In an action which one port authority called ‘a flagrant disregard for public safety’, we’ve cracked a bottle of champagne against HMS List to mark the maiden voyage of Singles In Your Area, our new monthly round-up of fresh releases from the Scottish music scene. Below is a handful of tunes that have hit streaming services this month, including award-winning dance, veteran singer songwriters, and a smattering of young upstarts

Kathryn Joseph 
‘THE HARBOUR.’ 

While she’s appeared fleetingly in guest spots and side projects, Kathryn Joseph hasn’t released a full album since 2022’s For You Who Are The Wronged. ‘THE HARBOUR.’ is taken from her forthcoming album WE WERE MADE PREY and marks a welcome return for the SAY Award winner, adding ethereal synths to her intense melancholia.

Nikhita 
‘Insurance’

The second single from Nikhita’s debut EP Solace is liltingly romantic, a crooning lull from an act who’s already become a hot pick from BBC Introducing. You’ll be able to hear the EP in full on Friday 4 April. 

Cloth 
‘Stuck’ 

The SAY nominated duo are back with a new album, Pink Silence, on Friday 25 April. This lead single is a refinement of the dynamic that’s defined them, combining Rachael Swinton’s breathy vocals with her twin brother Paul’s anxious guitars. 

LT Leif 
‘Own Blood’ 

LT Leif has long been a member of Scotland’s music scene. They say of ‘Own Blood’: ‘it’s about other people assuming inner knowledge of your secret self. It’s about helpful anger, and counters the trope of the body as being “frigid” or otherwise cold if inaccessible. It is about the real ways a body melts; an internal/secret/precious process that can be supported but never claimed by others.’ 

Madani
‘outta line’ 

Adding to the ballooning popularity of Scotland’s rap scene, Madani’s lead single is a vivid autotune-heavy sample from his debut album EYES CLOSED CAN’T SLEEP, out this week. 

Maniatrix
‘TIME’ 

Maniatrix, who's fast become a mainstay of Edinburgh’s music scene, is a dab hand at evoking spectral doom in their music. With an unsettling accompanying video by Laura Meek, ‘TIME’ ploughs an almost classical sound to create a texture a hair’s breadth away from gothic romanticism. 

Barry Can’t Swim  
‘Different’

This club-ready banger is taken from Barry Can’t Swim’s upcoming album Loner, set for release on Friday 11 July. The Edinburgh-born producer says: ‘if my first album was a collage of all the music I loved and was inspired by growing up, then this album is the most authentic expression I could offer of myself and my life over the past year.’

Theo Bleak
‘Peach Sky’

This delicate, almost world-weary indie rocker was, according to Theo Bleak, a reflection of the second time she lived and worked on the Isle Of Skye, and is the first single from her EP Bad Luck Is Two Yellow Flowers, set for release on Thursday 15 May. 

Bikini Body 
‘The News’

Edinburgh favourites Bikini Body are holding nothing back in ‘The News’, released as a split single with Conscious Pilot. It’s a witty guitar-smasher featuring delightfully eccentric visuals from artist Joshua Roland.

Soapbox 
‘Do As Ur Told’ 

These punk start-ups, usually better known for politically charged rabble-rousing, are getting personal on ‘Do As Ur Told’. They say this of the single: ‘its lyrics are specific to a bad experience we had in the music industry where we felt we were being taken for a ride, but we feel it's more broadly about being strong-armed into situations which are non-beneficial.’

Mike McKenzie
‘Homesick’ 

Mike McKenzie’s songwriting is a melting pot of Scottish folk, jangle pop and Americana. He describes ‘Homesick’ as ‘a reflection on the ever-changing relationship McKenzie has with himself, exploring themes of self-doubt and missing his youthful confidence.’ 

Dewey Lester & The 6:03
‘Her Name Could Be Anybody’ 

The product of a new musical project from longtime collaborators Kevin McGachy and Craig McNally, this nostalgic psychedelia is the second single from Dewey Lester & The 6:03’s debut album Summer ‘72, a 12-year labour of love which the duo describe as a ‘sumptuous, sunshiney love letter from one west coast to another.’

Want your new release featured in Singles In Your Area? Then send us your tunes to [email protected]; main picture: Harry Clark.