today’s indie picks move through acoustic americana, cabin-recorded warmth, existential indie and long-form instrumental craft. these four tracks keep the focus on human feeling, thoughtful detail and songs that feel built to last.
miss kentucky – sarah brunner
sarah brunner turns protest and love into a wonderfully rich acoustic americana moment
miss kentucky is a roots-led americana track built around warm acoustic textures, upright bass, keys, drums and close background vocals. the song carries its message with care, turning political urgency into something melodic, human and grounded in the freedom to love openly. the vocal is fantastic, delivering the meaning in style, and it’s a genuine head nodder this one.
sarah brunner is a michigan native and seattle-based singer-songwriter with more than 15 years of live performance behind her. recorded at bear creek studio and produced by tim graham, this release draws from the fight to preserve marriage equality and honours the lgbtq+ people who helped pave the way. with a voiceover from justice anthony kennedy woven into the track, it feels personal, principled and deeply connected to her own story. a fantastic single.
thank u for making this sarah brunner 🌈
my friend – andy fearnley
andy fearnley makes a love song about his guitar and the world just feels wonderful and bright
my friend is a happy, upbeat indie track with a playful twist, turning the familiar shape of a love song into an ode to the guitar itself. recorded in one take over a few hours, it keeps a spontaneous charm that makes the performance feel loose, honest and full of life. the relationship between a musician and their guitar is a close one, and fearnley captures the vibe in real style.
andy fearnley is an emerging artist from keswick, england, who only began taking music seriously at the start of 2025. written with his friend jordan and recorded in a cabin, the song captures the fun of a simple idea landing in the room and becoming something real. its appeal is in that directness, matching fearnley’s own attitude of just cracking on and trusting the path. it’s great fun.
thank u for making this andy fearnley 🎸
bureau of change – tom minor
tom minor turns tragi-comic chaos into a sharp existential indie single reflecting our times
bureau of change is a restless indie track that slips from indie rock into two-tone, tango and bolero with a beautifully strange, theatrical confidence. its shifting shape matches the song’s satirical bite, making short-changing, progress and power feel like part of the same crooked dance. and we’re definitely dancing along to this.
friend of the blog tom minor is a london n1 singer-songwriter working in what he calls existential indie, drawing from indie rock, new wave, punk, power pop, psychedelic sounds, garage rock, soul and r&b. written and arranged by minor and produced by teaboy palmer, this release follows his wonderfully titled album ‘ten new toe-tappers for shoplifting & self-mutilation’. it is witty, unruly and packed with enough change to make every corner of the arrangement feel alive. we’ll be digging into the album this month, because this is great.
thank u for making this tom minor 🪙
by design – philip kuehn
philip kuehn turns patience and movement into an uplifting jazz-pop journey
by design is a smooth, melodic instrumental and vocal piece with a rich arrangement that blends contemporary jazz colour, orchestral detail and cinematic lift. inspired by california’s pacific coast highway, it moves with openness and reflection, letting bass, horns, strings, woodwinds, harp, percussion and voice build into something carefully balanced.
philip kuehn is a bassist, arranger, composer and educator whose career includes work with major names across jazz, soul and orchestral music. this track spent more than twelve years evolving before reaching its final form, with contributions from matt marantz, mike piolet, melvin jones and many more. mixed by jeff jones and mastered by andre dias, it feels like a long creative road finally arriving exactly where it needed to.
thank u for making this philip kuehn 🌊
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