The Trail Remains Unseen by Paul Thomas Saunders

It's the quiet ones you have to watch. Leeds-born Paul Thomas Saunders starts many of his songs with barely a whisper, a ghostly presence behind bewitching, electronica-filtered instrumentation, but as his songs unravel they pack the kind of emotional heat more celebrated voices have long since exhausted. He seems a suitably shy and retiring character too from what I've read of his interviews. The first track of his immersive EP, Descartes Highlands, The Trail Remains Unseen, is an exquisitely airy paean to youth and snapshots of memory, wrapped in sadness for what has past but intrigued by the possibilities of the future. Five minutes of utter sanctuary with Saunders' warm and aching voice leading you through the trees. There's no need for him to shout. We can do that for him.

The Trail Remains Unseen by Paul Thomas Saunders - listen on Spotify here.

I Belong In Your Arms - Chairlift

If you have an affection for the Fleetwood Mac albums of the 80s, there's a good chance you will already know this song. Brooklyn duo Chairlift specialise in re-configuring that slick AOR sound into something fresh and future-proof, producer Patrick Wimberly already mastering pure electronic pop two albums in. I Belong In Your Arms is their moment of unashamed romanticism, airily wafting a chorus that is forever soundtracking a soft focus, New York-set rom-com starring Ally Sheedy. Which is pretty much as good it gets in my book.

I Belong In Your Arms by Chairlift - listen on Spotify here.

From: Something (2012)

Stranger by Dead Mellotron

Born of their shoegaze-obsessive club night at The Social in London, record label Sonic Cathedral has already released plenty of intriguing material but Dead Mellotron's new album Glitter might be the best yet. Ditching the showy complexity of some post-rock, Dead Mellotron go straight for the heart. Straightforwardly soaring riffs and unfussy atmospherics dominate, especially on the opening Stranger, a sun-drenched climb to a spacey comedown on the other side. With John Frazier's vocals barely audible, it's a little like Explosions In The Sky without the guitar frippery, a record to get lost in with just enough melodic directness to stir the senses when needed. Proving, as ever, that keeping it simple is often the best policy.

Stranger by Dead Mellotron - listen on Spotify here.

From: Glitter (2012)

This One's Different by Howler

Witnessing a band on an obvious ascent to stardom can be a pretty breathtaking thing. The confidence, the ambition, the pursuit of rock and roll dreams about to come to glorious fruition. But most exciting of all is the realisation that their music has struck a chord so sweetly that it's impossible for others not to feel the same way. Seeing Howler in a small venue last night was the first time I recall that sense of anticipation since The Strokes in 2001. Songs straining at the leash to be heard by the masses, a band so immaculately attuned to each other's movements that it looks unerringly effortless. Of course The Strokes are a good reference point as This One's Different attests - fuzzed-out guitars, arrow-sharp melodies, a seductive insouciance - but Howler are a little more ragged, in obvious thrall to Seattle as well as New York and not quite as predestined to magazine covers.   All of which makes them more lovable but no less effective when it comes to indie dancefloor thrills. Ones to watch in other words.

This One's Different by Howler - listen on Spotify here.

From: America Give Up (2012)

Sure Shot by Beastie Boys

It's always a shock when someone you admire dies but reading a tweet about Adam Yauch's death on Friday night was real jolt. As lots of people have said since, something about the vitality and devilish delight in the Beasties' music makes it almost impossible not to think of the three of them B-boying their way around the 5 Boroughs forever more. And so to my favourite Beasties track. Of course there are tonnes to choose from but this is the one that I will forever associate with great nights out with mates, leaping around dirty dancefloors, and probably the first time I realised that hip hop wasn't all guns, drugs and Vanilla Ice. In the hands of the Beastie Boys it could be goofy, fun and still impossibly cool. More than anything theirs is a sound that makes you feel ten feet tall, an attitude and groove that you can't leave without a smile on your face.

Sure Shot by Beastie Boys - listen on Spotify here.

Down In The Woods by Richard Hawley

Few artists of recent years have a body of work as consistently spine-tingling as Richard Hawley. Far from being a man out of his time, with his 50s obsessions and Roy Orbison croon, the former Longpig and Pulp acolyte seems to have set the bar for others, inspiring the songwriting of his peers and his apprentices alike (see The Last Shadow Puppets and Alex Turner's questionable quiff). He could be forgiven for resting on his laurels and making an(other) brilliant album of whiskey-filtered ballads to his beloved Sheffield, all of which makes his new album Standing At The Sky's Edge even more invigorating. Angry, loud and downright lascivious in places, the first song to stand out on initial listens is this one, a call to arms to reject the trappings of urban life and get down and dirty in the sticks. Amid buzz-saw guitars and squealing feedback, Hawley keeps his cool but a bead of sweat can be on that bequiffed forehead. Bracing stuff.

Down In The Woods by Richard Hawley - listen to The Guardian's stream here.

From: Standing At The Sky's Edge - out on Monday 7th May

Dirty Paws by Of Monsters And Men

It's time to escape to the country, retreat back to nature, "A new start, try the simple life" as Damon Albarn put it on Country House. A move that Icelandic dreamers Of Monsters And Men would be well-placed to soundtrack. Having already garnered the tag "the new Arcade Fire" in the States, their widescreen folk certainly   bears out some comparisons - foot-stomping heartiness, tub-thumping exultation - but Dirty Paws reminds me more of the gorgeous interlacing vocals of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, songwriting that lives in its own space and time, seemingly unconcerned with the modern world. If you're inclined to flee urban life for a few minutes, this is the perfect departure point.

Dirty Paw by Of Monsters And Men - listen on Spotify here.

From: My Head Is An Animal - 2012

Ace by The Big Sleep

On this day of Armageddon weather, a song which sounds distinctly elemental, something that was made to be played amid a howling gale. The Big Sleep are a Brooklyn duo in thrall to the interesting edges of rock music but capable of pulling those strands into three enthralling minutes. Touching on a palette of post-rock and shoegaze with singer Sonya Balchandani's swooping vocals, Ace is ultimately a power-chord blizzard, throwing itself ever further into the tumult but showing enough restraint to sound genuinely effortless. A tricky thing to pull off in a Force Nine gale.

Ace by The Big Sleep - listen on Spotify here.

From: Nature Experiments (2012)

April's playlist

Here's a wee Spotify playlist of all the songs featured in April. Enjoy!

Play the April playlist