Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves

Two weeks ago, when Jarrett McCall counted down his favourite songs of 2015, one of them came from a four-track EP on a tiny London label, sung by a woman most of our listeners had never heard of. Laura Groves grew up in Shipley, near Bradford, with a radio mast across the road, and she has spent her career trying to bottle the feeling of watching its red light at night. She started out as Blue Roses, making hushed folk for XL Recordings at twenty-one, then reinvented herself in London with electric pianos, eighties synths and a voice that cuts straight through them. She produces most of it herself, releases it slowly, and has picked up admirers including Sampha, Bat for Lashes and the Cocteau Twins' own label, Bella Union. This week I've asked Jarrett back to make the case for her properly.

He's brought five songs, and he's built them with real care: one from every record she has released under her own name. There's the night-drive synth of Inky Sea, from her first solo EP in 2013, and the piano ballad Friday (on a Friday, naturally), from the same 2015 EP that gave us Dream Story. There's Any Day Now from her 2023 album Radio Red, and Deep Blue, a Juno-106 confession from last year's Yes EP. His No. 1 comes from A Private Road, the 2020 record she made almost entirely alone. I won't tell you its title yet, except to say that after an hour of songs set after dark, it's exactly right.

Broadcast 21 October 2026

Songs in this episode:

0:00 NZ Net Radio – Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves
1:04 Laura Groves – Any Day Now
2:27 NZ Net Radio – Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves
3:31 Laura Groves – Inky Sea
4:52 NZ Net Radio – Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves
5:56 Laura Groves – Friday
7:16 NZ Net Radio – Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves
8:20 Laura Groves – Deep Blue
9:39 NZ Net Radio – Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves
10:43 Laura Groves – Sunset
12:05 NZ Net Radio – Musical Musings: Five of the Best - Laura Groves
13:09 Blue Roses – I Am Leaving