Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe. All my Songs of the Week are featured on my Top of the Poptastic playlist, along with the rest of my faves from the year so far.
I wasn’t totally convinced by Pale Waves when I wrote about them a few weeks ago, but it only took one listen to their new single The Tide to win me over. If they are the female-fronted version of The 1975, then this is their The Sound. The jolly tune even reminds me of Alphabeat at their indie-pop peak. It was originally shared on Soundcloud as a demo back in 2015, and re-emerged a few days ago as the first release since Pale Waves came fifth in the BBC Sound of 2018 poll. The Tide had to fight off some strong contenders for the title of Song of the Week. Last week’s New Music Friday was one of the best yet, with not just the usual faves like Churches and Tove Styrke, but many little-known artists coming up with poptastic treats. You can hear my highlights at the top of my Top of the Poptastic 2018 playlist.