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The first song on the first edition of The Flower Hour in 2026 actually first came out way back in 2024. Initially released as a single in April of that year, it was eventually included on the deluxe edition of Fontaines D.C.’s fourth album Romance, which proved to be a bit of a summer soundtrack for us. Of that impeccable album - “Starburster” is, arguably, the pick of the bunch. It features an insidious, almost sinister-sounding collection of sonic elements - from the eerie, cinematic strings to the reverb-drenched guitar to the throbbing, persistent bass - and it blends them with frontman Grian Chatten’s distinct, stark, spoken word/singing style and an undeniable beat. The resulting tune is an anthem that early Kasabian - or perhaps mid-late career Oasis - would’ve been proud of. The Dublin quintet seem on an unstoppable rise - where they could end up is anyone guess. But one things for sure - Starburster is an instant anthem and it will outlive us all.
Another oldie - albeit a new one to us - is the garage/punk sludge track Death Hex by The Velveteers. With the musical down-and-dirty essence of Death From Above 1979 or Royal Blood and with vocals reminiscent of a cross between Karen O and Alisson Mosshart - this tune from the Denver, Colorado trio absolutely demands your attention. Fronted by the effortlessly cool Demi Demitro, their forward-facing, unabashed musical style is mirrored in their punk-meets-Rocky Horror aesthetic. Unashamed, heart-on-sleeve and loud and proud - they are staunch members of the LGBT+ community and are extremely welcoming to all (apart from those who are unwelcoming to some, naturally). They look like they will be very worth seeing live - so if you can, make sure you do.
Continuing in a similar vein, attitude-wise, is London-based A VOID. Part alt-rock, part grunge, part post-punk, part art-rock - this duo (who perform live as a three piece) put on a formidable show and craft quite a musical prospect. Generally, they sound like they could have come from the 1990s or early ‘00s - with a spunky energy and never-say-die, gang-like spirit - the energy here is very distinct. This vibrant retro-vibe is compounded - rather unusually - by the occasional moments where their sound drifts almost into (nu-)metal territory - either vocally or musically. It’s also worth mentioning that the groups magnetic front-woman (and also guitarist) Camille Alexander’s French accent adds a charming dimension to the song - one that is an inarguable breath of fresh air. “Fish In Your Pocket” is high octane, extremely spirited and fiercely individualistic and, again - we reckon it’s an absolutely essential live viewing/listening experience.
We saw Black Country bass and drums duo GANS supporting Babyshambles at Brixton Academy not long ago. We only caught their last song but it was more than enough to know they were worth our attention. IN TIME is their most successful song to date and it’s not hard to see why. Anthemic to the nth degree, this straddles the indie and dance genres without batting an eyelid. Like a ross between Underworld and Soft Play or The Prodigy and Blur - it’s not difficult to see why Peter Doherty signed them up to his Strap Originals label. Ferocious, frenetic energy, a throttling bass guitar and an unrelenting sense of motorik rhythm courtesy of the ever present drums, IN TIME sounds like what you imagine being strapped to a defibrillator might feel like and we can’t recommend it enough.
“City Girl” by Out Class is a bonafide alt/punk rock n’ roll stomper. With a Jim Jones Revue-esque energy in the intro (note the subtle use of piano) it starts as it means to go on. It’s full-throttle, balls to the wall, high energy, unbridled awesomeness. With all the youthful enthusiasm of a high school garage band (for that is what they are) this Indonesian quartet are not messing about. City Girl manages to finally answer the age old question of “what would the Ramones sound like if they came from Balikpapan and were born after the year 2000?” with an empathic rock n roll punch in the face. It’s the rebellious spirit of adolescence condensed into two minutes and forty-eight seconds - the sound of misfits kicking against the pricks and outcasts blending in with like minded peers. All this, and they’re just getting started.
“blue on blue” is a glorious soundscape of a song. Somewhat of an aural assault, this is the product of South Wales four-piece Stellar Echoes, it oscillates between alt-rock, post-rock, indie, goth and shoegaze and is entirely captivating throughout. Beginning a bit like Gold On The Ceiling by The Black Keys it quickly degenerates into something else entirely (or should that be something more?) Widescreen guitars, ginormous drums, throbbing bass, and hazy vocals meld to made a delicious soup of sound that is as comforting as it is confronting. As epic as the day is long, this is an adventurous artistic triumph that somehow sounds like the future, whilst at the same time obviously glancing lovingly back at the past. Keep your eyes on this beast of a band.
