Industry news & advice blog

AINM - ‘Darlin’

Cork band AINM infuse elements of trip-hop, electronica and rock to create emotionally driven, immersive music, and their fresh new single ‘Darlin’ certainly delivers on both fronts, with lush and enveloping instrumentation topped with syrupy, lulling vocals.

Originally set into motion in 2019, but paused by COVID, ‘Darlin’ was revisited last year and will be the first release from AINM’s debut EP. The four-piece explain how the song was revived;

“‘Darlin’ is rooted in the idea of unconditional love. It originally began as a bedroom recording where we tracked many of the instruments ourselves. From there, we randomly bumped into and connected with artist and producer Andy Barlow - someone we all grew up listening to - and finished the track together at his studio in Brighton, which is fittingly a place we’ve all lived at different points.”

With four singles released across all major platforms, AINM have received radio support for their releases so far from the likes of Michael Carr, Select Irish and Jenny Greene on her show Greene Room on 2fm.

They’ve also been lucky enough to play a number of incredible venues and festivals across Ireland, developing a reputation for their intimate and engaging live shows, which they hope to bring to the UK very soon.

All eyes are now locked on their upcoming EP, a huge moment for the band; “Recording our EP with Andy feels like our biggest achievement to date. Working with someone we’ve long admired helped elevate our sound to the level we always imagined it could reach.”

It will be unveiled in full later this year so keep your ears to the ground, plus AINM will be promoting the release with a mini tour in Ireland throughout March and April, and are in the process of planning a tour further afield over the summer. Beyond that, they plan to return to the studio to finish recording their debut album, so there’s plenty more to look forward to from AINM in 2026.

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Taynee Lord - ‘Sign on the Dotted Line’

If you’re a fan of bold and feisty Country music, then look no further than Taynee Lord’s latest single ‘Sign on the Dotted Line’ which will effortlessly transport you from her native Bristol to Nashville’s Honky Tonk Highway.

The powerful track comes with a warning for other musicians to heed, as Taynee elaborates on her inspiration for the song; “'Sign On The Dotted Line' is inspired by painful real-life betrayal and hard-earned lessons. After personally being scammed by someone in the music industry who posed as a mentor, exploited my trust, stole money and derailed my career, which was so heartbreaking to go through, I wrote this track as a warning to other artists chasing their dreams to be careful who you trust!”

Recently named a ‘Top 10 Artist You Need on Your Radar for 2026’ by none other than Rolling Stone, Taynee has been fortunate enough to experience many stand-out moments in her career so far, from winning awards for her songs, continued support from BBC Introducing, plus reaching Number 1 in the iTunes Charts. And let’s not forget a particularly special live performance;

“I love playing live and I've headlined and performed at multiple festivals around the UK but getting to perform for Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis at The Pilton Stage was an extremely cool bucket list moment!”

Taynee will be gracing the festival stages this summer with her energetic show, but before then she’ll be unveiling a brand new single ‘Insane’ on 19th February, followed by a 5 track EP due for release in April, accompanied by a mini headline UK tour.

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Pax Solis - ‘Wake Me Up’

Crafting emotive, electronic alt-dance music with a focus on atmosphere, texture, and movement, producer and multi-instrumentalist Nick, aka Pax Solis, blends cinematic sound design with understated rhythm and subtle vocal elements.

Released today, his second single ‘Wake Me Up’ features refined beats and warm chiming piano before the ambient vibes build to a more climatic, spirited conclusion. He tells us more about how the track was formed; a story of two halves;
 
‘Wake Me Up’ began during the Covid period while I was living in a small village called Wraysbury. I started the track there but never fully finished it, and after moving to Porto, Portugal, I revisited the idea and completed it in my new surroundings. The track naturally moves from a darker, more ominous opening into a more rhythmic, dance-led ending which in hindsight feels like a release of that earlier time. I hadn’t consciously thought about that connection until revisiting the track, but it became clear during the process.”

A brand new, and completely DIY project for Nick, Pax Solis has already been picking up playlisting, blog coverage, not to mention radio airplay, with Amazing Radio’s Mark Ryan being an early backer.

“It’s my first time self-producing records so I feel like this is something that is going to evolve with time and consistency but I'm really enjoying the process while I have time away from touring as a session musician.”

Before his session musician duties kick in (he’ll be on the road this summer with The Human League), Nick plans to spend time on finishing, releasing and producing more tracks under Pax Solis, and we can’t wait to hear what he has in store.

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The Delta Sound - ‘Drive’

Taken from their forthcoming EP ‘Somewhere Out There’, 'Drive' is the punchy lead single by London trio The Delta Sound who’ve been carving their niche on and off since 2019, and have returned in 2026 with fresh, super-charged material.

Summing up their sound, the band say; “If you plucked us out of the middle of the Atlantic it would probably be about right. There's definitely a British feel to our sound but there's also a Bluesier/Rockier American influence too.”

Over the years The Delta Sound have caught the ear of BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, Abbie McCarthy on BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, Boogaloo and Islington Radio, with previous single ‘Sun Before The Fall’ racking up airplay across an incredible 75 radio stations around the world.

Other highlights include playing Glastonbury in 2023, and it was around this time that single ‘Drive’ first came to life;

“Originally we wrote the bare bones of 'Drive' down in Devon in the summer of 2023 when we were rehearsing for our first appearance at Glastonbury. We didn't end up playing it at the time but kept coming back to it, and it just clicked when we dropped to a 3-piece. The song itself is about wanting to clear your head by putting some distance between yourself and everything weighing on you, clearing the air with someone you care about, to get out on an empty open road and just feel that feeling of escape from your normal day to day.”

With everything primed for the imminent release of 'Somewhere Out There' on 20th March, The Delta Sound plan to fit in a gig at their favourite South London haunt The Old Dispensary in the coming weeks. Beyond that, they’re already booked to play Maidstone Fringe Festival on 2nd May and hope to pick up some more festival slots along the way.

You’ve got to admire that robust work ethic as the band aim to be back in the studio in April to start work on the next EP; “We want to keep churning it out. We've got a bucket load of songs we want to get out there and we want to build this year as much as we can in order for us to have a really strong Autumn/Winter 2026 & 2027.”

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