New music review with singles from Girl Scout and IST IST
- Julia Mason aka The Decibel Decoder
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her new music review with singles from Girl Scout Operator and IST IST Obligations
Artist: Girl Scout
Track: Operator
Swedish band Girl Scout releases their latest single Operator, the second preview of their forthcoming full-length album Brink. Scuzzy in sound and cheeky in nature, the track lands somewhere between power-pop ripper and fictionalised meet cute as it ponders the questions: what if operators were still around? and what if they sounded hot on the other end of the line?
“It’s really just a dumb song, isn’t it?” adds Girl Scout’s Emma Jansson about the track. “A dumb guitar riff, dumb lyrics and a dumb beat, and we love it just the way it is. I have no idea where the inspiration behind the lyrics came from, I have no relationship to switchboard operators and they haven’t been around since before I was born. But wouldn’t it be fun if they were still around and they sounded really hot over the phone?”
Following a trilogy of introductory EPs the Stockholm-based trio’s debut album Brink officially arrives on 20 March via AWAL. Teaming up with Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Snail Mail) to mix the record, Brink is a sun-drenched prism of Girl Scout’s sound, refracting with a new glow from each song to the next. Its 13 tracks are caught between apocalyptic anxiety and wistful escapism; an album capturing the all-too-familiar crossroads of feeling stuck, yearning for change, and standing on the edge of something unknown
GIRL SCOUT Live Dates
January
30 - Norrköping, Arbis *
31 - Gothenburg, Concert Hall *
February
1 - Gothenburg, Concert Hall *
5 - Uppsala, UK *
6 - Umea, Idun *
7 - Lulea, Kulturens Hall *
8 - Skelleftea, Sara Kulturhus *
11 - Helsinki, House of Culture *
21 - Stockholm, Konserthuset *
22 - Stockholm, Konserthuset *
26 - Malmo, Slaghuset *
27 - Malmo, Slaghuset *
March
8 - Oslo, Opera House *
21- Huskvarna, Folkets Park
April
16 - Oslo, John Dee
17 - Gothenburg, Pustervik
18 - Stockholm, Debaser Strand
22 - Lund, Mejeriet
23 - Aarhus, Phono
24 - Copenhagen, Ideal Bar
25 - Hamburg, Turmzimmer
26 - Berlin, Kantine am Berghain
28 - Cologne, Blue Shell
29 - Paris, Le Pop Up du Label
30 - Amiens, La Lune Des Pirates
May
1 - Nijmegen, Merlyen
2 - Amsterdam, Paradiso Small Hall
16 - Manchester, The Deaf Institute
17 - Glasgow, Room 2
18 - Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
20 - London, The Garage
21 - Bristol, Thekla
22- Bearded Theory Festival, Derbyshire
23 - Brighton, Patterns
24 - Wanderlust Festival, Southhampton
July
18 - Gothenburg, Wine Mechanics
*with Miriam Bryant
* * *
Artist: IST IST
Track: Obligations
IST IST release the final single Obligations from their fifth album DAGGER. With its pulsating bassline, driving beats and synth throbs, Obligations is the enlivening new track from one of Manchester’s finest.
Embodying the metamorphosis of IST IST as they gear-up for the next stage in their evolution, this latest cut is fittingly all about transformation and sacrifices that can come with it. As vocalist Adam Houghton says: "With Obligations I wanted to capture the feeling of being bound to someone who represents both your salvation and your undoing. It’s about how love can feel like duty — something you can’t walk away from even when it hurts. I wanted to explore memory as something that both comforts and strangles, showing how the past can shape who we become. By the end, the narrator isn’t whole anymore, but they’ve accepted that pain and change are part of survival. It’s about transformation through loss — the quiet resilience of being altered by love.”
The new single arrives with a thought provoking official video featuring artist and longtime friend of the band Oliver Marson. Tuning into the track’s integral lyric “What is left is a different version of me”, we find Marson portraying an alternate version of the IST IST frontman.
The band's fifth album DAGGER is set for release on 6 February via Kind Violence Records and is produced by the band's own Joe Cross. Completely self-funded, self-recorded and due to be released completely independently via their own Kind Violence Records imprint, five albums in, DAGGER is the band’s most direct album yet and symbolises the driven DIY ethic that has been programmed into IST IST’s DNA since day dot.
IST IST - Live Dates
UK In store album launch shows
February
2 - Leeds - Headroom House
8 - Bury - The Met
9 - Edinburgh - The Caves
10- Nottingham - Rough Trade
11 - London - Rough Trade East
European Shows
March
11 - Antwerp - Kafka Oudaan
12 - Cologne - Luxor
14 - Amsterdam - Paradiso
15 - Frankfurt - Das Bett
16 - Zurich - Werk 21
17 - Milan - Santeria Toscana 31
19 - Budapest - Durer Kert
20 - Bratislava - Pink Whale
22 - Krakow - Klub Zascianek
23 - Warsaw - Hydrozadka
24 - Berlin - Hole 44
26 - Esbjerg - Tobakken
27 - Oslo - Parkteatret
29 - Stockholm - Kollektivet
31 - Hamburg - Logo
UK headline shows
April
9 - Norwich - Waterfront
10 - London - The Garage
11 - Exeter - Phoenix
12 - Oxford - O2 Academy 2
16 - Newcastle - The Grove
17 - Glasgow - Oran Mor
18 - Sheffield - Network
23 - Nottingham - Rescue Rooms
24 - Bristol - Thekla
25 - Brighton - Quarters
28 - Dublin - The grand Social
29 - Belfast - Ulster Sports Club
May
1 - Manchester - Albert Hall - 01.05.26
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