The big releases you need to hear from the week ahead.
PIXEY – MILLION DOLLAR BABY
If the 90s and TikTok had a love child raised on a strict diet of breakbeats and Haribo, you’d get something close to Pixey’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’. her debut album crashes in like a glitter bomb in a time capsule, exploding with the kind of fizzy pop energy that makes you want to dance in your bedroom and overthrow capitalism simultaneously.
Pixey has been brewing this pop potion for years, perfecting her recipe of earworm hooks and sneaky depth. In a recent chinwag with Dork, she spilt the beans: “With this album, the main thing I want to come across is my love for production and creating landscapes and expressing sentiment through sound.” It’s as if she’s taken the entire lexicon of pop, tossed it in a blender with a handful of sherbert and a dash of modern existential dread, and hit ‘puree’.
The title-track comes out swinging, a tongue-in-cheek jab at fame that manages to be both a critique and a certified banger. It’s the audio equivalent of rolling your eyes while doing the robot – impossibly cool and slightly ridiculous all at once. But don’t let the sugar-coated exterior fool you; beneath the infectious beats lurk surprisingly introspective lyrics. “I like writing existential and darker thoughts into music that sounds like it’d be, you know, nice to listen to,” Pixey reveals, casually dropping the recipe for pop alchemy like it’s no big deal.
Take ‘Oxygen’. “Probably the most sad song I’ve ever written,” Pixey admits, “I wrote it to sound a bit like ‘Take On Me’.” It’s a neat trick she pulls throughout the album – serving up crises like they’re candy floss. Who knew an emotional breakdown could have such a good beat?
‘Bring Back The Beat’, co-produced with Jungle’s Tom McFarland, is where Pixey really flexes her musical muscles. It’s a horn-blasting, string-swinging carnival of sound that starts a conga line all the way to the nearest revolution. It’s the kind of track that makes you believe Pixey could probably cure the common cold if she just found the right bassline.
As the album progresses, it becomes clear that ‘Million Dollar Baby’ isn’t just a catchy title – it’s Pixey’s whole vibe. She’s taken the bright, shiny promise of pop stardom and turned it inside out, revealing the hopes, fears, and everyday absurdities that lie beneath. “I don’t think I’m owed anything and I don’t think I’m entitled to success or even exposure, I just do it because I love it,” she reflects, grounding her ambitions in refreshing humility.
Where Pixey goes from here is anyone’s guess, but if ‘Million Dollar Baby’ is any indication, it’ll be a journey worth following. It’s pop music for people who think too much, dance too little, and aren’t afraid to do both at once. As Pixey herself puts it, “When you’re an artist at my level, you roll with it because you love it.” And with ‘Million Dollar Baby’, there’s plenty to love indeed.
Not that Pixey is getting too hung up on what others think. “Moving forward, I’m not anxious because I love this album, and I want it to do well, but at the same time, I’m letting it go,” she explains. “I enjoyed the process of making it. It’s done, and I’m proud of it. Now it’s up to the people: if they like it, they like it; if they don’t, they don’t.”
Read our full chat with Pixey on Dork+ now – free to read for all later this week.
86TVS – 86TVS
The Maccabees may have left the building, but it seems they forgot to turn off the amps. Enter 86TVs, a phoenix rising from the indie-rock ashes with a self-titled debut that’s less “remember when” and more “what’s next”.
It’s a curious thing, watching a band born from the remnants of another. There’s always the risk of becoming a tribute act to your own past, but 86TVs seem determined to forge their own path. The early singles hinted at a sound that’s reaching for something beyond the familiar indie-rock stratosphere, and their self-titled debut follows through on that. Less a nostalgic trip down indie-rock memory lane and more a bold step into a brave new world where emotions run free and choruses soar, it’s a birrova triumph.
‘Higher Love’ isn’t just a track title – it’s the mission statement. This is an album that feels like it was written for those moments when you’re driving home at 2am, streetlights blurring past, contemplating life’s big questions – or at least wondering if that kebab shop is still open. It’s earnest without being cloying, familiar without being derivative. The Maccabees may be gone, but if 86TVs have anything to say about it, guitar music isn’t going anywhere.
