Rachel Love, who was singer/guitarist for early-’80s cult indiepop band Dolly Mixture, is releasing her first-ever solo album, Primrose Hill, which will be out in May. Two songs from the album are out now and both are lush, dreamy pop with synth orchestration and layers of harmonies. They fall somewhere between ’60s sunshine pop and the mid-’90s lounge revival, and fans of Saint Etienne, whose live band often includes Dolly Mixture’s Debsey Wykes, will definitely want to check these out.

Listen to “Down the Line,” which is a new version of an old Dolly Mixture song, and Primrose Hill‘s title track, below.

If you’re unfamiliar with Dolly Mixture, they existed from 1978 – 1984 and were at one point signed to Paul Weller’s Respond label, and are perhaps best known for singing backup on Captain Sensible’s hit UK singles “Wot” and “Happy Talk.” They also were an influence on the C-86 indiepop scene as well as the many bands that have followed in the last 35 years. Dolly Mixture didn’t actually release much during their original run, but an archival 3-CD set, Everything and More, was released in 2010 and two vinyl compilations — The Demonstration Tapes and Other Music — were released in 2019.

More recently, Rachel formed Spelt with producer Steve Lovell (who produced her upcoming solo album) and they’ve released two albums.