There are no confirmed connections to the Spice Girls at the time of writing, but Switzerland’s Mel D not only extrapolates their alphabetic trend line, but also seems ready to spice things up, at the sleight of hand. Her latest single is smoothly titled Where Do You Look When It Hurts? and it’s attached below, showcasing her musical perception of more than three dimensions.

She is currently touring relevant parts of continental Europe with her new songs, playing to the hungry audiences of a fading Euro winter. Her train calls in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne this week, then Switzerland and alpine France as well as Paris all the way through April. All dates, here.

Title photo by Noémi Ottilia Szabo, and Noémi Ottilia Szabo only.

Team Poule’s love for Ten Fé, this charming outfit from England here, dates back almost a decade. Last week then, to high anticipation, they released their third studio album Still in Love via Some Kinda Love/PIAS: a wonderful record telling their story from the London Underground through to Berlin, Oslo, Ireland and France, all the way back into North London. All wrapped into warm riffs and carried by mellow vocals: first class songs that run down as smooth as a penguin on a water slide. Find the title track attached below, at your convenience.

Meanwhile, if you enjoy this tune and like reading city names: they just started their European tour today, kicking off in Dublin. Next up are Glasgow and Manchester, then London’s The Dome on Saturday, Feb 1. Next week, they will start in Amsterdam on Monday night, then travel through Hamburg, Berlin and Köln to Paris on Saturday. Quite the itinerary! Find all dates and relevant ticket options here, nicely listed in order of appearance.

All credit for the title photo goes to The Collective You.

2024 has arguably been the year of the female mega stars: Taylor Swift finished her record-breaking Eras Tour, netting revenues north of 2 billion USD, Beyoncé took her career to the next level with a Country album, Adele played a very successful residency in Munich for the full month of August and finished/paused her Las Vegas show which allegedly paid her more than 1 million USD per show. Meanwhile at the Grammy’s Phoebe Bridgers, Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish won big time.

Naturally though, Team Poule keeps an eye on the somewhat less commercial sides of the musical ecosystem. With our chicken ears, we listened to Fontaines DC great new album, we gave a spin to a Cigarettes After Sex album that sounded just like a Cigarettes After Sex album, we spent a lot of time with our brothers Hermanos Gutiérrez, and we were in awe of The Smile manifesting yet another but maybe best Radiohead offspring.

Also, with the dedication and focus that only a chicken’s head can exercise, we consulted the year-end lists of major outlets including Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, our friends at HighClouds and even Brooklyn Vegan. While we felt that Kendrick Lamar, Cindy Lee and Cassandra Jenkins released wonderful albums, there were some of the finest recordings of 2024 that deserved more attention.

So, here goes at list of our favorite albums of the year 2024, in absolutely no particular order.

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Peter Cat Recording Company -BETA | Muddy Water Records | New Dehli, India | August 2024

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As the daylight gets longer and brighter again in the Northern hemisphere and the nights are still blue and crisp, you might find yourself longing for some fresh new tunes. Lou Z here from the outskirts of Copenhagen serves up a hot fuzzy blend of pure indie rock, driven by noisy riffs and sticky vocals, that warms right up to the core.

He released a new album this winter titled Holes for the Hearts, via Denmark’s wonderful Møs Møs records. It’s a kind listen from first to last, with that fierce tiger energy of Denmarks sandy beaches feeling right through. Find the title track attached below, at your convenience. The single comes with a dreamy video too, have a look.

The cute double crooners of So Soon here have been making music and taking it on the road (and daisy meadows) for some time. Finally the two of them got together to record and release their sweet tunes – their debut album goes by the name of Whether You Like It Or Not and just came out last week via Hamburg’s very professional Clouds Hill.

Weighing in at 9 songs it floats like a hummingbird and stings like a bee. Through multi-layered soundscapes and carried by the trademark crisp vocals, the album absolutely sounds fantastic. And it will be a treat to catch them play it live around the Bundesrepublik of Germany: they make a stop in Hamburg tomorrow, Dec 4, at Häkken, with further dates including but not limited to Kiel, Hannover, Berlin and München – find the complete list right here, all the way to Christmas.

Now, all of this and grooving to their general vibe and aesthetics was reason enough for Team Poule to reach out and inquire about a photo-interview for our prized series. Hit play, and dive in.

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The one and only Y’Akoto quietly (at least for this outlet) released a fourth solo album this year, her first independently produced one, after cutting ties with the major labels. While her previous releases were distinctively her and have brought her sizable commercial success, it feels like this album titled Pt. 4 The Witch may be her most complete and unique work yet.

Driven by the experience of the majors and freed from their production line, she was able to truly follow her own directions, it seems. Being guided by well chosen producers certainly didn’t hurt: she worked with Nabeyin whose accolades include grammy nominations and works with Kanye West, Travis Scott, Drake, and others as well as songwriter and producer Dan McDougall, who currently drums with the charming Liam Gallagher.

Enough name dropping, this album really speaks her language and is carried by her vision and navigation. It’s a  great and enjoyable listen from first to last, a true album. Attached below is the opener London, neatly showcasing her amazing voice and sense of direction, songwriting and tempo. A marvelous LP.

She will be touring Germany next year, playing Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and more in February and March. Listen to Pt. 4 The Witch on Spotify or Apple Music.