This is the most recent single from Secret Rivals, released a couple of weeks ago. It really is a single, too – just one, single, solitary track to listen to online. That messes with my internal logic of what actually constitutes a ‘release’ by a band, and exactly what a record label does in terms of this kind of thing – but that’s for a separate essay, perhaps.

On the SoundCloud player for ‘Tonight Matthew’ it states ‘Indie Pop’, and that’s no lie. This is poppy, catchy and structured around a super-melodic guitar line, and it’s independent in spirit in the way that Bis, Heavenly, Shrag or Johnny Foreigner have been before. There’s some pretty fierce buzzsaw guitar going on, muted though it may be, and the dual male/female vocal delivery – in a wavering, not quite in tune kind of way – is a hallmark of all that’s good in indie pop.

Music like this will never set the world on fire, and that’s not a problem. Perhaps it’s not supposed to. It speaks to a secret club of listeners who just get it, when it’s presented well. This is a fine example: it flits past happily, fitting into the three-and-a-half-minute archetype for pop music, but packs in a nicely structured, rich and controlled miniature journey. It sounds effortless, which of course is generally the sign that it’s not.

Listen to ‘Tonight Matthew’ at SoundCloud. Kittiwake Records. Secret Rivals