Every week Fresh On The Net, sister blog to Platinum Mind receives up to 200 tracks moderated by a volunteer team and reviewed on rotation. This is my review of Batch 609.
Alan Dreezer – Delusional
This track is from Alan Dreezer’s album Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes which came out on 2nd June 2026..
This track takes soulful elements and adds electronica, it’s underpinned by a piano holding down the chords over an 808 kick with atmospheric sounds giving it a bit of a journey to it.
This song is about the struggles that artists go through when working on their art – and there is a struggle that people don’t see, and Alan is being real about it in the lyrics, the intrusive thoughts about whether he’s doing the right thing. He’s very self aware in his lyrics and that’s what makes this stand out to me.
Alan Dreezer is an artist from Eastbourne who also serves as part of my merry band of of moderators at Fresh On The Net as part of a new generation of recruits since I took over.
Official | Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky | YouTubeBarbara – Isn’t She Strange!
Barbara have always historically done well on the faves, it’s no surprise then that they are represented here. They bring their brand of pop which reminds me a little of ELO, with touches of a band from the 70s called Pilot – they had a classic hit with a track called Magic which you’ll probably recognise the minute you hear it.
What I like about Barbara is the fact that they have this unstoppable knack of having great arrangements for their songs, from the harmonies to the instrumentals, it’s very 70s which is very obvious from the use of Wurlitzer piano in there, if this was recorded on analogue tape this would not surprise me. It’s almost pre yacht rock which I’m very fond of.
Lyrically this song is about being yourself, and ignoring those who are watching and even dancing the can-can, and not letting the establishment and society dictate what you do.
Barbara are brothers Henry and John Tydeman from Brighton, and their mission is to bring old school pop music to the masses one sweater at a time.
Also known as the lord’s work.
Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTubeCallum Pitt – Ghosts Along The Coastline
The first thing that caught my attention with this track is the layered harmonies that open this, it’s stunning! The lyrics have you from the moment it starts:
There are ghosts along the harbour wall,
And miles along the coastline,
The ocean wild and frothing
Taking pieces from the land.
It reminds me of the kind of song you could play in a pub in Dublin acoustically it’s a folk song given an indie rock infusion and it’s stunningly done.
In fact this is my track of the week.
Callum Pitt is from Newcastle Upon Tyne, a folk rock artist an occupational therapist in his day job.
Official | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinktreeConscious Route X Wends
Drum n Bass doesn’t get submitted to the inbox very often in my opinion, and that’s a shame. But when it does I’m very appreciative of it especially when it’s done well. In this case it’s done really well! Conscious Route is a rapper from Scotland and he doesn’t come alone he brings Wends and both of them trade off on a beat that’s designed to set the dance floor on fire. Why do I say that? Well that start at the beginning is just one note so it’s a tribal call – think about the guitar riff from Incredible from M-Beat and General Levy from 1994, when that drops anywhere even now it’s still a hit among those who were clubbing that long ago.
Conscious Route approaches this with calm surgical accuracy along with Wends singing the hook, they really work together well and if memory serves this is not their first collaboration and probably not going to be their last.
Official | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | BandcampDogs Don’t Deal – Be Less Jeff
Dogs Don’t Deal don’t even bother to hide their contempt for Big Tech in this song, going after Jeff Bezos in the title. They start off by reeling off the kind of things they don’t need – For example being in the pub seeing the same old faces, getting bored of work, crypto, Apple Watch, popping off at AI. My favourite line is when they reference the Nokia 3510 and the future being bright and being Orange. It’s a big reference to early 2000s life, which is quite funny and quite sad really because I remember life being before that.
This is all over a stuttering instrumental powered by drum machine, guitars, bass and synths, and the chanting of being less Jeff shows that they are ready for big festivals… it gets louder and louder and it’s brilliant.
Dogs Don’t Deal is a UK based spoken word duo from Leicester and Sheffield.
Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTubeFreya Everest – Monique
Freya Everest comes to us with a track sprinkled with strings played in various states, pizzicato’d, bowed, bent notes. It’s quite refreshing hearing them being used as percussion. As usual her voice comes in strong, with a melody that soars. Having looked at the artwork for the single, I can see why the strings play an important part, if you look at the artwork for the single it’s based on a picture of a woman’s back and has the f holes from a violin. This is the titular Monique. I love that idea! So, it’s not all just thrown together.
Linktree | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | BandcampJJ Lovegrove – Signal Loss
JJ Lovegrove brings a beautifully emotional piece that’s based around piano, she uses poetry to describe a relationship that seems to work but shouldn’t because of a breakdown in communication. This is poetic and makes the descriptions here make you think deeper, for example:
Two bodies,
Low resolution,
Flickering neon suspicions,
A wordless exchange through glass
My timings were off by fractions,
Signal lost,
A half caught sentence,
Silence feels tragic
When you live in the fragments.
It really does make you think, sometimes it takes putting it down in words in terms that you will understand to make it connect, and we live in an era where this is important.
TIkTok | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | BandcampMischa And The Bear – Bleach
I like the way this starts off, it’s not conventional drums, it’s percussion over a kick – sounding more like dampened toms. When the vocals come in they’re distorted, this gives this track a real rough edge, and I like that! It’s spoken word for the verse until the chorus comes in. This shows that Mischa and The Bear are not afraid to go a little experimental especially with the addition of analogue synth noises!
This song is about a self destructive lifestyle in the fast line, alcohol, drug abuse, generally being a spoiled brat. It’s spikey and explosive and that’s a good thing!
Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | YouTube | TikTokRobi Mich – Chasing
This song contains an electric piano that sold me on it from the beginning! This is my track of the week – I have to say it. The bluesy guitars work really well, as well as the string texture. Lyrically, this is quite a topical track given that we’re currently putting people back into space with a view of landing on the moon again. It talks about letting the aliens and letting the extraterrestrials know that Robi Mich is coming back to earth and chasing after someone – a lost love maybe? If this had another layer of psychedelia and a touch of soul I’d say that this was influenced by Parliament Funkadelic circa Maggot Brain era. In any case it’s a pleasant listen!
Linktree | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube | BandcampThe Casbahs – Free Will
This starts off with a bass playing 16ths, and my initial thought was that this track would be at a high speed but that’s not the case. It growls with attitude in with the guitars, and has a real power indie rock feel to it. What you don’t expect is the banshee scream towards the end of the song, but I love it. One thing I like about this song is the musical arrangement and also the way the guitar tones pass effortlessly through each other, there’s a clear tone at the beginning and then switches to distorted guitars, it’s very clever and very on brand for an indie rock band.
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