The Cure and Stock Aitken Waterman are not names you often hear grouped together. In a list of 1,000 songs, you’d rarely find both side by side (er Josh check 1000songs.co.uk)

I was intrigued to hear how that crossover would look in a sonic Venn diagram. So it was fascinating to hear Martyrs' lead track, 'Drowning Days', off their new release, The Last Summer EP.

Martyrs are Jon Howells and Michael Hall, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. Writing and producing out of an attic studio inside a faded Victorian hotel overlooking the coast, they make whatever they want, whenever they want. Like me, they are completely unbothered by genre constraints or modern streaming algorithms. It's quite easy to avoid them, just don't stream music!

And I can hear it!

On 'Drowning Days', it sounds like something Mark Hollis (of Talk Talk) might have made after spending a couple of weeks in the Balearics. It’s as if Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals teamed up with a Detroit techno pioneer like Derrick May to lay down an '80s New Wave dance floor anthem.

The song is about revisiting the cities, streets, clubs, and hotel foyers where their most magical memories were formed, only to realise those places were only ever special because of the people they shared them with.

All in all, it's a great listen, especially if you want to put the last 40 years of music into a cement mixer and use that mix to construct a sad but catchy summer banger!

The Last Summer EP by Martyrs was out August 12, 2026, on all streaming platforms (okay, stream this!).