BRIGITTE CALLS ME BABY – THE FUTURE IS OUR WAY OUT
There’s something wonderfully anachronistic about Brigitte Calls Me Baby. In an age where pop culture moves at the speed of a TikTok trend, they’ve crafted an album that feels both timeless and utterly of the moment. ‘The Future Is Our Way Out’ is the sonic equivalent of finding a Polaroid camera in a world of Instagram filters, careening between romantic nostalgia and post-punk energy with reckless abandon.
Producer Dave Cobb, better known for his work with country stars, brings a touch of Nashville grit to proceedings. It’s an odd pairing on paper, like putting ketchup on a deep-dish pizza, but somehow it works. The singles released so far stand out as anthems for anyone who’s ever felt a bit lost, a bit in love, or a bit of both. Brigitte Calls Me Baby are a band crafting anthems for the disaffected and lovelorn alike, with a disarming candour that’ll have you hugging your emotional baggage
In a world where authenticity is often just another carefully curated brand, Brigitte Calls Me Baby offer something that feels genuinely, refreshingly real. It’s an album that makes you want to scream-sing at a punk show and slow dance at prom in the same evening. In a world of curated perfection, this debut feels gloriously human – enough to make you cancel your therapy and hit repeat instead.
MOULD – MOULD EP
MOULD’s self-titled EP lands like a Molotov cocktail through the window of polite society. In a musical landscape increasingly dominated by algorithms and playlists, their self-titled EP feels like a deliberate act of sonic rebellion. It’s the aural equivalent of showing up to a black-tie event in a torn punk t-shirt – and somehow pulling it off.
‘Cables’ and ‘Birdsong’ might sound like the components of a relaxing nature documentary, but in MOULD’s hands, they become weapons of mass disruption. This is music that grabs you by the collar and demands your attention, a welcome antidote to the passive listening experience of the streaming age. This is music that doesn’t so much push boundaries as it does bulldoze right through them, leaving listeners exhilarated and slightly dazed. MOULD transform familiar elements into something far more visceral, crafting a sound that’s both recognisable and startlingly new.
There’s a raw energy here that’s hard to fake. It’s the sound of a band with something to say and no patience for niceties. It offers something gloriously, unapologetically rough around the edges. It’s a debut that suggests MOULD aren’t here to fit in – they’re here to stand out. It’s maybe not for everyone, but then again, the best things rarely are.
ORVILLE PECK – STAMPEDE: VOL. 1
Orville Peck rides again continuing his mission to make country music fabulous again with ‘Stampede: Vol. 1’, an album that feels like stumbling into the world’s most glamorous honky-tonk. It’s a place where rhinestones are a neutral, and Willie Nelson and Elton John are regulars at the bar.
Peck’s masked crusader of country continues to push the genre into new frontiers, continuing his knack for transforming country tropes into something fresh and exciting. ‘Stampede: Vol. 1’ promises to continue this, celebrating the queer undercurrents that have always run through country music, now brought gloriously to the surface.
With a roster of collaborators that spans generations and genres, ‘Stampede: Vol. 1’ feels like a statement. It’s Peck planting his flag and declaring that country music’s tent is big enough for everyone. In a genre often associated with tradition so ingrained it’s effectively stale, Peck offers a vision of the future – and it’s wearing a mask.
SMASHING PUMPKINS – AGHORI MHORI MEI
Just when you thought it was safe to pack away your oversized band t-shirts and baggy flannel, the Smashing Pumpkins return with ‘Aghori Mhori Mei’ – an album title that sounds like what happens when you leave your phone on in your pocket and confuse your mum.
Billy Corgan and co. continue their quest to soundtrack the inner turmoil of a generation – albeit a generation now more concerned with mortgage rates and the PTA than teenage angst. The album promises to mine that rich vein of cosmic melancholy that made the Pumpkins alt-rock staples, with songs like ‘Pentagrams’ and ‘War Dreams Of Itself’ suggesting the Pumpkins haven’t lost their knack for grandiose titles or cosmic angst
‘Aghori Mhori Mei’ has the whiff of an album as expansive as Corgan’s ambitions – which, if history is any indication, means it could encompass anything from Arthurian legends to pro wrestling. The Smashing Pumpkins have always operated on their own wavelength. Whether that wavelength aligns with the zeitgeist remains to be seen, but you can’t fault them for staying true to their own peculiar vision.
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