The Unsigned Guide Spotlight: June 2026

The Deadmans - ‘Tattoo Season’

Delivering their deliciously off beat, lilting single ‘Tattoo Season’, four-piece The Deadmans describe their sound as “...autobiographical alt-rock. It is wordy, earworm-y music created with a heart of rock, packaged with indie-pop influences.”

Taken from their debut, self-titled album which is available now, ‘Tattoo Season’ is a meaningful track recounting how band members LaurenSage (lyricist) and Harry Deadman (music/production), who are also married, first crossed paths. LaurenSage tells us more; “The song is an almost direct retelling of how Harry and I (LaurenSage) met. He turned the corner onto Danbury Street in Islington; I was standing outside of The Earl of Essex in a pair of leather boots that had started to fall apart and were held together by duct tape. On one of our very early dates, we got finger tattoos, hence the song title. We started living together on the road and creating this album after dating for that first summer. ‘Tattoo Season’ is the final track of the album but actually documents the inciting incident for the album.”

From the off The Deadmans’ music has been pricking up ears, with debut single ‘Nice Kid’ applauded by the likes of Record of The Day, Sirius XM and At The Barrier. Follow up singles ‘If Arizona Didn’t Exist’ and ‘Make Me Prey’ have been championed by BBC Radio 1’s Future Artists, The Selector, Amazing Radio, The Line of Best Fit’s New Music Discovery playlist and LOUD WOMEN.

As for other pivotal moments, the band tell us; “Hearing ‘If Arizona Didn't Exist’ played on BBC Radio 1 felt huge for us, especially because it was only our second song we had ever released. Last month we played our first show together to celebrate our album release. It was surreal to have a packed out, stylized show at Electrowerkz to get the ball rolling - we're still buzzing from that night.”

And we’re sure The Deadmans have many more triumphs ahead of them. But for now, hold the line as they continue working on new music and developing their live experiences. It’s bound to be worth the wait.

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Oscar November - ‘Anything’

Fresh off the blocks with his debut single, British Australian artist and producer Oscar November is certainly bringing something different to the table with his off the wall track ‘Anything’, a zingy mash-up of indie, electro, soul, pop and psychedelia.

Oscar tells us more about how the song came to life; “The moment I landed on the riff, which is just the simplest guitar part in the world, I was with my friends in the dead heat of a summer day, and we just went mad jamming over it. I was screaming, hooting, hollering (which I do a lot when I’m writing!, all in our little makeshift studio on the top floor of this pretty ramshackle, rundown barn wedged into a hill amongst the foothills of the Alps. We’re in the middle of nowhere basically, and we’ve been there for days and days by this point. I’ve been (barely) sleeping on the floor of this place, and I’m getting delirious from the heat, and it was just this total release… I can feel that every time I listen to it. It transports me right back to that moment. Later that night, after we’d made some progress with the song and the arrangement and stuff, and the heat settled down a bit, we sat back and listened to what we’d done that day, and there was this moment where we all looked at each other, and I think we could all tell something special had happened. It felt like a door had opened or something. And now that we’re playing live a fair bit, it seems to be having an effect on strangers too.”

From the get-go, the single has had strong support from Emily Pilbeam on 6Music’s BBC Introducing Mixtape, as well as being crowned Track of the Week on BBC Introducing Suffolk/Norfolk. Already making his mark on the live circuit, Oscar has been playing explosive shows, leading to him winning BurySOUND Competition a couple of months ago, and opening his first ever festival main stage at Leestock at the end of May.

Get ready for Oscar’s first EP ‘This Isn’t Real, But It’s Happening’ which he’ll be releasing independently in July, but if you’re itching for a fix sooner than that, second single ‘Darlin’ will drop on 19th June, so set your reminders.

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Ratoon - ‘Are You Feeling Fine?’

Drawing inspiration from the 2000/2010s pop rock scenes, South Wales band Ratoon are building a devoted fanbase with their breezy, melodic and catchy sound.

Their single ‘Are You Feeling Fine?’ was crafted during the release of debut EP ‘Butterfly Effect’ and bassist Matti elaborates on how it came to life; “The song came about when we were going through the process of rolling out our first EP last summer. The band went through a lot of change, with Eifion going from our drummer to our singer. This meant our writing style completely changed, and we found our amazing new drummer Josh to fill Eifion’s shoes. Eifion and I were listening to a lot of really good pop music at the time, so ‘Are You Feeling Fine?’ came really naturally to us. We’d had a lot of time together over the summer, a lot of honesty and heart-to-heart conversations about the mistakes we’ve made in life so far. It was really refreshing for us! The overarching theme of ‘Are You Feeling Fine?’ is one of self-reflection, something we spent a long time doing last summer. We spent some time emailing logic files between us before taking it into the rehearsal room. It was probably the fastest we’ve ever finished a song, and the demo is really not far away from the final version. Not long later we were in the studio recording it alongside our other latest single ‘It’s You’!”

