Singles in your area: February 2026
We plonk another batch of amazing Scottish songs in your eyeline, including new releases from Wojtek The Bear, Carla J Easton, Bratakus and Middle Class Guilt
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As we battle through another inordinately grey month, take heart that February’s single-release calendar has been heaving. An ironic sense of sunniness dominates this month's list of Scottish artists, with bittersweet bangers from the likes of Carla J Easton and Wojtek The Bear.
If you’ve got a song you’d like to see featured in Singles In Your Area, let us know at [email protected].
Carla J Easton
‘Oh Yeah’
With the velocity of a Buddy Holly classic, Easton’s latest is a sub-two-minute indie hit taken from her upcoming album I Think That I Might Love You, set for release in May. Co-written with Frightened Rabbit’s Simon Liddell, it jangles and jitters dextrously, fusing surfer rock energy with Easton’s unmistakable trill.
Wojtek The Bear
‘French Blue’
Check the jaunt on this! With a spring in their step, indie-popsters Wojtek The Bear are aiming for the airy fun of Belle And Sebastian, continuing a uniquely Scottish sense of determined positivity. ‘The lyrics are about finding yourself in a situation you'd really rather not be in,’ claim the band, ‘but feeling stuck and trying to make the best of it anyway.’
The Snuts
‘Summer Rain’
Continuing their knack for anthemic rock-pop, the West Lothian four-piece are mining personal experience for their first new material since 2024. ‘My wife was struggling really badly with postnatal depression,’ said the band’s frontman, Jack Cochrane. ‘We had a kid when the band had just released our third album and were on tour. That's way too much to be doing with a newborn.’
Middle Class Guilt
‘Edinburgh’
This gang of Shetlanders have cooked up an off-kilter glam-stomp of a record. With a loping build, it’s one of those tunes that could fall apart at any moment but, by sheer willpower alone, finishes on a satisfying caterwaul.
Fifidiny
‘This Year’
Effortless vocals are the star from this Edinburgh-based act. She says the song is about ‘asking for the kind of love and presence we all deserve.’ Hooky and likeable, it has sound of the summer written all over it.
Big Telephone
‘(Hanging On) By The Bone’
The alias of Glasgow’s own Martin James, there’s a sniff of De Rosa’s mid-career work about this, with a thudding heavy atmosphere. ‘By the bone, we’re hanging on,’ he sings, perfectly encapsulating a relationship in its death throes.
Valtos
‘Coisich’ (Featuring Lana Pheutan)
Gaelic is hitting the dancefloor with more four-to-the-floor flourishes from these trad innovators. Violins, synthetic beats and Lana Pheutan’s soaring vocals combine for a festival-ready anthem.
Broken Chanter
‘Shake It To Bits’
David McGregor is in post-punk mode with this teaser for his forthcoming album, This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else. Sounding increasingly weather-beaten, McGregor’s vocals shape themselves into a series of withering putdowns aimed at both other men and himself. It’s as witty and punchy as he’s ever been.
Manuela
‘Hyena’
Co-written with former Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy, this oddball funk strut is inspired by the short story The Debutante by surrealist writer and painter Leonora Carrington. Manuela said: ‘It’s the most extraordinary fable of a young girl whose mother insists on throwing a party for her, despite her hating parties. The girl consults her best friend, a hyena, on the problem. The hyena would love to visit the festivity herself and so they come up with a cunning plan. They kill the girl’s childminder, take off her face and use it as a mask for the hyena, so she can attend the do instead of the daughter. Eventually the hyena has had enough of the affair and people complaining about the bad smell in the room (the stench of the hyena). She rips off the maid’s face, eats it and jumps out of the nearest window.’
Fair enough. Anyway, an infectious strangeness permeates every note, and leaves us itching to hear her second album, Ultraviolet, when it’s released on Friday 5 June.
Bratakus
‘Tonight’
Slobberknocker punk from this long-standing DIY duo comprising Brèagha Cuinn and Onnagh Cuinn. "It's about how everyone is angry about the state of the world, but we are being thrown distractions to get us to hate the wrong people,' claims Cuinn. Though characterised by righteous anger, the propulsion in ‘Tonight’ can’t help but sound joyful.
Kohla
‘Caramel’
Kohla’s sumptuous vocals (which bear more than a hint of St Vincent’s falsetto) are the main sell for ‘Caramel’, a silky ballad with a subtle lift. And check out this effortless poetry: ‘Swaying in the moonlight feeling things you’ve never felt, Fingers laced around me, I could save you from yourself.’ If you love the delicate side of Lana Del Rey, this is for you.
Celebrant
‘Feral Gods’
A cinematic teaser from onetime Urvanovic songwriter Tom Irvine, who’s collaborated with Aarhus-based recording studio Commotion for a textured combination of indie folk and classical string arrangements. Low Roar’s panoramic weight is a clear touchstone, but Irvine himself has cited Owen Pallett, Joanna Newsom, and Sufjan Stevens. A true ‘how is this guy not better known?’ moment.
Lou McLean
‘Worksong’
Recorded in Leith, the chirpiness of McLean's voice is undercut by lyrics about the workaday grind. ‘If there was another way to make a living, I know that I’d be living in another way’ is the refrain which, despite its frustration, contains glimmers of hope and a charming beat.
Hue & Cry
‘Stronger’
That’s right, the Kane brothers are still peddling kitschy synth pop, and it continues to be quite a lot of fun. Blending Latin house and disco with lyrics about overcoming adversity, these cheese balls aren’t going to win over the Assai hipsters, but they may have a singalong hit on their hands.
Andrew Wasylyk
‘Love Is A Life That Lasts Forever’ (Feat. Molly Linen)
Another piping hot single from Wasylyk’s upcoming Irreparable Parables, this time featuring the breathy, Cat Power-ish tones of Molly Linen. Building to an irresistible climax, its simple sentiment (apparently cribbed from one of Derek Jarman’s diaries) is truly heart-warming.