Up next is “At The Borderline” from West Midlands duo Cut Glass Kings. Formed by childhood best mates Greg McMurray and Paul Cross, the band sound like much more than the sum of their humble parts. Coming across like a blend of BRMC, The La’s, Ty Segall, Oasis and The Raconteurs, this tune sounds absolutely massive and immediately stuck with us when we were introduced to it by Black Rainbow Collective’s Steve Hancock (whose podcast The Spark you can, and should, check out on our Mixcloud here). Signed to The Coral’s James Skelley’s Skeleteon Key label, he has also been involved in the production and mixing of the album and it sounds like they’re a match made in heaven. The rest of the self-titled album that this song is taken from is just as stupendous and is available on limited edition signed CD via the band’s Bandcamp now.
Lester O’Shea’s “Chicken Salad Country Ballad Song is a quizzical concoction”. A little over a minute long, it’s an acoustic lo-fi piece that channels Beck, Seasick Steve and Pete Seeger (imagine that!) and results in a charming little ditty about God knows what. Despite not quite comprehending what it’s about, Chicken Salad Country Ballad Song is an arresting, charming, apparently largely nonsensical piece rooted in earnestness and appreciation - both for the musical lineage that came before it and for the person that the song is seemingly sung to. Sounding on this track like he’s from deepest, darkest rural America, Lester actually resides in sunny Manchester and occasionally writes for our favourite music blog Start Track. You can find articles by him here.
Speaking of Start Track, this next tune is from one of their brightest stars. We’ve featured Rapt here many times before, and with each new project he releases he further cements his place as a 21st century Nick Drake. His newest tune - “North Star” - is the shortest song he’s ever released at only 68 seconds long. Now, to describe a song that is just over a minute long as epic sounding, seems, frankly, a little ridiculous. But as folk songs go, this one is pretty epic so we’re going with it. Sounding at the same time medieval, mysterious, far-away and fantastical, North Star is a compelling little folk capsule. The classic pairing of delicate fingerpicking and Jacob Ware’s warm, dulcet tones are as harmonious as ever. This is the latest in his unique song “series” - Not All Is Dark/All Is Never Lost - which you can read about and keep up with here.
Completing the Start Track trifecta is a song from a mini album that I reviewed in full for them not long ago. The song in question is Net Positive (Future Folklore). Opening with a slow-blooming synth, this gives was to somewhat of a mish-mash of sounds. Multiple synth parts vie for space as the beat kicks in and the other instrumentation drops back. Recalling the (rather wonderful) soundtracks to The Golden Age Of Video Games, it brings to mind Sega Mega Drive classics like Sonic The Hedgehog, Golden Axe and Streets Of Rage. The textures here are many and varied, but all are beautifully realised. Essentially a deep house song but with a retro-leaning soul that you can almost feel, this is another one for the dancefloor, albeit a slightly more subdued one. We’d encourage you to read the full review - which can be found here - and, of course, to listen to Use Technology in it’s entirety. Thank us later.
Up next is a rather enigmatic prospect. Minakova appears to be a Russian singer/songwriter and any more information than that is rather hard to come by. Her debut EP is three tracks of electronic/folk-pop fusion. Translated with the help of a friend, we can tell you that this song - Исчезаю - translates to “Disappearing”. The middle track on the EP, it’s lyrics centre around the hopeless sensation of falling in love. The whirlwind of emotion, the overloaded senses, the questions, the answers and everything in-between. Musically, it is mostly rooted in an almost-trip-hop sphere - with the boomy, bassy arrangement recalling the work of Portishead, but there is also a pop sheen at play that feels more like Jessie Ware or Róisín Murphy and folky undertones that bring to mind, perhaps, Lykke Li. This all makes for a most beguiling blend and we very much look forward to hearing more of it.
The Flower Hour regular Stegonaute is up next. Another member of the prolific Black Rainbow Collective, Stegonaute makes electronica that can be both cinematic and/or ambient. It’s this blend of styles that means he mixes especially well with others. His most recent collaboration is an EP entitled The Drift which was put out in collaboration with fellow Frenchman, composer and arranger Damien Fleau. This is the title track and sees Stegonaute’s unique mix of electronic mastery paired with Damien’s more traditional musical instruments - including piano, guitar & saxophone - to make something that sounds rather a lot like a soundtrack to film scene that you haven’t seen yet. Stegonaute plays a benefit gig for the aforementioned Start Track blog soon, as well as a few other dates in London. Ticket info can be found on the BRC Instagram account here.
Another discovery from the aforementioned Babyshambles gig (courtesy of the main man, Fragile DJ) is “Full Circle” by Good Health Good Wealth. Coming across like a reincarnated (before death, obviously) Mike Skinner, Baxter Dury, Antony Szmierek or Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn, Full Circle is as deeply indebted the the UK Garage and Jungle scenes as Jamie XX, Burial and any other legendary British producers you care to name. A stream-of-conciousness monologue full of observational humour, rhetorical questions, political queries and culture references ranging from Reservoir Dogs to the decline of the staple that was the British High Street to McDonalds to Greta Thunberg - Full Circle was the sound of 2025. The album it’s taken from is a concept album entitled This Time Next Year We'll Be Millionaires - and is, in the words of the band “7 years distilled into 7 days. 7 Songs.” - you can order physical versions from the band’s website here.