Already racking up airplay and the ‘New Band of the Month’ moniker from BBC Radio Wales, not to mention glowing reviews from the likes of Buzz Magazine, Reyt Good Music and HOTVOX Magazine, Ratoon are also making waves on the live circuit with their energetic gigs.

“There’s definitely a few shows that we are super proud to have been a part of. Opening up for Chloe Slater recently was amazing and has led a lot of people onto our music who we wouldn’t really have expected to have been so passionate about it. Playing Isle of Wight Festival in 2023 was also really cool, still getting over that three years later…”

The summer looks set to be frenzied as Ratoon have plenty of shows on the agenda, including performances at Davauden Festival, Hear to Help Festival, Down on the Farm and a support slot with Black Havana, amongst others.

There’s also new music on the horizon for the end of summer, leading towards a new EP at the end of the year. Plus studio time booked in with the mighty Gethin Pearson (Badly Drawn Boy, Charli XCX, Crystal Fighters) so loads to look forward to from Ratoon.

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Kelli Blanchett - ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’

Sitting somewhere between Americana, Folk, and the classic singer songwriters of the ‘70s such as Linda Ronstadt and Gram Parsons, musician Kelli Blanchett’s sound feels tender, yet warm and soothing.

“I love watching old videos of James Taylor and Judee Sill and seeing the rawness of their talent. I’m drawn to music that feels analogue; music that makes you feel like you’re in the room with it. I’m a sucker for Rhodes organs, Wurlitzers and slide guitars. I guess you could call it British Americana in a way.”

Sparked by a friend who suddenly disappeared and cut contact with everyone, Kelli wrote ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ to deal with the difficult emotions stirred up;

“I spent a lot of 2024 being very ill. I have a chronic illness, and it really came back to bite me that year, leaving me in a state of confusion. I had to spend a lot of time alone, processing emotions I usually try to hide from. So I picked up my guitar and wondered what might come out - and this is it. The track is very driven by emotion and frustration. I’d shied away from the acoustic guitar for a long time because I’d convinced myself I wanted to be a girl who played electric, which I do love. But something told me I needed to step back into the acoustic side of songwriting. It helped me connect more deeply with what I was singing about. There’s something so grounding about playing a piece of wood with a hole in it and screaming your lyrics out until you build something softer, but no less affecting. Well, for me anyway.”

With a rapidly growing fanbase, Kelli has had support on all her releases from BBC Introducing who have crowned her as Artist of the Week twice over. Her EP listening party sold out in just 48 hours, and she’s also had music featured on Channel 4’s Big Mood.

On the topic of personal accomplishments, Kelli tells us; “I’ve been really lucky. I played 3 nights back-to-back supporting Self Esteem at the Eventim Apollo, which was completely mind-boggling. Last November, I was part of the Southbank Festival and played the Royal Festival Hall. “But honestly, just getting to do this at all as a working-class woman with a chronic illness feels like a huge achievement, especially in an industry where working-class voices are disappearing.”

Having recently played a sold-out headline show at SJQ in Dalston, London at the end of May, she also plans to play a UK tour down the line, but for now Kelli is turning her attention to recording and production; “I’m diving into learning how to record myself properly; something I only know a little about at the moment, but which will open up a whole new world creatively and allow me to make music more freely.”

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The Streetlights - ‘The Overview’

Channelling the infectious, stadium indie rock vibes of the likes of The Killers, The Strokes and Catfish & the Bottlemen, Manchester four-piece The Streetlights latest song ‘The Overview’ is brimming with captivating energy.

The band let us in on how the track was created; “Ryan wrote the track over the new year, between long shifts working behind a bar, before taking it to the band to flesh out. The lyrics act as a call to action in a failing relationship; it's a plea to rip off the plaster and speak the painful truth out loud, rather than making "...sweet surrender seem like fight." It's a song about feeling stuck in this "..world that turns too slow." The title 'The Overview' stems from taking a step back for a moment to view a situation with more clarity. The energetic guitar intro was a last-minute edition, written only days before recording, with the lyrics being finalised on the train from Manchester to Catalyst Studios in St Helens.”

Working with the Sugar House team (Viola Beach, Corella, Pale Waves), The Streetlights have already seen their debut single ‘Silver Linings’ played to tens of thousands of people, pre-match at Old Trafford. And on the live front, their first headline show back in December went down a treat, “We packed out 33 Oldham Street in Manchester, closing with our then unreleased debut single ‘Silver Linings’ which we had only finished writing and recording with Sugar House (Viola Beach, Corella, Pale Waves) the day before. This was the first show where we'd had the time to settle into a set, and really grow into ourselves on stage.”

Busy working the local scene, The Streetlights are set to play their biggest headline show to date at Off The Square, Manchester, on 12th June. And they have another smash single up their sleeve, as they unveil their third collaboration with Sugar House in mid-July, so keep it locked for more fresh music and gigs.

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