The Molotovs @ Beckett SU, Leeds – 17 September 2026 Words and Photos - John Hayhurst Some venue upgrades tell you everything about where a band is heading. Originally booked for The Wardrobe, tonight’s show has moved to Leeds Beckett SU to accommodate extra demand. For The Molotovs, it feels like another step in a climb that is gathering serious pace. The London band have put in the miles, played every gig they can and earned their growing reputation through sheer hard work. Seeing that graft translate into bigger rooms is hugely satisfying.

Australian post-punk risers Radio Free Alice return to Leeds on Wednesday 18 November, playing Brudenell Social Club as part of an extensive UK/EU tour.

One theme emerging from the music I’ve featured in 2026 is that of immigrants coming to the UK and bringing the traditions of their homeland with them.

Beabadoobee’s has released her fourth album Pylon.

Josey Reinhardt is a Nashville, USA-based artist who is new to our blog thanks to his honest new single, Over My Head.

Few bands can claim a live reputation quite as enduring as Marillion’s.

Every so often, an album comes along that’s truly fascinating, not just for the music but for the stories behind it.

In 2025, I featured Sehore’s Dadaist album Husfikbur and found myself enchanted by their experimental style.

The modern world is a sometimes scary, sometimes exciting place and one act that are rising to meet the moment is Pivots.

On new release No Safe Ground, Paul Durnham has created an understated and haunting piece of songwriting on this introspective acoustic track, perfectly capturing the feeling of emotional instability. By Jane Howkins No Safe Ground is a rock song that is built largely around sparse, brooding acoustic guitar patterns that are particularly restrained on the verses. Paul has managed to establish a moody foundation right from its quiet opening bars of this tune, before the chorus break open with huge soaring guitar riffs and a selection of passionate vocal lines. There's also a cool solo towards the end, allowing the deliberately restrained music to final explode in style, allowing every note to breathe when required.

American singer-songwriter Eric Mann has created an exceptionally poignant piece of dark country-folk with Guanajuato, a cinematic song that explores themes of human connection, circumstance and moral complexity. By Jane Howkins Eric's plainspoken, gravel-tinged vocals carry the exact emotional restraint that this song demands - it's raw, yet the production sounds perfectly and the live recording seems to have really brought about a brilliant balance of sounds here. Guanajuato almost sounds a bit like an old Western film score at times, creating a dusty, reflective mood for the listener that is grounded in a traditional form of folky instrumentation.

Michael B Kowal delivers authentic grit and a strong melodic backbone on new song Fire in Your Eyes, which is a soulful, warm-blooded slice of blues-infused rock and roll that wears its heart proudly on its sleeve. By Jane Howkins What's really interesting about Fire In Your Eyes is that it relies primarily on natural heat and organic instrumentation, subtly building the music up nicely over the course of the piece. Built on an earthy form of acoustic framing, rich guitar flourishes and a steady, simmering rhythm section, the track brilliantly creates an atmosphere that feels immediately familiar yet deeply captivating. It's a real stand-out song and one that makes me eager to discover what Michael comes up with next time around!

I love a catchy pop song, and Echo Union have managed to deliver exactly that with their punchy new single, Until You Needed Money. By Jane Howkins Until You Needed Money is a sharp, groove-laden slice of pop/rock music that pairs cynical, real-talk lyricism with an irresistible, driving rhythm. The songwriting is absolutely superb here, using an amazing chord sequence that echoes nicely on the piano, with occasional guitar riffs tailing off every so often in the background as the song builds up. The vocals are perfect too, also using some pretty choir-like backing vocals at times to add more of an emotive effect. This is a must listen song from me!

British indie-rockers The Howlers have quickly made a name for themselves within the music scene, with D.R.I.V.E being another killer new single for the band. By Jane Howkins As previously stated, The Howlers have been making serious waves across the UK indie circuit - now their latest offering, D.R.I.V.E, proves exactly why they’re one of the most exciting guitar bands around right now. As you might have expected from the song title, D.R.I.V.E is a relentless piece of garage-rock that feels built for wide-open highways and late-night highway cruising, due to the rhythm and riffage on offer here.

Here at York Calling, we have a huge soft spot for music that tells a story, which is exactly what singer-songwriter Grant Maloy Smith does - why not try out her new single Tear Trail and see for yourselves? By Jane Howkins There is something timeless about an artist who can pick up an acoustic guitar, lean into the roots of American folk music and tell a story that feels both historically grounded and deeply human. That's what Grant has managed to do on his new single Tear Trail, …

Texas-based singer-songwriter WE THE QUEENZ is a brand new discovery of mine, but I guarantee I will be sharing more of her music in the near future if A Place Called Home is anything to go by! By Jane Howkins A Place Called Home is a beautiful piece of music that wraps the listener up in an inviting wave of melody and passion from the very start. You can really feel the pain in the vocals, especially as they're belted out on the chorus, getting deep underneath your skin in no time.

