Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen, and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music. This week, we’ve got three new entries from acts who have a connection to the area.
1. Billy Idol – Still Dancing –
Time for another RaW Sounds Today road trip! This time we were privileged to go to Wembley to see Billy Idol kicking off his multi-country tour to tie in with his latest album, Dream Into It. The show was every bit as spectacular as you would expect, and kicked off with this single, Still Dancing, the title of which calls back his hit Dancing With Myself. It manages the trick of being fresh and at the same time sounding like classic Billy Idol. The album is a great collection of tracks with an autobiographical slant as he looks back on his career. https://billyidol.net/
2. David Essex – Rock On –
Going back in time even further than Billy Idol’s debut, a bit of real nostalgia for those as old as the curators of this playlist! This track from, and written by, David Essex, from 1973, still sounds great over fifty years on.It was his big hit in the US, and just the start of his chart career in the UK, where he notched up 19 top 40 hits. You can see the man himself when he appears at Englefield House on July 20th on a bill headlined by the Beach Boys and also featuring Lulu! https://www.davidessex.com/
3. West Street – Eden –
From two well-established performers to an up-and-coming young band. West Street were still all at school when they released their debut single last year, and then played in a number of venues around London followed by a great performance on the main stage at last year’s Wokingham Festival. This is their second single, released earlier this year, and you can see how they’ve developed over the last year when they appear on the Trailer stage at Fifest on 12th July. https://www.instagram.com/ weststreetband.official/
4. Jake Bugg – I Wrote the Book –
You may have seen the feature on Jake Bugg in the paper recently, ahead of his appearance at The Hexagon, the start of his live dates for this year. He put on a great show, opening with some solo acoustic songs followed by a full band set, in front of a packed auditorium of appreciative fans. This is his latest single, with sound advice for life for everyone, seize the day! https:// www.facebook.com/jakebugguk
5. The Jacques – Dead Man’s Garden –
Inspired by the overgrown garden of a deceased neighbour, this track balances dark with light, and in the end conveys a hopeful message of new life blooming. There’s a gothic feel, and if you listen carefully you might make out a Latin chant in the background in the middle, but overall there’s an uplifting swing to it all. The members of The Jacques are split between London and Bristol, but recently played at The Oakford Social Club in Reading, with Puma Theory’s Cameron Smith on bass duties! Their album, Make Repetition, is due out in July. https://www.facebook.com/TheJacquesUK
6. The Outliers – Midnight Train –
The second single from Bracknell-based power trio The Outliers, a tale of love, longing and self-discovery, and late night travel arrangements. Also have a listen to their latest single, Those Three Words. We look forward to seeing Harry, Conor and Ben playing live before too long. https://www.instagram.com/theoutliers_band/
7. The Anchoress – Let It Hurt –
Another RaW Sounds Today road trip, all the way to Aldershot to see The Anchoress, the stage name of multi-instrumentalist and producer Catherine Anne Davies, perform a mix of songs old and new, supported by her band of talented musicians. This was was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, with the quality of the songs that will appear on the forthcoming album due out later this year easily matching The Anchoress’ previous work. This self-penned track from her most recent album, The Art of Losing, is a haunting self-examination, raw and confessional, but softened by the layered instrumentation and gorgeous production (also down to Davies). https://www.facebook.com/theanchoress
8. The Dazed Minded – We’re Alright –
The Purple Turtle has been putting on some great music, and not just at the bar in Gun Street, they curated a stage at the Madejski stadium for Reading FC home games and presented a series of quality Reading bands. One of those bands was The Dazed Minded, who we’ve featured a few times, and they have just released this EP of songs recorded at their live appearance. This is
a lovely anthemic track which builds from a quiet opening, and you can easily imagine a large crowd with a sea of lit-up phones waving in time to the music! https://www.facebook.com/thedazedmindedband
9. Leoni Jane Kennedy – Jesse –
Leoni Jane Kennedy is having a very busy year; we last saw her supporting and playing guitar with Solstice, and this time she was doing the same for The Anchoress. In addition, this is the third single she’s released so far this year. This charming song is all about the deep friendship between Leoni and the Jesse of the title; we were privileged to meet the man himself at the gig, too. Look out for the accompanying video, which adds to the warmth of the song, and we also enjoyed the guitar solo which gives off Carlos Santana vibes. https://www.facebook.com/LJKmusic
10. Gemma Rogers – MOLLY_1989 –
With her first single of 2025, Gemma Rogers turns her razor-sharp wit to the dating scene, and how women have to deal with unbalanced dynamics and unreasonable expectations. This is from her forthcoming second album, due out next year, we can’t wait! The track was played by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 Music, and you can’t get much better than that! We last saw Gemma play at the Face Bar in January for Club Velocity and are sure she’ll be back before too long, but you can catch her on tour, including at Glastonbury later this month. https://www.facebook.com/ gemmarogersmusic
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
