New Bristol Music: 17–23 October 2026

Pocket Sun’s Watercolours puts the group’s dreamy synth-pop and cosmic-soul palette across eight tracks, from Clouds through to The Breeze. Gina Marie Tratt’s vocals, keys and saxophone sit within a full-band setup, with additional trumpet and backing voices widening the colours. Produced and mixed by guitarist Laurence Fazakerley-Buglass, this is a natural pick for listeners drawn to the band’s combination of electronic detail and live playing.

A guest pick beyond Bristol’s local releases: Dielun’s GASLIGHTER turns the experience of manipulation into a dance-pop statement about finding the confidence to walk away. Released on 22 October, the single comes from the Trinidad-born, UK-based vocalist and songwriter. Its pop and disco direction offers a brighter counterpoint to the week’s darker club selections.

Fractal Forest’s second solo EP moves between garage, breaks, halftime and drum-and-bass influences, held together by psychedelic bass design. Guitar from Toby Snowden and saxophone and trombone from Sylvan Biscoe add live detail across the five tracks; there is also a Kaya Project remix. Released through Bristol collective Deep Sea Frequencies, formerly Psychedelic Jelly, Resurgence has plenty for listeners who like their bass music to travel.

Bristol producer Will Bowen, known as Pluralist, introduces his Clerc alias with Androids on Nerve Collect. The four-track EP turns towards dark, rolling techno, putting percussion, bass and science-fiction textures at the centre. Replicant is the available entry point, with Conapt, Mood Organ and Breathe, You’re Retired completing the package. This is a forthcoming pick: the full EP is due on 4 November.

Bristol electronic duo Mesh return with Fallen Angel, available as the original single and an extended version. Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn’s catalogue connects electropop with alternative and industrial influences, and the two-version release offers a concise way back into that sound. A strong fit for the synth-driven side of this week’s selections, released on 21 October.

Nap Time turn the everyday world of Clubcards and meal deals into a Bristol single with a grin on its face. Luke Marker and Jack Halpin’s duo sits between funk-rock, alternative rock and indie-punk, with both members long settled around Gloucester Road. Released on 22 October, Clubcard is our inbox-led local pick: a small slice of familiar city life to bring into the headphones.

B_Man brings Dawn to Bristol label Local Underground, which describes the single as dancefloor-friendly house music. It is a compact addition to an eclectic label catalogue, following B_Man’s recent Burning EP. The artist’s Audiomack page dates Dawn to 18 October and provides an alternative place to listen alongside the label link below.

Eddie Mole’s Simon’s Song is a tribute to a friend who contributed to the music, with the intention of celebrating his upbeat personality. Eddie handles guitar and vocals, joined by Pete Brownbridge on bass, Adrian Tucker on drums and Jenny Jessamine on vocals. The 21 October package includes the main song, an extended version and an acoustic take: three ways into a very personal Bristol release.

Chrome’s Tic Tac opens Couch Potatoes: Batch 2, the latest underground drum-and-bass selection from DLR’s Bristol label Sofa Sound. Leks, Oli Lewis, Testament and Thermix complete the five-track compilation, which mixes familiar names with newer talent. Tic Tac is our linked Spotify pick, while Bandcamp opens the full batch. A fresh batch for listeners who want to dig beyond the best-known names in the label’s catalogue.

Sylla and wav16 join forces on EAST STREET BABY, a seven-track project released through Wav2Cold on 23 October. Its grime, UK-rap and jazz-rap framing gives it a place in the week’s Bristol-linked hip-hop selection, with upfront our Spotify entry point. From the brief 2stheseblues to eternal/spirit, there is a whole project to explore beyond the lead pick.

echochamber’s nothingchanges is the track to pick up this week, with the full dead to me album still scheduled for 20 November. The Bristol project’s emo, nu-metal and nugaze connections give the single a place in the heavier corner of the round-up. It is one part of a ten-track album that also includes the Love Is Noise collaboration, so follow the single now and keep the wider release on the horizon.

MANA WAKA introduces PAN-AFRIKANA, the partnership between Bristol-based Kemikali and Guinean artist Mista Congo. Their meeting in Guinea grew into a project about community, culture and connection, bringing their hip-hop and grime backgrounds into a shared collaboration. The single is available now; WONTANARA follows on 2 November with three songs and a Kemikali x Bedu remix. A cross-border project with a clear Bristol link.

Bristol trio Minor Conflict introduce Residents with Surveillance Operator, a new single featuring Squid’s Ollie Judge. The band’s harp-led post-punk gives the release a different texture from the surrounding electronic selections, with a five-track EP to follow on PRAH. The important date is 12 February 2027: this is the first look at that forthcoming record, rather than an EP released in full this week.

Bristol composer Matthew Richards builds In The Absence Of Noise around improvised pieces captured in one or two takes, with little post-production. Keyboards, synths and guitar create six evolving ambient studies, allowing fragments and harsher swells to interrupt the quieter textures. Richards describes the process as close to a live album. The full release is due on 29 October, so this is an advance look rather than an album already out.

German producer Benedikt Frey returns to Bristol’s Club Blanco with Detours, following his earlier Aid Kit release. Three originals move through warped electronics and crooked rhythms, with Edward adding a remix of Trace. The label’s emphasis is on restraint, pressure and late-night momentum. Put 20 November in the diary for the complete four-track package; a Bristol-label connection for the looking-ahead list.

A Fishponds discovery rather than a brand-new release: Bristol-born producer Daniel Ankrah, working as Blackjack, released Sugar Pop on 28 August. He describes it as a funky 1980s throwback, making it a bright change of pace alongside this week’s heavier electronic selections. It is available across streaming services, with CD and vinyl editions offered through ElasticStage.

Chrome Waves opens up the production behind Chrome Sweet Chrome with its complete instrumental edition. The project removes the vocals from the collaboration with A-F-R-O to foreground dusty samples, soul textures and boom-bap drums, with fourteen cuts to work through. Released on 16 October, this is a one-week catch-up for beat heads rather than a record first released in the current window.

Audio returns to Neuroheadz with Way Of Life and Omni, a two-track helping of hard-edged drum and bass built around forceful sound design. The label presents the pair as a return to its catalogue from an established producer. Bandcamp dates the release to 9 October, so we are including it as an electronic catch-up rather than presenting it as new this week.