Every week, Music News and Liberty Music look at the best new releases from emerging and self-releasing artists.
Nick Hissom - ‘Sexify’ UK-born American pop artist Nick Hissom, aka Hizzy, turns heartbreak into liberation on ‘Hot Boy Things’, a fearless five-track EP packed with early-2000s pop spectacle, European dance energy and unapologetic sexuality. Moving from the provocative rush of ‘Sexify’ and ‘Yeehaw’ to the vulnerability of ‘Amazing’, the project finds Hissom embracing life as an openly gay artist on his own terms, transforming scrutiny, desire and self-discovery into his boldest pop statement yet.
Steven Stinson - ‘Evergreen’ Singer-songwriter Steve Stinson continues towards his October debut album ‘Cocoon’ with ‘Evergreen’, a warm Americana reflection on the passions that endure through decades of change. Looking back on a life spanning different careers, countries and priorities, Stinson celebrates music as the one constant that never disappeared, capturing the moment he finally decided to stop leaving that lifelong ambition in the background and give it the chance to grow.
HAYBOY - ‘Smartness & Dollars’ West Virginia songwriter Daniel Brown introduces the next chapter of HAYBOY with ‘Smartness & Dollars’, a hypnotic collision of distorted alternative rock, psychedelia and Americana that questions whether ambition is really worth what it can cost us. Captured largely live without rehearsal or a click track, the single pairs raw spontaneity with a deeply considered message about choosing love and human connection over achievements, while opening the door to HAYBOY’s forthcoming album.
Max Swan - ‘LMK’ Philadelphia-area songwriter Max Swan transforms years of upheaval and rebuilding into ‘LMK’, an intimate new single centred on the simple but powerful act of showing up for the people we love. Built around a voice-memo recording of an upright piano and coloured by sax, EWI, cello and bass, the stripped-back track turns Swan’s experience of rebuilding his flooded home into a warm meditation on friendship, resilience and finding your way back to what matters.
Dream Robbery - ‘The Game’ Somerset trio Dream Robbery confront love, mortality and the fleeting nature of life on ‘The Game’, a brooding new single steeped in psychedelic guitars, 90s alternative rock and raw emotional intensity. Written in just five minutes and recorded without double tracking or unnecessary studio intervention, the track preserves the band’s instinctive chemistry while drawing added weight from their frontman’s experiences working on the frontline of the 999 ambulance service.