“BLK XMAS” is an examination of the hardships of “The Holidays” for those minority families living below the poverty line. With a star turn from up-and-coming Chicago MC Bruiser Wolf as well as a contribution from the rather secretive Philly MC SadhuGold, this is one of the standout tracks from billy woods most recent album GOLLIWOG. With an obvious inspiration from hip-hop acts that came before - namely Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, MF Doom, and Aesop Rock - but also quite a lot in common with certain contemporaries (like Saul Williams, Earl Sweatshirt and Daringer) BLK XMAS is clearly rooted in hip-hop legacy but also feels remarkably fresh. It paints a vivid picture of social struggle at a time of year that - we are made to believe - should be about love and joy, otherwise you’re doing it wrong. However, that is not always within our power and we can only play the cards we’re dealt. The problem there though is that the game is rigged and the house always wins. Anyway, moving on…
“Funny Weather - Arzou Remix” is a complete reinvention of a 2024 single from Lost Map Records’ Flo Lines. Arzou has taken what was once a gentle bop, given it an audible overhaul and turned it into a certified banger. Stylistically, it feels like it could’ve been taken from Radiohead’s remix album TKOL RMX 1234567 - shuffley rhythms, ethereal indie tones and Flo’s chopped-up folky, ghostly, vocals mesh together to make an altogether entirely different prospect. It’s angular, awkward, arty and ambitious - in the best way possible, and is quite a surprise given the original source material. This version of the song also reminds us a little bit of This Is The Kit, Sorcha Richardson and Soak, although we’re not 100% sure why! Look out for a soundtrack to the forthcoming indie film Laundromat from Flo coming soon!
“The Streets” by Planet Idiot is a snotty, punky pop/rock song that we would suggest is as inspired by Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr as it is Green Day and Blink-182. There is - most notably - a hazy grungey curtain of distortion and noise, but underneath the layers of filth are pop sensibilities and sing-a-long hooks aplenty. The product of one man - Myles Bergman - these sorts of songs are Planet Idiot’s speciality. The Streets is accompanied by an emotive and expertly crafted music video directed by the man himself and, in this context, the song serves as the soundtrack to young, hard to comprehend, love and long, carefree summer days whittled away in the company of good friends.
Up next is a heart-on-sleeve emo/pop-punk anthem from Baltimore, Maryland trio Pour Over. “Scorpio Moon” is a spidery, almost math rock-feeling song that is full of emotion and anxiety but also, somehow manages to feel light-hearted and fun. Well, as light-hearted and fun as a song who's chorus repeatedly goes “I want to die” can feel. It reminds us of a blend of British band Johnny Foreigner and US indie cult icons The Front Bottoms - all nervous energy and frenetic angst. There's a dynamism to the musicianship that also reminds us of one of our favourites - Los Campesinos! All in all, it feels like an earnest, high tempo, incredibly sincere - but also somewhat tongue-in-cheek - cry for help. Like stinging tears falling over a crooked wry smile.
Blimey. “Fairyland Codex” is a bit of a voyage. At nearly 9 minutes long, it touches on country, alt-folk, baroque pop, punk, art rock and more. It begins and feels like it's part Nick Cave, a bit Seasick Steve - and - with it's slightly humourous undertone - just a touch of Flight Of The Concords. But as it progresses it gets less fun. And even a little bit scary. Flashes of Gogol Bordello’s raucous folk punk blend with a guttural Finn Andrews-style growl which in turn is mashed up with The Decemberists-esque epic, rootsy, folk-rock, all wrapped up in an undeniable artistic ambition that David Bowie would've admired. Self proclaimed “weird music for people who are sick of the same old shit” - this is certainly that. We don't know if we'd heard anything quite like it. Tropical Fuck Storm - remember the name. Shouldn't be too hard.
Say his name and he appears, “I Believe In Joe Hendry”. As unlikely a phenomenon as you can think of, Joe Hendry is a sensation that is on the cusp of transcending the world of professional wrestling. Becoming unequivocally unignorable, Hendry has gone from strength to strength thanks to his loveable persona, infectious positivity, obvious humility and downright lovability. Oh, and his banging tunes. Once somewhat of an indie cult-hero he is now a household name in the world of WWE and NXT and may well follow in the footsteps of megastars like John Cena and The Rock and crossover into more mainstream entertainment in the coming months and yeas. It wouldn’t surprise us at all. We believe.
And that’s this month done. We hope you enjoyed it and if something here has touched you, please, let the artists know. #GiveThemTheirFlowers.
Submissions for consideration for inclusion on The Flower Hour are always open.
Get in touch by email (kindagrizzly@gmail.com), here on Substack or via social media for consideration for inclusion.
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