On This Track: Weekend Listening #8
- Anne
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Five new releases proving that there's more than one way to move forward
Five artists. Five completely different ideas. That's what made putting this week's On This Track Weekend Listening 8 together so enjoyable. From warm electronic pop and melodic punk to cinematic garage rock and modern alternative music, every release brings something different without losing sight of what matters most: writing songs that stay with you.
JES - "(You Make Every Day Feel Like) Sunday"
Some songs are about chasing something bigger. "(You Make Every Day Feel Like) Sunday" asks a different question: what happens when you stop chasing altogether? Instead of building towards a dramatic breakthrough, JES celebrates the quiet relief of realising that happiness might already be closer than you thought. Warm electronic textures, gentle rhythms and her unmistakable voice give the song an unhurried feel. There's movement, but never a sense of urgency. Everything seems designed to create space rather than fill it, allowing the central idea to settle naturally instead of forcing an emotional reaction. As the opening track from her upcoming album "Dreamer", "(You Make Every Day Feel Like) Sunday" introduces a chapter centered on hope, perspective and finding peace in ordinary moments. After a career spent helping shape emotionally driven electronic music, JES reminds us that sometimes the most meaningful songs aren't about escape. They're about learning to appreciate where you already are.
🎧 Stream "(You Make Every Day Feel Like) Sunday" on Apple Music
Let Me Downs - "Ellen C."
At first, "Ellen C." sounds like exactly the kind of punk song you'd want to sing along to in the car. Big hooks, fast guitars and enough energy to carry the whole thing forward. Then the lyrics start to sink in. Instead of writing about anger or betrayal, Let Me Downs focus on something that's much harder to accept. Sometimes people simply grow in different directions. No big fight. No dramatic ending. Just the realization that holding on isn't always possible. That contrast stayed with me. The music keeps pushing forward while the story quietly lets go. It never feels overly sentimental, and it never tries to force an emotional ending either. The band trusts the song enough to leave those feelings exactly where they are. For the first single from a new album, "Ellen C." feels like a strong place to begin. It's honest, melodic and proof that punk has always had room for vulnerability alongside all the noise.
🎧 Stream "Ellen C." on Apple Music
Citizen - ”Halcyon Blues”
The first thing that struck me wasn't how heavy the album is. It was how comfortable it feels.
Citizen have spent years changing their sound, but "Halcyon Blues" never feels like a band trying to prove it can do something different. The songs simply sound like they belong together. "Good Fortune" opens the record with enough energy to pull you straight in, yet it never feels rushed. There's space between the louder moments, and that's what gives them their weight. Maybe that's what seventeen years as a band gives you. You stop chasing the next version of yourself. Instead, you start trusting the one you've already become. Listening to "Halcyon Blues", that confidence is everywhere. The record moves between melody and heavier guitar work without drawing attention to the shift. It just feels natural. Some albums introduce a new direction. This one feels more like a band looking back, taking everything that worked and finally making peace with it.
🎧 Stream ”Halcyon Blues” on Apple Music
PRISONER – ”PRISONER”
About three songs in, I realized I wasn't listening for hooks anymore. That's unusual for a rock record. "PRISONER" doesn't ask you to focus on individual songs. It keeps pulling the same ideas forward until they become part of a much bigger picture. The riffs repeat, the rhythms keep moving and every new track feels like another scene instead of another chapter. I kept thinking about old crime films while listening. Not because the album copies them, but because it creates the same kind of tension. You feel like something is always about to happen, even when nothing dramatic actually does. That atmosphere becomes more important than any single chorus. It's easy to imagine picking a favourite song from most albums. "PRISONER" isn't really built that way. The record makes more sense when you stay with it from beginning to end. That's where its real strength is.
🎧 Stream ”PRISONER” on Apple Music
HAMATO YOSHI - "You Rule The World"
Halfway through the song, I caught myself smiling. Punk can be angry. It can be political. It can also remind you why people fall in love with live music in the first place. "You Rule The World" has that kind of energy. Big guitars, a chorus that feels made to be shouted back at the stage and enough momentum to make three minutes disappear very quickly. The song opens the next chapter for HAMATO YOSHI ahead of their upcoming EP "Stand Up For The People". There's a familiar mix of melody and drive running through it, but it never feels like the band is trying to recreate someone else's version of punk. The songs that stay with you usually sound like they belong to the people playing them. This one does. By the end, I wasn't thinking about influences anymore. I was thinking about what this song is probably going to sound like in a packed club when everyone already knows the chorus. Some music is written for headphones. "You Rule The World" feels like it was written for exactly that moment.
🎧 Stream "You Rule The World" on Apple Music
I kept changing the order of this article. No matter where the songs ended up, one thing stayed the same. Every artist was writing about change, just in completely different ways. Some found it in quiet moments, others in loud guitars or hypnotic rhythms. That's what makes this week's On This Track Weekend Listening worth your time.
Continue discovering new independent music through On This Track, Three Track Week and the INDIENOXZINE | Selections Spotify playlist.