Songs of the Week - 14/09/2026
These are the essential tracks you need to check out this week!
Photo Credit: Charlie Sarsfield
Dylan - 'to love and to lose'
"This song, for me, is not about heartbreak or rage, but something quieter and more unsettling. It’s the inability to feel anything real having been through pain, grief and loss. Quite literally, it is the idea of trying to be with someone else whilst believing I am to blame for why I cannot feel the way I once did. I wrote it at 2am in a cab home from a party when I couldn’t find a song quick enough that matched the emotion I needed to heighten. It has soundtracked every cab home since."
Dylan on the track
Beth McCarthy - 'Pretty Villain'
"‘Pretty Villain’ is a dark pop song about knowing that you are the villain in someone else’s story. It’s an almost psychotic ownership of being the ‘bad guy’ for someone who has hurt you but painted themselves as the victim."
Beth on the track
Cordelia Gartside - 'good'
"I used to have performance anxiety so bad that i'd be depressed for weeks after shows. i got therapy, and i love playing live now, but this song speaks to the voice that told me i really sucked at it. and all the voices that tell me i’m not good enough in other ways”
Cordelia on the track
CHINCHILLA - 'Viper'
"Viper is from that peak stage of angry heartbreak. Pure betrayal rage… All the things you feel but shouldn’t say out loud because it’s not fair or diplomatic or whatever. God I love writing those feelings into songs."
CHINCHILLA on the track
Stella Lain - 'The Meaning Of Love'
"This is the title track from the EP, it is a love song about what it means to be in love and to be loved in return. It's about finding that person who truly connects with you and wants to make you happy. You come to a realisation that you never really knew what true love was until you found them.”
Stella on the track
heavy wild - 'freeze2death'
"[freeze2death is about] dealing with the changing face of relationships as you move through youth and beyond and how life pulls people in different directions."
Vocalist Wolfgang Harte on the track
Sakara - 'Playground'
"I wrote it about processing the disappointment of realising someone isn't the saviour they made themselves out to be, and how eventually I had to say no to playing any more emotional games. I don’t think it’s a song about being angry with someone else, as much as it’s about wanting so badly to be free to be myself again."
Sakara on the track
Robyn Maddox - 'RUBBERNECK'
“This song is a biting and frustrated look at self-sabotage and a desire to create distance between the parts of yourself that drag you down… My goal with this whole EP was to write something that felt like it wasn’t about love or romance, but something deeply personal… it would mean the world to me if even one person listened to this song and thought ‘I feel like that’ or ‘I know exactly what she means’.”
Robyn on the track
POLYBIUS - 'Feel Your Love'
"'Feel Your Love' is about that one person you just can't seem to let go of. Even though you know it's over, you keep saying, 'What's one more night, right?' It's about chasing that familiar feeling, even when you know it's only going to end the same way. When we wrote it, though, we didn't want it to sound like your typical breakup song. We wanted to hide that bittersweet feeling inside something fun, upbeat, and almost disguised as a love song."
Vocalist Tamzin Donovan on the track
zara smile - 'Listen'
"‘Listen’ came from a place of being completely fed up with feeling like I had to explain myself to people who had already decided they didn’t understand or care what I was standing for. There’s a lot of anger in the song, but underneath that is exhaustion, the exhaustion of constantly trying to fit into spaces that weren’t made with people like us in mind. I wanted it to feel like the moment where you lose your cool for a second, and just want to scream ‘listen to me!’"
zara on the track
Mia Grace - 'Heydays'
"I wanted Heydays to feel like that song you put on in the car and immediately turn all the way up, windows down, screaming the chorus - something that makes you feel carefree and reminds you that life is too short to worry about the small things. Think big drums, punchy guitars and a massive chorus."
Mia on the track
Zoe Unsworth & Rob Jones - 'Old Time Soul'
"'Old Time Soul' felt like the truest reflection of who I am as an artist and had to be the title of the EP. It’s always been the song I use to introduce myself, explaining my love of classic country storytelling and music of a different time combined with modern pop and my UK roots"
Zoe on the track
Stephanie Lau - 'We Win The Battles'
"I wrote this song a couple of years ago after a period of time of not really writing for a while. I was inspired after going for a night out to see bands play at a gig! The song gives out a message of optimism, when you meet that person in life who you can depend on. The one who always fights your cause and is there to take on life’s battles with you. I always try and write a catchy chorus. It’s an uptempo, feel good pop song that you can sing along to."
Stephanie on the track
Isabel Maria - 'Ruin'
"I think the core idea behind 'Ruin' is self sabotage, especially in relationships - sometimes, inside your head, it’s easy to turn the people you love into villains, so you have an excuse to leave and not get hurt. Posing that concept against the imagery of a horror film was fun."
Isabel on the track
Patrick Gosling - 'Resembles Heaven'
"Resembles Heaven is a real representation of where I wanted to take my music, it was thecatalyst that spawned this new era of music that I’m so excited about making. I learnt a lot recording this song, it was the first time I’ve been 100% alone at the helm ofone of my recordings, pulling it apart then building it back up. I think because of that it reallydoes sound like me in a room alone making this song"
Patrick on the track
The Prior - 'Teeth'
"'Teeth’ is the darkest track our band has released to date. Written during the depths of a relationship that slowly became all-consuming. What started as an innocent romance gradually grew twisted and left me constant craving validation from someone who was never going to give it. The more I tried to give them, the further lost I became. ’Teeth’ explores how these innocent beginnings can turn into bitter ends."
The Prior on the track
