#MusicMonday Review - September 2026

[osornios]

#MusicMonday is the hashtag I've been using for quite a while to share music recommendations from up-and-coming artists. Always fresh, and always different, trying to look for trends before they become one. You can check August's review for more music.

From being a new parent, to the joy of traveling to new places, this issue gives the complete spectrum of what Indie music represents. Give them a listen, with a word from the artists themselves. 🎧

BIG ROOM – Bertha James

It's a commuter culture, a co-segregation of false personas
They jostle to make ends meat
Chew the fat of social elite
See, everything is borrowed you're not unique

Your life’s a kickstarter
You view yourself as community artist

Do you do you your due diligence
To the influence that you bend
Keep believing it’s not pretend
Tell myself you're not pretend

Our journey starts in London, England with an Indie Electronic track about the holes in ourselves that we are not able to fill, making our self image dependent on validation:

"Thematically the song is about feeling disconnected in conversation and sensing the other person is putting on a facade - inspired by a mishmash of encounters at festivals or partys."

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Olivia Miceli – Everybody Wants Him

I've been going round in circles
I've been all up in my head
I can't seem to stop thinking about him
My thoughts are making me a mess

I've been living through my daydreams
He likes me much more in my head
In my mind we've been dating for about three years now
In real life we're not even friends

We move northwest to Stoke-on-Trent, England for a Pop song about the irrational, unfashionable act of being lovestruck on someone who barely knows your name:

"Everybody Wants Him was written about a crush who had no idea I existed. It was getting embarrassing, but I realized it would make a great song and I think a lot of people can relate to having a crush which takes over your every thought! It turned out to be a really fun, upbeat song where I could really lean into the carefree-ness of being in the first stages of falling for someone."

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Golden Alphabet – trippin' out again

trippin' out again, of sorts, in a resort in Mexico
taking showers again in hopes that all his ghosts are scared of soap
If at home, he would go and lie lie lie lie in the snow
he would go and lie lie lie lie in the snow

ver el sol, ver el sol
se seca todos mis huesos
ver el sol
se seca todos mis huesos

We cross now the ocean, and land in Brooklyn, NY for a multilingual Indie Pop track about the contrasts in life, and our attitude towards them:

"I wrote the song while at a friend's wedding in Cancun. Lyrically, the themes range from infidelity to existential stress living in late stage capitalism."

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The Happy Somethings – You'll Grow Up Quick

I’m like a child with a new toy I don’t know how to use.

There will soon be nappies pilling up in our refuse.

Our room will look fantastic when everything’s in plastic!

I guess for the moment we’re okay ‘cause you’re inside and I’m out all day.

Soon reality is going to hit me - I’ll be off to bed at two and up again at three

so pass me the milk and alcohol - I’m having sweats and playing with dolls

‘cause I’ll be up all night in another week or two.

Back in the UK, in close proximity to the slag heaps of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire,  we get an unintentionally retro Indie Pop song about the challenges of being a new parent:

"Well, we've seen quite a few friends become parents & they haven't held back from sharing their doubts & fears... All good in the end though 🙂😍😎

We wanted it to ring true, and not be romanticized..."

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The High Nines – Shifting Sand

Leave the city lights behind

a winding road will take to foreign lands

Another place will shift away somehow
over the shifting sands

Our final stop is Manchester, England for an Indie Rock track that will take you, and a loved one, straight to the 90s Alternative scene:

"The song was a real collaborative effort - one of those tunes that was birthed in the rehearsal room, T-Bone (lead guitar) started playing the riff, and within 5 mins Dean had the melody and lyrics for the verses, Nathan comes in straight away with the drum beat that’s on the record, kinda of chemical brothers setting sun type beat, Steve adds the chorus and break down to it later that night and then Pete adds an epic Beatle-esque bass line to finish it off.

All done within 48 hours. Knew as soon as we played it we had to release it. The best type of tunes come completely naturally like that, not forced."

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Listen to them and much more on the complete playlist

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See you next time!