By Henry Lipput
I'm starting this year's Pure Pop Singles Club with four songs that I've been enjoying for the past week or so. There are three singles released to promote an upcoming album (Shapes Like People, The Blue Herons, and Warmer) and a stand-alone digital single from one of my long-time favorites (Armstrong). I hope you enjoy these as well and perhaps pre-order the entire albums (at least the singles) to help to support independent music.
Shapes Like People, "Lately" (Jangleshop Records)
Shapes Like People's second album Under The Rainbow is being released on April 17th. Following last year's Ticking Haze (one of my favorite albums of 2025) "Lately" is the fourth and final single before the album's release and continues Kat and Carl Mann's ability to combine uplifting melodies and lyrics along with their trademark jangle and shoegaze.
Julian Pitt aka Armstrong is one of the most talented solo songwriters in the indie pop scene. Based in Wales he not only writes the songs he releases but he also arranges, records, and produces the music. He has a distinctive voice that draws the listener in and has tunes to keep you there. On social media sites he compares his music to bands and artists like The Beatles, Prefab Sprout, and The Kinks. With his new single "Muddy River" the comparison to The Kinks, and especially the songwriting of Ray Davies, is right on target as the new single has echoes of classic songs like "Days" and "Waterloo Sunset."
The Blue Herons, "Fight or Flight" (Bandcamp)
The Blue Herons are the transatlantic duo Andy Jossi from Switzerland and Gretchen DeVault from the US. The musical duties are also split as Andy (mostly just) takes care of music and instruments and Gretchen (mostly just) takes care of lyrics and vocals. On their new album Demon Slayer (out on April 3rd) they once again merge jangle pop and dream pop to create a wistful vibe for their music. Previously only a singles band (a lot of which were collected in 2024's Go On) Demon Slayer is their first album of all new material and "Fight or Flight" is the third single prior to the album's release.
Warmer is the side project of Australia's John Encarnaco who is also half of the songwriting team with Pete Marley and also one-fourth of the band known as The Nature Strip. "Pitchfork Barndance" is the first single tor Warmer's forthcoming album and features producer Dave Carter on backing vocals and carnival barker. Five songs have already been recorded and recording will get under way again in March through May with an album hopefully released by the end of this year. Warmer is not well known in the US so to get up to speed with the band's past work you can check out their great Wooden Box With Strings album from 2020 or listen to last years Warmest collection.
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