Newcastle’s abundantly talented Melanie Baker has just signed to Tambourhinoceros, news which gets a hearty “Woo hoo!” from me.

And the first fruits of Melanie Baker’s dalliance with Tambourhinoceros is her latest single ‘Sad Clown’, which is a blistering slice of indie fuzz-pop which comes complete with slacker-sass fitted as standard. When the song begins, she bemoans: “I’ve been sad for most the year / Quit two jobs, quit drinking beer / Grew tomatoes in the yard / Forgot to pick them, they went bad.” And of the track, she says: “I don’t want to hide behind complicated metaphors and flowery words. I want to say exactly how I feel. It’s the only way I know how to work through my shit, it’s the only way I can understand myself and keep moving forward. I am a sad clown.” Baker has been on the up and up for the last year, supporting the likes of Maximo Park and getting interviewed by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 Music, and it very much looks like 2026 is going to be a biggie for one of the fastest rising stars in the north-east. DP

Seek: instagram.com/melaniebakermusic