WHEN THE SKY WAS RED.

There's no denying it, Kyla La Grange is here to stay. Don't let her manic pixie dream charm fool you, her songs pack serious emotional heat; visceral knockouts with no pulled punches in sight. "Been Better" is her latest offering, coming off like a statement of intent from La Grange and an exciting preview of what we can expect on her forthcoming debut album, all British folk-rock peppered with a little Americana that tastes like a surprisingly delicious combo of Fleetwood Mac and Aerosmith. The track steamrolls along relentlessly as it's supercharged by Kyla's cathartic self-assurance, which literally pours out of her in the song's epic conclusion. And of course it doesn't hurt that her endearingly smoky pipes reek of Natasha Khan with the fierce bite of Cat Power. If you're into living a life without regrets and happen to be in London on July 12, you should probably find your way to the Lexington to do it up large with our friends at Chess Club for the "Been Better" single release party, big styyyyle.

MP3: "Been Better" - Kyla La Grange [exclusive]

ALONE IN THE DARK.

This band is like a pot of synth gold at the end of the pop rainbow. Gypsy & The Cat are Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers, two chill bros from Melborne, Oz creating some of the best new soft-pop sounds around. Within the first few seconds of “Jona Vark” I pretty much had a flashforward to singing this chorus at a bus stop in five years time, because This. Song. Sticks. It’s just swimming in a hazy soup of reverbed Fleetwood Mac vocals, acoustic guitars and smooth blasts of synth, and you know how we love a bit of synth. We’re a sucker for the whole blissed-out pop aesthetic Australia seems to have mastered with the likes of Empire of the Sun, Gotye, PNAU and Tim & Jean so when these guys hit our peripherals we were eager to hear more, but as they're still yet to put out an official release, we’ll just have to keep this on single repeat in the meantime.

MP3: "Jona Vark" - Gypsy & The Cat