” via a music video. “Renegade” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared its second single, “Cold Dreaming,” via a music video. “Cold Dreaming” also landed on Songs of the Week.

Constellations For the Lonely is the band’s sixth album and follows 2020’s The Universal Want, which was their first album in 11 years after an eight-year hiatus. The band launched writing and recording sessions for the new album as early as 2020.

The band wrote, recorded, and produced the album in Greater Manchester, North Wales, and Cheshire. Long-term collaborator Dan Austin contributed additional production. Constellations For the Lonely finds Goodwin taking a bit of a step back, with him contributing in the studio, but not touring the record. The Williams brothers will be sharing lead vocals live.

Andy Williams had this to say about the new single in a press release: “‘Cold Dreaming’ is a song about forgiveness. Trying to forgive and move on. As a minimum, these days, resilience is the thing that you need more than ever, certainly as a musician. Perhaps the lyrics do touch a bit on what we’ve been through.”

Doves have released five albums: 2000’s Lost Souls, 2002’s The Last Broadcast, 2005’s Some Cities, 2009’s Kingdom of Rust, and 2020’s The Universal Want.

Read our interview with Doves on The Universal Want.

We go way back with Doves, they were interviewed about Lost Souls in our very first print issue in 2001 and we have covered every album since. By Mark Redfern

7. Bartees Strange: “17”

Bartees Strange released a new album, Horror, today via 4AD. Earlier this week he released its fifth single, album closer “Backseat Banton,” and performed that song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, debuting it on the show. While we certainly liked “Backseat Banton,” there was an album track we liked even better, “17,” which surprisingly wasn’t released as a single from the album. As its title suggests, in the song Strange tackles his teenage years.

Strange first worked on Horror with Yves Rothman and Lawrence Rothman, before finishing it with Jack Antonoff after he worked with Antonoff’s band Bleachers.

A previous press release said the album is about “facing your fears and becoming feared.”

The press release added: “Strange was raised on fear. His family told scary stories to teach life lessons, and at an early age, he started watching scary movies to practice being strong. The world can be a terrifying place, and for a young, queer, Black person in rural America, that terror can be visceral. Horror is an album about facing those fears and growing to become someone to be feared.”

Strange further elaborated: “In a way I think I made this record to reach out to people who may feel afraid of things in their lives too. For me it’s love, locations, cosmic bad luck, or that feeling of doom that I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember. I think that it’s easier to navigate the horrors and strangeness of life once you realize that everyone around you feels the same. This album is just me trying to connect. I’m trying to shrink the size of the world. I’m trying to feel close—so I’m less afraid.”

Horror includes “Lie 95,” a new song that Strange released in July. When the album was announced he shared its second single, “Sober,” which was one of our Songs of the Week. Then he shared its third single, “Too Much,” via a music video. “Too Much” was again one of our Songs of the Week. The album’s fourth single, “Wants Needs,” was +1 on our Songs of the Week list.

In November, Strange released the new holiday-themed standalone single “Xmas” that isn’t featured on Horror but did just make our Songs of the Week list.

Horror is Strange’s third album and the follow-up to 2022’s Farm to Table and 2020’s Live Forever.

Strange first garnered attention for covering a string of The National tracks, including on Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, his EP of National covers released in 2020 on Brassland, a label run by members of the band. He was born in Ipswich, England, but grew up in Mustang, a largely the white and conservative rural town outside Oklahoma City, before launching his music career in Washington, D.C. In between he also worked in the Obama administration.

Read our interview with Strange on Live Forever. By Mark Redfern

8. Japanese Breakfast: “Mega Circuit”

Japanese Breakfast (aka Michelle Zauner) is releasing a new album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), on March 21 via Dead Oceans. This week shared the album’s second single, “Mega Circuit,” via a music video. She also announced some more tour dates.

“‘Mega Circuit’ was one of the first songs I wrote, intent on making a creepier, more guitar driven record,” Zauner explains in a press release. “The song is sort of an examination of contemporary masculinity, and explores a conflicted desire to embrace a generation that in the absence of positive role models has found refuge in violence and bigotry. We had the legendary Jim Keltner—who’s played on everything from ‘These Days,’ to ‘Here You Come Again’ to ‘Dream Weaver’—come in and play the fiercest shuffle you’ve ever heard.”

Previously Japanese Breakfast shared the album’s first single, “Orlando in Love,” which was one of our Songs of the Week.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is the follow-up to Jubilee, which was our #1 album of 2021 and landed Japanese Breakfast on the cover of our print magazine (buy a copy directly from us here or read our cover story interview here). In 2021 Zauner also put out her acclaimed debut memoir, Crying In H Mart, on Knopf. The book debuted at #2 on The New York Times’ Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers List and is being adapted into a film.

