Lawrence Timoni lets the cracks show on ‘Cheap Glass Halo’
Lawrence Timoni’s ‘Cheap Glass Halo’ is built around the deceptively simple trick to make the music move even as everything inside the song starts to fall apart. The Berlin-based artist begins with claps, snaps and percussion struck directly on an acoustic guitar, giving the track an immediate, tactile pulse. VibesContinue Reading
Cosmic Souls conjure a dark, defiant anthem for ‘Three Things’
‘Three Things’ isn’t a track that eases its way into view. Here, Germany’s Cosmic Souls frame the song as a bleak, searching response to a world they see becoming harsher, more conformist and increasingly comfortable with authoritarian impulses. Inspired by a quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and written in the aftermathContinue Reading
Nils Lassen chases the light across ‘Rain Steam Speed’
Nils Lassen’s Rain Steam Speed is an album in constant motion, but never in a hurry. Across eleven songs, the Danish composer follows the course of a single day, using shifting light, birdsong, rain and beautifully layered arrangements to explore love against the uncertainty of a changing world. The title takes itsContinue Reading
NEEB find a deeper glow on ‘You Are Not Alone’
NEEB have always had a knack for making sophistication feel easy. And on their latest offering ‘You Are Not Alone’, the Hartlepool quartet step away from the brighter sheen of ‘Feeling Tonight’ and settle into a gentler, more inward-facing piece that brings out the subtler side of their songwriting. InsteadContinue Reading
Matz Patrick goes cinematic on stunning new single ‘cowboy blues’
Matz Patrick continues an impressive creative ascent with ‘cowboy blues’, a beautifully cinematic new single that pushes his intimate songwriting into increasingly ambitious territory. Following July’s ‘augustine’, the track surrounds the artist’s gentle vocal with rich piano, sweeping strings and luscious harmonies. Intimate verses gradually open into expansive choruses, where huge percussionContinue Reading
Paul Garside turns the long climb back into ‘Mariana Trench’
Paul Garside’s ‘Mariana Trench’ is built around one of his strongest metaphors yet: the feeling of being so far beneath the surface that light seems almost unreachable, followed by the slow, uncertain journey back towards it. Written about his own experience of depression, the track carries that emotional weight withoutContinue Reading
Kai Moa finds a balance between motion and space on ‘Some of My Best Friends Are…Electric Sheep’
Kai Moa’s debut EP Some of My Best Friends Are…Electric Sheep is an ambitious introduction to a producer with a broad musical vocabulary. Across the release, IDM, industrial electronics, jazz and techno are brought together in a way that feels exploratory without becoming unfocused. The opening track ‘≠ What It Is’ isContinue Reading
Underlowe step away from the screen on ‘No Pictures’
Underlowe take a clear, uncomplicated idea and give it enough weight to carry ‘No Pictures’: the value of being present without feeling the need to document every moment. The Cardiff band frame that message through a mix of pop-punk familiarity and heavier contemporary production. The opening is relatively restrained beforeContinue Reading
Lola Wild shines on her captivating new single ‘Bonnie & Clyde’
East London artist Lola Wild dives spectacularly into vintage Americana on ‘Bonnie & Clyde’, a thrilling alt-rock single that transforms doomed romance into her most cinematic release yet. Spaghetti Western guitars worthy of Ennio Morricone collide with driving Motown rhythms, psychedelic textures and Wild’s retro-styled vocals, creating a world that feels simultaneously rooted in theContinue Reading
Reubencmg captures fleeting romance on ‘Summer Here and Gone’
UK underground rapper and producer Reubencmg turns fading memories into something hypnotic on ‘Summer Here and Gone’, the introspective new single preceding his latest tape awontirim. Working alongside producer Bhriz, Reuben Agilinko dives into the shifting emotions of summer love, pairing sample-heavy production with a loose, stream-of-consciousness delivery. Inspired by Earl Sweatshirt, the track carries aContinue Reading