Listening to the new DownTown Mystic EP, "Mystic Highway", is a bit like finding an old, perfectly worn-in roadmap in the glovebox of a brand new car. It has the feel of something essential, something foundational, yet it’s being used to navigate a landscape of blindingly modern anxieties. Robert Allen, the architect behind this project, isn’t just playing classic rock; he's conducting a seance...

There is a particular shade of electric blue that appears on the inside of your eyelids when you rub your eyes too hard, a colour that feels both artificial and deeply biological, and that is precisely where Vacant Shores and their new EP, "Vacant Shores", seem to reside. Jon Elliott, AJ ‘Sid’ Sidford, and Suzy Alderton have managed to capture something peculiarly British here;...