Speaking of all the success she had with her last album and memoir and how it impacted the new album, Zauner says in a press release: “I felt seduced by getting what I always wanted. I was flying too close to the sun, and I realized if I kept going I was going to die.”

Blake Mills produced For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), which was recorded at Sound City in Los Angeles, where classic albums such as After the Gold Rush, Fleetwood Mac, and Nevermind were also made. One song on the album features legendary actor/musician Jeff Bridges.

Also read our 2017 interview with Japanese Breakfast on Soft Sounds From Another Planet. By Mark Redfern

9. Wings of Desire: “A Few More Years”

This week, UK’s dream-pop duo Wings of Desire (aka James Taylor and Chloe Little) shared a new single, “A Few More Years.” It’s due to be released as a white label 7-inch single with a remix by Ghost Culture on the B-side.

Taylor had this to say about the single in a press release: “‘A Few More Years’ is a sober reflection on the heady days of youth. As we live through a world in flux let’s hark back to a time before algorithms and the financialization of social life. Windows down, Benson & Hedges lit. Watching the sun come up with dread as others march to their daily commute. A note on a past period of personal crisis, and a message to my younger self. Hold on for a few more years as things do get better with time. Everything looks beautiful from here.”

Last year the band released the Shut Up & Listen EP, which featured the single “Forgive & Forget.”

Read our 2023 interview with Wings of Desire. By Mark Redfern

10. Hamilton Leithauser: “Burn the Boats”

Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen is releasing a new solo album, This Side of the Island, on March 7 via Glassnote. Last week he shared another new song from it, “Burn the Boats.”

Leithauser had this to say about the song in a press release: “I finished this song in the spring of 2024, and then in the summer my friend sent me a link to a Joe Rogan event called ‘Burn the Boats.’ At first I thought, ‘Oh fuck. Aw shit. Oh fuck this shit!!!,’ but then I listened to Joe Rogan’s podcast for the first time, and I learned that he has absolutely no idea what he is talking about and I don’t care about his nonsense. My song is about being at a party, falling in love with someone, and deciding you want nothing more than to go home with them. At the same time, the party’s now kinda boring, and you’d really like to speed up the process. ‘I wanna go home!’ Who can’t relate to that? I wrote a backup line for my friend Lachrisha, which was definitely inspired by Funkadelic, and the guitar playing was definitely inspired by David Bowie’s Low.”

Leithauser shared the album’s title track in December. When the album was announced in January, he released a new single from it, “Knockin’ Heart,” via a music video. “Knockin’ Heart” was one of our Songs of the Week.

Leithauser co-produced the album with his wife Anna Stumpf and The National’s Aaron Dessner. Leithauser worked on the album in his home studio in New York City, The Struggle Hut, but finished it at Dessner’s Long Pond Studio in Hudson Valley, New York.

Leithauser’s last album was 2020’s The Loves of Your Life. In 2022 The Walkmen announced they were reuniting for some 2023 shows. By Mark Redfern

11. Horsegirl: “Frontrunner”

12. Peter Murphy: “Swoon” (Feat. Trent Reznor)

13. Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke: “Back in the Game”

14. Ora The Molecule: “Nobody Cares”

15. Preoccupations: “Focus”

16. Cross Record: “God Fax”

17. Beirut: “Guericke’s Unicorn”

18. Ezra Furman: “Grand Mal”

19. Darkside: “Are You Tired? (Keep on Singing)”

20. bdrmm: “Lake Disappointment”

Honorable Mentions:

These songs almost made the Top 20.

Bon Iver: “Everything Is Peaceful Love”

Circuit des Yeux: “Canopy of Eden”

Cloth: “Golden”

Lucy Dacus: “Best Guess”

Florist: “Gloom Designs”

Lucius: “Gold Rush”

Amy Millan: “Wire Walks”

My Morning Jacket: “Squid Ink”

Panda Bear: “Ends Meet”

Real Lies: “I Could Join The Birds”

The Saxophones: “Burning with Desire”

SPELLLING: “Alibi”

Squid: “Cro-Magnon Man”

Bartees Strange: “Backseat Banton” and “Baltimore”

Tindersticks: “Soft Tissue”

Toro y Moi: “Daria” (Feat. Kenny Beats)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra: “Earth 1”

Vundabar: “I Need You”

Dean Wareham: “That’s the Price of Loving Me”

Waxahatchee: “Mud”

Patrick Wolf: “Dies Irae”

Yukimi: “Stream of Consciousness” (Feat. Lianne La Havas‬)”

Here’s a handy Spotify playlist featuring the Top 20 in order, followed by all the honorable mentions:

Subscribe to Under the Radar’s print magazine.

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.



Comments

Submit your comment