Wunderhorse, courtesy.

This week is mostly all about summery folk rock, with songs from Emily Frembgen, Theo Kandel, Joseph and TORS, but we’ve also got rock from Wunderhorse and soul from Jeremie Albino.

Emily Frembgen, “Are You Listening?” – This country-tinged folky charmer is all about not being too cynical to appreciate life. “It’s hard to remember that not everybody’s gonna let you down, even though a lot of people do,” Frembgen sings. With a sweet and earnest voice, Frembgen sounds a little like a twangy Mary Lou Lord. Her album No Hard Feelings is out Sept. 13.

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Theo Kandel, “Honeydew Moon” – A little bit folk and a little bit rock and roll, this is a sweet love song about just enjoying hanging out with your significant other during the summer. “Fill a bag with fruit at the market/ Let’s take a towel down to the beach/ Oh, you’ve never looked as sweet as when you’re biting into a peach,” Kandel sings. (It’s stonefruit season right now, so this is especially topical!) Kandel’s album EATING & DRINKING & BEING IN LOVE is out on Sept. 20.

Joseph, “Starting Over at the End” – RIFF favorite Joseph is back with the band’s first new music since last year’s album, The Sun. Sisters Meegan Closner and Natalie Schepman wrote this gentle acoustic song to help process their feelings about their sister Allison stepping away from the band. “Is it wrong to listen to the wind, and go where it says?/ It’s always scary starting over ’cause you’re always starting over at the end,” they sing. Joseph will be on tour again this fall to commemorate 10 years since the release of their debut album, Native Dreamer Kin. The tour will include the last dates—at least for now—with Allison.

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Wunderhorse, “Rain” – U.K. rock band Wunderhorse is led by Jacob Slater, formerly of the Dead Pretties, and he brings his punk energy to this song, which sounds kinda like The Smiths crossed with Nirvana, with a touch of Fontaines DC thrown in. Wunderhorse has opened for Fontaines, so the influence makes sense. Slater says “Rain” is about that eerie feeling when you know “something is coming but you don’t know what it is and you can’t stop it.” Their album Midas is out on Aug. 30.

Jeremie Albino, “I Don’t Mind Waiting” – The latest find by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach for his Easy Eye Sound label, Jeremie Albino, says he was slinging veggies at famers markets until he decided to give the musician life a real shot. He has a soulful voice on this romantic track that evokes Motown. His album Our Time in the Sun, featuring Auerbach as well as a murderer’s row of crack Nashville musicians, is out on Nov. 1.

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TORS, “If It Takes All Night” – This lovely little folk-pop number, with a catchy hook and charming melodies, is a love letter to the band’s home in southwest England. The song is like an audio road trip, and the video shows the members taking their very cute dogs for a walk in the countryside! “It’s like we’re the only ones around/ We’re gonna watch the fire burn down/ If it takes all night,” they sing. This Devon trio hasn’t even put out a full album yet, just EPs. But last year, it sold out a headline U.K. tour and this year every date on their European tour has been sold out or upgraded to a bigger venue, which is pretty wild. I hope they make it out to the U.S. soon.

Rachel’s pick: Even though it’s new, there’s something about this Wunderhorse song that seemed immediately familiar and poignant to me. Don’t sleep on these guys; I think they’re going to be huge. Bonus: I managed to squeeze in not one but two references to farmers markets this week. Support your local farmers market!

Follow Rachel Alm on Twitter at @thouzenfold, on Instagram at @thousandfold, and on Bluesky at @thousandfold.bsky.social.