Debut Spotlight: May 2025
Debut albums and EPs from Sandhouse, green star, Bleed, Paper Lady, Shale, and spill tab.
May has been a busy month for new releases - here’s some great debuts to check out!
Sandhouse - Circus (EP)
London, England
For Fans Of: alternative | dreamgaze | Wolf Alice | Sorry | Friedberg | Softcult
Bandcamp
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Definitely a standout debut for me. I immediately fell in love with the haunting title track “Circus” when I first heard it a few weeks ago. The EP is a collection of dreamy alternative tracks with 90s influences, championed by Anna’s breathy vocals. There’s something pretty cinematic about the whole set of songs, and that kept me coming back for more this month.
Spotlight Track: “Circus”
green star - bleeding swirls (EP)
London, England
For Fans Of: shoegaze | noise pop | my bloody valentine | Been Stellar | Sonic Youth
Bandcamp
Release Date: May 2, 2025
Another dreamy EP from London, though this one leans a little darker. It has elements of shoegaze and noise pop, and is complimented by its dual vocalists and fuzzed-out guitars. There are also a few more melancholic tracks, where the vocals take a more spoken-word approach.
Spotlight Track: “blades of steel”
Bleed - Bleed
Dallas, Texas
For Fans Of: alternative metal | shoegaze | Deftones | Helmet | Superheaven | Leaving Time
Bandcamp
Release Date: May 2, 2025
I hope my platonic life partner Andrea is proud of me for dipping into music from heavier artists. This was an anticipated debut from Texas’ heavy shoegaze and alternative metal group Bleed, and their full length release follows through with tracks that have a sort of gravitational pull to them. It pulls in elements from adjacent genres, like grunge, hardcore and nu-metal, and I think this wide net makes it really approachable for people like me who aren’t usually diving head first into this genre.
Spotlight Track: “Marathon”
Paper Lady - Idle Fate
Boston, Massachusetts
For Fans Of: indie | dream rock | Mazzy Star | Trophy Wife | Chelsea Wolfe | Sunday (1994)
Bandcamp
Release Date: May 9, 2025
An ethereal full-length album from New England’s Paper Lady. They mix elements of alternative and folk in this dreamy rock album, layering diverse sounds between soft, somber tracks and distorted, guitar-driven anthems. And if you’re looking for a track that packs a punch, check out the punky “Joe Modern.”
A message from the band:
It feels so special to finally share this first full length release with everyone. We mostly wrote this in the woods of upstate New York, in a very introspective setting, so it feels very surreal to have people resonating with it so publicly now. We are so glad everyone’s enjoying it, and can’t wait to share more music soon.
Spotlight Track: “Silt”
Shale - Shale (EP)
Cardiff, Wales
For Fans Of: indie pop | indie rock | Courting | The Kooks | Blossoms | Declan McKenna
Release Date: April 4, 2025
A really fun, light-hearted EP from the young band from South Wales. “Green Light, Red Light” is easily a summer festival tune, while “Fuzzy Identities” and “It’s Not Right” remind me of mid-00s pop hits from bands like The Kooks and Keane. The newest track, “Work Dog”, packs a little more indie rock punch, so I’m curious to see how their music will further evolve.
Spotlight Track: “Fuzzy Identities”
spill tab - ANGIE
Los Angeles, California
For Fans Of: alt-pop | indie | Remi Wolf | Freak Slug | Billie Eilish | Wallice
Bandcamp
Release Date: May 16, 2025
Lastly, the long anticipated debut full-length album from French-American spill tab. She’s been releasing fantastic singles and EPs since 2019, and while it’s hard to call someone with over half a million monthly Spotify listeners “underrated”, I’ve wondered why more people haven’t known her name. This album combines the genres low-fi, indie, synth pop, and alternative pop, with a few French tracks sprinkled in.
Spotlight Track: “Angie”
As always, you can follow along with this year’s debuts in my Debuts of 2025 playlist. You can find all of my Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube playlists in the corresponding links.
Are you an artist, or have a debut album to recommend? Submit your recommendation here!
Enjoyed these recommendations? Here’s some Spotify playlists you may like:
FF New Music Friday - follow for weekly releases curated by a team of friends
Ready To Mingle - singles from pre-debut artists across rock & indie genres
Monthly Highlights - my favorite releases from this month
You can find all of my Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube playlists in the corresponding links.
Thanks for reading, and happy new music discovery!
x Erin