Written by Our most recent Tracks Of The Week conflagration produced the kind of once-in-an-era battle we don’t see every week, bringing to mind the Battle of Salamis, the 480 BCE fracas that saw the Greek navy defeat the Persians and fundamentally alter the course of Western civilisation. This time it was These Wicked Rivers, whose Ain’t No Smoke single defeated White Knuckle Riding by The Virginmarys. So congratulations to them.
![These Wicked Rivers - Ain't No Smoke [Official Music Video] - YouTube](https://halloffans.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/maxresdefault-1.jpg)
Standing on the sidelines watching all the action unfold, but unable to alter the course of events, were the Kris Barras Band. So well done to them, too. And now? We start again.
Low Cut Connie – Can’t Be Wrong
Wars are raging, costs soaring, politics dividing, regrettably powerful egos showing no signs of abating… Let’s dance! So goes the wisdom (more or less) of Low Cut Connie on this thumping, summery rock’n’roll ode to cutting loose in the face of adversity. “Part of making this protest album was trying to answer the question of how do we activate when things are going so wrong in America and around the world,” Adam Weiner/LCC mastermind says. “For me, the answer is to protest during the day, and party at night. We can do both things.”
The Rolling Stones – Rough And Twisted
Holy crap! And rejoice! There’s a new Rolling Stones record in the offing, and we’ve got two new tracks from it, and* they’re both legitimately good! In The Stars is the sweeter of the two, but we’re particularly fond of this deliciously ragged yet sharp slice of heavy-hitting blues rock. Considerably better than we have any right to expect from a new Rolling Stones tune in 2026. God knows at their stage in the game they’d be forgiven for a bit of laurel-resting – this, though, is not that.
Erik Grönwall – Praying For A Miracle
All heartfelt melody in a slick heavy framework – and is that a whisper of Robyn’s floorfiller Dancing On My Own in the chorus? – the former H.E.A.T/Skid Row/Michael Schenker frontman’s latest showcases the theatrical power and deep, rock lifer roots that have made him such an in-demand voice. Now, it’s serving his solo ventures well, too. “Praying for a Miracle is about being pushed to a point where you feel like you have no control left,” Erik reflects, “when everything comes down to one last chance and all you can do is hold on and hope. It takes me back to the moment I stepped on stage with Skid Row for the first time, just five months after my bone marrow transplant.”
Alyssa Bonagura – I Wanna Go
Steven Tyler’s a fan, Joe Bonamassa appears on her upcoming album (America’s Backroads, out in June) and she’s giving Sheryl Crow a serious run for her money on I Wanna Go – a mid-tempo countrified rocker with a honeyed, pensive heart and a healthy level of dirt under its boots. Like what you hear? Catch her at the Royal Albert Hall’s Highways Festival this month, and on her UK headline tour in June.
De’Wayne feat Lenny Kravitz – Highway Robbery
Imagine Prince having a summer barbecue with The Struts and Lenny Kravitz, and you’ve got a good idea of rock/soul/alt/pop superstar-in-waiting De’Wayne. Now he’s teamed up with Kravitz, ahead of their upcoming tour together, adding tweaks and guitar spice to this louche yet bright-eyed banger. “After I started following him, he reached out, and our conversations naturally grew into both this collaboration and friendship,” Kravitz says of their Instagram-born relationship. “De’Wayne is refreshing and dynamic and I am here to support a young black rock and roll musician.”
![DE'WAYNE - highway robbery [Feat. Lenny Kravitz] (Official Music Video) - YouTube](https://halloffans.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/maxresdefault-6.jpg)
A – Bring On The Likes
Mixing 90s Britrock sparks and jutting guitars with the glow of a rousing, gospel-tinged chorus, Bring On The Likes offers a knowing yet hopeful, life-affirming response to modern life – with all its fears, pressures and mundanity, ultimately asking ‘what if this is it?’ to liberating effect. Music that makes us keen to get there early when they open for The Darkness later this year. Find more of the good stuff on their new album, Prang, which comes out on 22 May.
Stanley Simmons – Temporary Love
They says the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but Stanley Simmons’ Laurel Canyon schtick as about as far from Detroit Rock City as possible, and Temporary Love‘s Crosby, Stills, Nash, Simon & Garfunkel vibe doesn’t need any pyro to elevate it, with gentle guitars and breezy harmonies keeping it all celestial. “This was the first song we ever wrote together so it’s really what started Stanley Simmons,” says Stanley Simmons. “It’s a special one for us and we can’t wait for you to hear it.”
Joanne Shaw Taylor – This Is Who I Am
One name that doesn’t crop up too often when people argue over who’s best qualified to deliver a new Bond theme is that of British blueser Joanne Shaw Taylor, but the YouTube comments on This Is Who I Am are awash with such suggestions. And no wonder, for it’s a song that’s epic and mysterious and cinematic and dramatic in all the best kind of ways. However, it’s already been there and done that, appearing (performed by Celeste) in its original guise as the theme to another spy thriller, The Day of the Jackal. Either way, it’s immense. Joanne’s new album, The Trouble With Love, is out on October 23.
