Singles In Your Area: January 2026
Looking for singles in your local area to give you three to five minutes of satisfaction? The musical wonders below – including The Twilight Sad, Isa Gordon, Andrew Wasylyk and Hen Hoose Collective – can help in your time of need
After a brief slumber in the cluttered spare room of List HQ, our monthly round-up of aurally satisfying Scottish singles is back and ready to excrete more tunes from its quadriphonic pores. In this month’s music digest, we’re enjoying electro-trad, bounce-along indie, limber jazz, anthemic rock, and much more.
If you’ve got a song you’d like to see featured in Singles In Your Area, let us know at [email protected].
Isa Gordon
‘I Wish, I Wish’
Let’s start the year with a folk visionary merging synth drones and traditional Scottish balladry. Ayrshire-born Gordon says: ‘The lyrics carry a weight and the melody has that *something special*. The song is like a wee myth – a warning to young women to keep their pants on, narrating how a one-night stand played out in the mind, body, and spirit of our forlorn narrator.’ It’s the first single from her new album 8Men, which will be released on Friday 6 March via Lost Map Records.
Andrew Wasylyk
‘The Cold Collar’ (featuring Gruff Rhys)
There’s a chilly beauty to this cut from Wasylyk’s upcoming album Irreparable Parables, which finds Gruff Rhys providing intimate vocals about an unexpected visitor. It's delicate and understated, and leaves us itching to hear what else Dundee’s endlessly productive songwriter has cooked up.
Hen Hoose Collective
‘Sirens Call My Name’
Written by MALKA, Emma Pollock, Carla J Easton and Inge Thomson as part of a songwriting retreat on the Isle Of Lewis, there’s a seductive build in this ode to finding home through connections. It’s the second single from the collective’s new album The Twelve, out now.
The Twilight Sad
‘Designed To Lose’
Here’s a firestorm of grief and catharsis that powers The Twilight Sad's upcoming album, It’s The Long Goodbye, which deals with the death of frontman James Graham's mother after a diagnosis of early onset frontotemporal dementia. Trademark Sad touches are rife (overdrive-powered guitars, wire-thin basslines) but Graham's vocals are subtly altered, hitting falsettos with ease. His lyrics feel uncloaked from metaphor, grasping at a direct communication with his own inner turmoil.
Makongo
‘The Xcapegoat’
This seven-piece from the Southside of Glasgow are something of a unique proposition in Scotland, comprising migrant and non-migrant artists, while most songs are sung in a mixture of English and Portuguese, the mother tongue of Angolan vocalist Ngana Makongo. Taken from their debut album Passport, ‘The Xcapegoat’ is a clarion call for revolution, bringing the sentiments of Gil-Scott Heron bang up to date.
Dictator
‘Screwball Scramble’
These pop-rock roustabouts are getting nostalgic in this bouncy number with a shout-along chorus. It’s named after the beloved 90s board game and the band have described it as a ‘coming-of-middle-age anthem’. We can see its high energy fizz doing wonders during summer festival season.
Pictish Trail
‘Sorry Eyes’
Confident electro-pop from the ever-productive head honcho of Lost Map Records, Johnny Lynch. There’s a 1980s slink to this one, the chunky synths and that hooky bassline evoking a cold kind of romanticism. According to Lynch, the song’s about ‘Recognising your own flaws without letting them define you, and accepting that frustration can be an honest starting point.’
Étáin
‘Release Me’
Looking for a positive buzz? Irish-born, Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Étáin is providing just the tonic with ‘Release Me’, a jangling, propulsive indie folk number about cutting loose after a bad break-up. It’s from her upcoming album The Well, out on Friday 20 March, which will have its own album launch show at Edinburgh’s Caves on Thursday 16 April.
Lost In Vancouver
‘Run’
This indie foursome from Edinburgh are huffing the fumes of Kings Of Leon, The Strokes and The Killers in this charming throwback to arena indie’s heyday. Unashamedly anthemic, it’s easy to imagine this energetic singalong setting TRNSMT’s Main Stage alight.
Drexler
‘Prague’
Let’s finish this round-up with a moment of contemplative ambient beauty. Drexler is the alias for Edinburgh-based composer Adrian Leung, and here he reflects on a trip he took with his father to the titular city.
Main picture: Harrison Reid.
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