I’ve unlocked the old time machine and we head back to early 2014, when I had more hair and a full time job to explore some excellent releases that you need to hear. Won’t you join me?

Heather Maloney’s “Soil in the Sky” is a collective memory. Stitched together from personal and universal ecstasy, loss both intimate and ancient, Maloney’s fourth full-length release is a collage of tremulous folk, existential ballads, and assertive rock. She’s an excellent storyteller and it’s album I recommend. Plus plenty of new tunes, from funk to psych to R&B.

Over the last few years there has been an explosion of new bands paying homage to the killer sounds that emerged in the late ’70s early ’80s dubbed Post-Punk. With throbbing bass lines, scritchy/scratchy guitars and shouty vocals it was a genre that covered a lot of ground and with loads of energy. On this edition of 1/2/3/4 we pay attention to some of the acts who are making everything old very new and exciting again – albeit with their own twist.