On This Track: Midweek Listening #15
Five new releases between garage rock, soul, funk and underground sounds.
This week’s On This Track Midweek Listening 15 selection moves between different generations, scenes and musical attitudes. The Courettes bring the rush of a reckless night into their fuzz-heavy garage rock, while Antje Duvekot turns years of people-pleasing into a declaration of independence. Helena May finds her own musical identity somewhere between British soul and Vienna’s funk scene. Breathing Records brings together artists from across the underground, and The Question return with recordings that spent decades out of reach. Five releases, each with a different story about finding a voice, making space and keeping music alive.
The Courettes - “Killer Kiss”
There’s a certain kind of trouble that only starts after dark, and The Courettes have turned it into a three-minute rock ’n’ roll song. On “Killer Kiss”, Flavia and Martin Couri bring together everything that makes the Brazilian-Danish duo so distinctive: fuzzy guitars, pounding drums and those unmistakable ’60s girl-group harmonies. The song tells of drinks with strangers, city lights and a night that takes an unexpected turn. It sounds sweet at first, but there’s plenty of noise and attitude underneath. The Courettes have spent years taking the melodies of vintage pop and giving them a rougher edge, earning a following through more than 800 shows across over 20 countries. Their latest single keeps that spirit intact, with a chorus that sticks and guitars that refuse to stay in the background. “Killer Kiss” is the first taste of their upcoming album "Fuck Yous & Heartbreaks", due in 2027. The 7-inch release also includes “Life Goes On” on the B-side.
🎧 Stream “Killer Kiss” by The Courettes on Apple Music
Antje Duvekot - “Virginia, Unhinged”
Antje Duvekot has spent much of her songwriting career putting difficult feelings into words. With “Virginia, Unhinged”, she takes that honesty in a rather different direction. The song is about a woman who has had enough of being nice, agreeable and considerate of everybody else’s feelings. At some point, she simply stops playing along. Duvekot knows this territory from her own life. Raised with the idea that a woman should be sweet, accommodating and avoid conflict, she spent years putting other people’s comfort ahead of her own. Turning 50 brought a change in perspective, alongside the physical and emotional upheaval of perimenopause. The frustration that had accumulated over the years finally found its way into her music. “Virginia, Unhinged” is the first taste of "No", an album that deals with anger, ageing and the expectations placed on women, without trying to make any of it sound pretty. There is humour in it, too, and a willingness to be blunt. Duvekot isn’t interested in making herself more palatable this time. Sometimes, apparently, the most liberating word is simply no.
🎧 Stream “Virginia, Unhinged” by Antje Duvekot on Apple Music
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Helena May - “Puzzle Pieces”
London and Vienna have both left their mark on Helena May. The British singer has made her home in Austria, but her music still carries the soul influences she grew up with, alongside a strong love of funk and jazz. On "Puzzle Pieces", she brings these sounds together in an album that is as much about her personal journey as it is about making people move. Each song tells a different story, touching on life’s challenges and the question of where we belong. The title is a fitting choice: May sees life as a collection of pieces that slowly come together, sometimes in unexpected ways. Even the little bird tattoo on her arm, which also appears on the album cover, has become part of that image. Musically, "Puzzle Pieces" is driven by her powerful voice, lively arrangements and an unmistakable funk energy. There is a warmth to the record, but it never loses its sense of movement. Released on October 30 via Sheep Hill Records, it shows an artist drawing on two musical homes and making something that feels entirely her own.
🎧 Stream “Puzzle Pieces” by Helena May on Apple Music
Breathing Records - “Inhale Vol. II”
A compilation can be more than a collection of tracks that happen to share a label. With "Inhale Vol. II", Breathing Records uses the format to connect artists from different corners of the underground without forcing them into one particular sound. The label’s annual "Inhale" project is built around discovery and collaboration, bringing together musicians whose approaches to music, perspective and creative expression may differ considerably. The second volume features 11 previously unreleased tracks from 13 artists, with artwork by Jesse Draxler. The tracklist moves through a broad range of electronic and alternative sounds, from Houses of Heaven’s “Liaison” and Millenial Dust’s “Lavion” to the collaboration between Pixel Grip and MVTANT on “Club Mania [Snap Yo Neck] (MVTANT Remix)”. Local Suicide and Skelesys contribute “Heartbeat”, while Zataar’s “Bahnsteigkante” and Snakes of Russia’s “Axe to Grind” add further voices to the collection. Rather than following a single genre or scene, "Inhale Vol. II" is held together by the idea of bringing different creative worlds into contact. That makes it an invitation to listen beyond familiar names and sounds, and perhaps find a new favourite along the way.
🎧 Stream “Inhale Vol. II” by Breathing Records on Apple Music
The Question - “Much!”
Some bands leave behind a lot more music than ever makes it onto a record. The Question, a Los Angeles trio formed in 1982, are a good example. They were part of the city’s mod and power-pop underground, playing packed clubs and building a loyal following, but their official releases never really captured everything they had recorded. That changes with "Much!", a 21-track collection bringing together material from the ’80s and ‘90s, including songs that have never been heard publicly before. Getting these recordings ready for release was quite an undertaking. Eight old master tapes had been sitting in storage for decades when they resurfaced in 2015, badly damaged and in need of careful restoration. Once the music had been recovered, the band found unfinished songs from sessions in 1987 and 1988. They decided to get back together and finish them, adding guitars, vocals and harmonies while keeping the character of the original recordings intact. The result is a collection that gives a much fuller picture of the band and the music they were making. The Question also had admirers among a younger generation of California musicians: members of No Doubt were early fans and later shared stages with them in Los Angeles. More than four decades after the band first started playing, "Much!" finally brings a substantial part of their story into the open. The CD edition includes four additional tracks that aren’t available on streaming services.
🎧 Stream “Much!” by The Question on Apple Music
This week’s releases touch on a question that runs through music history as much as everyday life: who gets to define the story? The Courettes revisit the sounds of the ‘60s without treating them as museum pieces. Antje Duvekot challenges the expectation that women should remain agreeable, even when that means ignoring their own anger. Helena May’s "Puzzle Pieces" approaches identity as something assembled from different experiences rather than inherited from one place or scene. Breathing Records makes room for artists who might otherwise remain separated by genre and subculture. And The Question’s "Much!" is a reminder of how easily independent music can disappear from the historical record when recordings, venues and scenes are left undocumented. These releases approach the past in different ways, but none seems particularly interested in simply repeating it. They take what came before and make something of their own.
Keep discovering independent music with our other On This Track, Three Track Week and Artist Features.
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