Evanescence are one of those bands you come to expect a great show from. I've seen them several times over the years at different moments of their career (the orchestra tour for Synthesis and their last Download Festival appearance in 2023 are particular stand-outs for me), and yet their never fail to disappoint. Armed with two killer support acts in the form of K Flay and Poppy, Amy Lee and the rest of the Evanescence gang arrived in Leeds on Tuesday to kick off their UK tour in style. Review by Jane Howkins…

It's been several years since we last shared new music from Stoke-on-Trent-based indie outfit Camens, so their new single Anything To Win is very welcome indeed! By Jane Howkins Anything To Win is incredibly catchy from the start, acting as a sharp, swaggering statement of intent for the future. Serving as the lead track for their sophomore album Los Karma, the song leans into a bigger, more cinematic alternative-pop sound that also manages to draw subtle aesthetic cues from desert rock and Josh Homme-era arrangements. Frontman Scott Powell’s vocals are as expressive as ever, exuding a defiant, no-permission-asked confidence that turns industry setbacks and financial hurdles into fuel rather than frustration, making for an infectious, high-energy return that proves the band are ready to carve out a bolder, more adventurous path forward.

On new single walls, Steve Stout and Blondfire team up to release one of the best indie-rock bangers of the summer - see for yourselves and check out the single below! By Jane Howkins Steve Stout has teamed up with Blondfire’s Erica Driscoll on the evocative indie-rock collaboration walls, which is Infused with a distinct folk undercurrent throughout, serving as a poignant and melancholy closing statement to Stout's album I Wanna Buy A Beach House. The song has an extremely tender and reflective melody which is fingerpicked in lovely style, with occasional violin melodies punctuating the space around the vocals.

It's been a while since we've featured Swedish group Drops of Indigo in these pages, so it's great to see them return with a killer new track titled Mother. By Jane Howkins The Swedish indie-folk outfit manage to weave an atmospheric and deeply reflective tapestry on their single Mother, which explores themes of roots, belonging and what seems like a profound yearning for the grounding presence of the natural world. The music balances balances a sense of delicate instrumentation with an immersive, cinematic weight that instantly feels tailor-made for quiet introspection.

International recording artist EMIN has delivered us a warm and atmospheric pop ballad with his amazing new single, For A Lifetime, which you can also check out below. By Jane Howkins For A Lifetime is built around a sleek, contemporary form of production crafted alongside hitmakers like Cutfather and Zak Abel. This brilliant new track leans highly into a lush, sun-kissed aesthetic that is positively filled with vivid imagery of starlit skies and summer nights. EMIN's smooth and effortless sounding vocals glide across the sweeping melodies in a delightful way, anchoring an uplifting narrative about finding a sense of home and permanence in another person.

Kelly Hunt is an American singer-songwriter - her latest release, All the King's Horses, sees her breathing a fresh air of relief and contemplation into the folk/Americana genres. By Jane Howkins Interestingly (as you might have guessed from the title), All the King's Horses sees Kelly reimagining the story of Humpty Dumpty. However, it's not reimagined as a cautionary tale of clumsiness, but as a courageous choice to embrace vulnerability, even amidst pain. On All the King's Horses, Hunt manages to craft a spellbinding, stripped-back folk serenade that is built purely around the sparse arrangement of warm acoustic and subtle electric guitar, also leaving a greatly generous space for her striking, crystal-clear vocals to take center stage. It’s a deceptively profound piece of songwriting and one that simply demands to be heard!

We have another new discovery for you today, in the form of GhostLoopProject and their brand new single, titled Broken things dance. By Jane Howkins Broken Things Dance is a gorgeous piece of music that truly leans into an atmospheric, hypnotic groove on this amazing new single release. It's something of a pop/rock song that leans more into the rock side of things, blending shadowy electronic textures with a pulsing beat and rhythm, as the track builds a surreal, nocturnal landscape that feels both haunting and strangely magnetic for the listener.

We've featured Janet Devlin a few times in these pages before, so it's great to have her back with her amazing new single, Move A Muscle. By Jane Howkins On Move A Muscle, the Irish singer-songwriter finds herself leaning into a warmer, more relaxed sound palette on her single. It enables Janet Devlin to step away from the heavy emotional disclosures and heartaches of her past material - instead, the track trades heartbreak and pain for a slow-grooving, intimate atmosphere built around an effortless form of acoustic instrumentation (although there is still some lovely electric guitar motifs heard in the song too).

Nashville-based rising artist Eva Cassel is another rising star of an artist from out of Nashville, cutting straight to the bone with her latest single release Slow Death. By Jane Howkins On Slow Death, Eva manages to combine her confessional indie-pop sensibility with a sharp, alternative edge, although it never becomes too heavy, staying nice and catchy throughout this banger of a tune. Lyrically, the track tackles the agonising unravelling of a once beloved relationship with a sense of disarming honesty, with Cassel’s vocals carrying a raw and extremely emotive weight that cuts right through the instrumentation.