It's Monday, you know what that means...time to dive into the very best new music the rock world has to offer right now! Plus, you get to vote for your favourite, which means it might get another shout-out next week. What's not to love?
In last week’s contest, The Struts’ microphone-twirler-in-chief Luke Spiller galloped into first place with the latest piece of his solo debut – deadpan Noel Fielding cameo included. When Rivers Meet followed closely in second place, with TOTW first-timers Revenant in third. Congratulations folks, you’ve all done very well.
So who will triumph this week? Check out our selection below, and don’t forget to vote via our handy poll at the foot of this page. But first let's have another spin of our latest winner, Luke Spiller...
Ghost - Satanized
Unless you’ve been sleeping in a hole for the last week, you probably don’t need us to tell you that Ghost are back with new music, new storylines and a spicy new look that’s been eagerly lapped up by millions. So is this first taste any good? In a word: yes. A bright-eyed, mid-tempo rock stomper, its ghoulish smoke tempered with swashbuckling 80s glitz (check out those face-melting lead guitar flourishes in the bridge), Satanized finds Tobias Forge and his masked brigade laying a glittery path for new album Skeletá, coming in April.
Volbeat - By A Monster’s Hand
An early taste of the Danes’ next album, God Of Angels Trust (out in June), By A Monster’s Hand charges straight out with a barrage of bone-crunching, Hetfield-tastic chugga-chugga guitars, gathering pace and bravado in way that can’t fail to make riff junkies like us smile a lot. "In the past, I've taken a long time to write and obsessed over so many elements of the songs before finishing them," says frontman Michael Poulsen. "This time, I wanted to make a Volbeat record without thinking too much about it.” We’ll see what the rest of the album brings, but you can totally hear that spirit in this one.
Erja Lyytinen – The Ring
Finnish blues rocker Erja comes out fighting (musically and video-wise) on this deliciously swaggering, slide-powered rock’n’roller from her next album Smell The Roses – part guitar hero suckerpunch, part good-time rootsy banger. “The story is about facing challenges, when you have no other chance than to get into the ring and defend yourself,” she says. “Let the game begin!” Catch her on tour across the UK through April.
H.e.a.t - Bad Time For Love
When nothing but the purest of 80s melodic rock joie de vivre will do, one can always trust H.e.a.t to deliver in the most gleefully irony-free way. All leather trousers, monster riffs and big hair energy with a chorus the size of a dinosaur belting out Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden bangers, Bad Time For Love is the stuff of dry-iced, synth-powered dreams. If life has felt a bit much lately, stick this on.
Dead Writers - Meet The Shadow
All smoky post-punk atmosphere with gnarly, attention-grabbing bass rumbles and theatrical strains of Joy Division and early Manic Street Preachers – with frontman Paul Shine shimmying around like Brian Molko with Robert Smith’s hair stylist – the Londoners’ new single is billed as a “poetic exploration of the dark side of the mind.” More importantly, though, it’s a clever, commanding rocker: a classy affair with a big chorus that blows away any fears that they might be a bit *too* cool for such things.
Ricky Warwick - Rise And Grind
"I couldn't be more honoured to be a part of this song,” says Warwick’s latest collaborator, Blackberry Smoke main man Charlie Starr, of his lead guitar turn in this gnarly, pummelling ode to the homelessness crisis in LA. “Ricky is a legend for a reason, and songs like this are why... great big nasty guitar riffs married to lyrics and melody that hit you in the chest and stick to your ribs." Wanna hear more? The full album, Blood Ties, comes out this week.
Baby Said - Dead To Me
It’s all about that driving, earworm chorus on this slice of the Italian/Punjabi sisters duo’s debut album, BS, which rocks like a 90s-charged Maneskin (they named themselves after a song by these guys) with a penchant for Nirvana and a fiery axe to grind. Rock guitars, pop melody, punk underbelly – there’s a lot to like here. Want more? The aforementioned debut just came out.
Robert Jon & The Wreck - Long Gone
The rootsy Californians teamed up with John Oates on this ragged, strutting rock’n’roller with a brooding heart and nicely spacey left-turns. “It was an honour to work with such a great artist,” frontman Robert Jon Burrison says. “Once we brought it into the room with Dave Cobb, the song took on new life with a riveting riff and a solo that punches you in the face. A song about a relationship that can’t seem to mend, this one is sure to be relatable as well as memorable.”
