Singles Spotlight:
Podge Lane – “Heatwave”

Hello reader,

How are you?

Today, we’re excited to reintroduce another artist who is making some great music that should not be slept on: Podge Lane. At SWT, both Josh and I are big fans of Lane’s excellent songwriting, vocals, multi-instrumental talent, and wit. He’s a songwriter with a gift for storytelling through songcraft, telling stories and painting pictures in a straightforward yet beautiful way, allowing you to listen along to them without taking your attention away to process the moments and memories. As is common with artists we advocate for on SWT, he’s also a great human.

Here’s our past coverage of Lane on SWT, which includes two fantastic essays and some great music, including “My House” and our 21st Water Tower Session , featured on our not-so-talked-about YouTube channel. Rest assured, there will be even more coverage of Lane in the future, including another essay delving into his newest single!

Podge Lane is originally from Sneem, Ireland, a small village in the southwest of the nation, and then to the larger, musically rich city of Cork, but has recently relocated across the pond to NYC. Before moving across the Atlantic in February 2025, Lane released music on his own and has also released three studio albums, Outer Monologues (2021), Common Country Misconceptions (2024), and Multiple Dead Ends (2024) via the Irish indie label, Teip Records. All are worth listening to, and Multiple Dead Ends made Josh’s Best of 2024 list, along with a Live album from Lane that Josh also recommended.

Recently, we heard that Lane was dropping a new song; hopefully, this would be a single from his next album. I gave “Heatwave” a listen and was immediately hooked from the opening melody notes. Perhaps it was the strings, or maybe the harmonica. Maybe Lane’s vocals. I think it was a combination of all three, coupled with the well-crafted, descriptive lyrics, and that’s why we’re stoked to shed some spotlight on this song today. “Heatwave” is another example of Lane utilizing his songwriting and arranging talents to set the scene and transport the listener there as the song progresses without interruption. Listener, I hope that you see the same and appreciate what Lane did with this melody and lyrics. The scenes created in “Heatwave” are fittingly set in summery settings, featuring relationships and reflection.

As of this posting, we’re unsure when the next song will be released, but we look forward to it. Follow Lane’s socials after the video to keep up to date yourself!

Via the song’s press release, Lane gave some insight on the upcoming album as well as the first song: “I wanted this album to feel different from my usual recording methods; I needed a change. So I made this single five days ago. These songs feel immediate, telling ramshackled stories, like faded photos you find in the attic you didn’t take. You’re not quite sure what’s captured there, but it lets you share in that memory.”

I dig the aptly warm backdrop and the lyrics at the bottom of the screen within the video for the song, “Heatwave” from Podge Lane’s YouTube channel:

(All credits and rights to Podge Lane)

You can follow Podge Lane to see when he’s on tour next and listen to Podge’s music at the following links:

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com