Are you on the lookout for some good tunes? Well, here are some of my favourite from the early days of 2025 featuring one the most underrated acts on the planet, Deep Sea Diver, exciting new artist Jasmine.4.t who has just released their debut album ‘You Are The Morning’ (produced by none other than Phoebe Bridgers), returning US indie royalty Japanese Breakfast and one of the most exciting artists in the UK right now, Heartworms. Get an earful of this.
Heartworms
The album I’m probably most excited for this year apart from Biig Piig’s ’11:11′ is Heartworms’ ‘Glutton For Punishment’, out February 7 via Speedy Wunderground. I’ve been a big fan of Jojo Orme since their debut single Consistent Dedication in 2022. Recent single Warplane and new track Extraordinary Wings are reminiscent of PJ Harvey, Portishead and Depeche Mode at their darkest.
Jasmine.4.t
The first signing to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, Jasmine.4.t has delivered their debut album ‘You Are The Morning’, featuring contributions from all three members of boygenius, and is well worth checking out. Here’s the video for recent single Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation. Well, we’ve all gone a little crazy in the supermarket at some point, haven’t we?
Jasmine.4.t plays upstairs in Whelan’s on June 2nd. Tickets €15.90 – be amazed if it doesn’t get upgraded.
Deep Sea Diver – Shovel
One for fans of St. Vincent and Sharon Van Etten, Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver previewed their fourth album ‘Billboard Heart’ (out 28 February 2025 on Sub Pop), with new single Shovel showcasing why Deep Sea Diver should be much bigger than they are. The new record includes the previously released title track, What Do I Know, Emergency, and Let Me Go, her collaboration with Grammy-winner Madison Cunningham.
“‘Shovel’ is one of the most angular and dualistic songs I’ve written, and I wanted to do a one-shot video that captured the grit, rawness, and intensity of the song.” says bandleader Jessica Dobson. “Simply put, it is me digging and dancing with a shovel in the middle of the night, desperately looking for beauty in dark places. Influenced by Lynch, the Cohen brothers, Nick Cave, and the sweet dance moves of Kate Bush.”
‘Billboard Heart’ is available to pre-order on Deep Sea Diver’s Official Website, and Bandcamp
Japanese Breakfast – Orlando in Love
Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Certainly not Grammy-nominated artist Michelle Zauner who previewed their highly anticipated fourth studio album ‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)’ (out March 21, 2025, via Dead Oceans) with the dainty lead single Orlando In Love.
Produced by Grammy winner Blake Mills (Sky Ferreira, Fiona Apple), Orlando In Love indicates a sonic shift from the bombast of 2021’s ‘Jubilee’, which featured the smash hit single Be Sweet. Pre-order ‘For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)’ here
Blondshell
Sabrina Teitelbaum’s eponymous debut album as Blondshell was my favourite album of 2023 so suffice to say expectations for her forthcoming second album, ‘If You Asked For A Picture’ (out May 2nd 2025 via Partisan Records) are high.
New single T&A, an accidental love story partially inspired by The Rolling Stones, has certainly whetted the appetite. “There’s a Rolling Stones song on Tattoo You called “Little T&A” and at one point in the song, he says “tits and ass,” so I’m borrowing that. I think in music, it’s easy to see things as either more sexualized or more romantic, and I wanted this to be both. I see it as a love story – maybe not the most fairy tale love story – but I wanted it to feel like a really narrative song, where one thing leads to another and then you end up somewhere you didn’t expect. Normally that’s not how I write, but I wanted a song like that.”
Blondshell plays Whelan’s on September 2nd 2025. Tickets €24.90 incl booking on sale here.
Listen to all the tracks mentioned above in the playlist below.