Making their first appearance today at TMR is the emerging South African alternative rock band Diamond Thug with their arresting new single ‘The Woods’. It’s pure moody introspection built on chest-rattling bass, shoegazey guitars and laissez-faire percussion. The synths add a further veil of detached feeling, creating barriers of separation between the cool instrumentation and the fervent emotion of Chantel Van T’s confessional lyrics. With nothing left to gain, she sings “I’m scared of losing you in the wild.” There’s a palpable tension throughout ‘The Woods’ thanks to the distorted production and Van T’s eerie vocal performance. As the track comes to its murky, unresolved end, you’ll be reaching for that replay button, an untamed urge to be dropped back into Diamond Thug’s other world. - Hannah Thacker