Notes from The North: Moss Side Sauna Club / The Bug Club / heddlu / PALEJOY

It’s time for another of our irregular notes from the Notes from The North, a mini-roundup of releases we believe you really need to hear!

Moss Side Sauna Club – MY WEIRD APPETITE

MY WEIRD APPETITE is a banging electro-clash bass line straight from MySpace-era M.I.A, carrying the songwriting and performances from tongue-in-cheek queer satire to heartfelt confessionalism, all loosely wired into a trippy, digital landscape.

The accompanying video collages the band’s inception in VHS format, from behind-the-scenes candids to footage of them dressed for The Oscars in their favourite local. Moss Side Sauna Club are blending artifice and emotion in a way that feels both curated and deeply personal.

The Bug Club – Very Human Features

Very Human Features, The Bug Club’s vibrant, heady, and fantastic new long player, via Sub Pop. The album includes Appropriate Emotions, How to Be a Confidante, Jealous Boy, and ten other excellent songs. Even better, I’ll get to see them play The Golden Lion in Todmorden this summer!

heddlu – Wish You Were Her

heddlu is the new musical project by Rhodri Daniel. The Ceredigion native was a founding member of renowned Welsh band Estrons.

Meaning ‘Police’ in Welsh, from the words ‘peace-force’, heddlu’s music has been true to its name, offering a force of peace to the songwriter, who is recovering from severe hearing damage.

Wish You Were Her, is the second single from heddlu’s sophomore album Tramor, it is a raw emotionally charged track that pleads for someone close to grow into a better version of themselves—driven by equal parts frustration and love.

Both confrontational and compassionate, it’s a self-aware lament that blurs the line between calling someone out and looking inward, capturing the messy beauty of caring deeply and hurting honestly.

Meaning ‘, Tramor (Overseas in Welsh) is series of intimate and volatile songs, detailing years of loss, estrangement, trauma and hope. The album comes out on the 14^th of August.

PALEJOY – Next Goal Wins

Aberdeen’s own emo torchbearers, PALEJOY are back with another personal, yet relatable single. Next Goal Wins is an emo anthem for anyone who has ever felt stuck in first gear—haunted by the creeping weight of time and the pressure to have it all figured out by now.

Drawing influence from bands such as Basement, Title Fight and Balance and Composure with this latest effort, PALEJOY proves that sometimes, the most honest art comes from embracing the chaos of not knowing where you’re going, but singing your heart out anyway.