Reading’s HATS™ first featured on our blog in May this year, impressing both Jane and I with their unique, indefinable brand of intimate pop. Now they’re back with a delicate, dreamy new single, forest floor.

By Graeme Smith

Opening with folksy acoustic guitar, the vocals quickly start to paint a lyrical image of being lost in nature. There’s an emotional undercurrent in it story, cryptic and demanding multiple listens to unpick. All the while, rich production allows us to get lost in the unreality of it all.

We’re fans of HATS™, and so are BBC 6 Music and Spotify UK & IE. They’re certainly doing their best to claim the label as “one to watch”, and I’m happy to provide it. There are few like them in the world of modern music. Fans of innovators like Kate Bush and Radiohead will find a lot to love about their music.

Forest floor is out now via Riser – an ethical, not for profit label created by music charity, Readipop, and supported by Arts Council England. You can give it a listen below.