The Predatory Wasp
Taken from her new album Classic Objects, Year of Sky is as evocative and transportive as anything Jenny Hval has created, soundtracking a rite of passage into a world only she can perceive but that she’s desperate to share with us.
I’m a busy little boy today and am still somehow hungover from a Sunday that got out of hand, so you’re not getting much out of me except to say that this is great and you should listen to it.
There’s something about that little plaintive piano line that runs through this that’s really got to me. Heavily influenced by the 90’s Bristol trip-hop scene – which, to be honest, is usually a sentence that raises more than a few alarm bells – Cried manages to capture the essence of those hazy, smoked-filled venues while still sounding fresh and interesting. No mean feat.
If you kind of like Boy Harsher but don’t think they’re quite 80s enough for your tastes, I have a treat for you. Imagine the kind of glamorous New York party Bret Easton Ellis and the rest of the literary brat pack pretty much lived at a few decades ago: it’s on a rooftop, there’s a pool, everyone is tan(ned) and beautiful, it’s sunny as fuck, you’re getting stuck into your third Manhattan and you’ve just made the call. Fatamorgana is being played at this party, even though neither of the people in the band had been born at this point.
If like me you’re a relative newcomer to Agustín Mena’s music as Warmth, you’re in for a very relaxing few days to say the least. Mena has a back catalogue spanning close to 30 albums, pretty much all of them delving into the kind of super-chilled, atmospheric, unoppressive ambient I absolutely love. Even just having a quick scan of the cover artwork of his previous releases genuinely makes me feel like life is good and any issues I’m currently dealing with with ultimately be overcome. Walls is taken from his new album Pale Sun: more of this kind of thing, please.
It’s a testament to the raw artistry of Keeley Forsyth that she manages to make music this bleak a joy to experience. The follow up to 2020’s equally desolate Debris, her latest album Limbs puts her extraordinary voice even more front and centre, often alongside the very sparsest of orchestration. Land Animal is a personal favourite, but at less than 30 minutes long I’d suggest listening to the entire album at least twice through to properly lose yourself in the beautiful sorrow of it all.
This is an absolute banger. The drums hit outrageously hard and… that bass! Insane enough on headphones, so fuck knows how much it would wallop you on a decent system, my chest hurts just thinking about it. Taken from Conway The Machine’s new LP God Don’t Make Mistakes which came out last week, which is pepping me right up on this grey Monday.
This came out close to a year ago as one of the tracks on Mabe Fratti’s album Será que ahora podremos entendernos, however it’s one of the most extraordinary pieces of music I’ve heard for a while so wanted to bring it to as many people’s attention as possible. The Guatemalan musician combines raging synths and layered feedback with her incredible mastery of the cello to create a singular sound that ranges from the super-chilled meditations of track like Mil Formas de Decirlo to the almost unbearable tension of Aire. Honestly, I don’t know how I missed this when it came out, but I’m very glad I’ve found it now.
https://tinangelrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ser-que-ahora-podremos-entendernos
Taken from the the debut solo EP from Texan electro producer Terrestrial Access Network, Endless Dunes is exactly the kind of contemplative, broken-beat electronic music I completely lose my shit over, especially when there are a few gentle acid flourishes thrown in for good measure. Only gentle mind: I want to be soothed, not challenged. Inspired by the artist’s “shifting and hectic nomadic existence around the rattling expanse of the United States”, it’s out now and comes packaged with a remix from TPW favourite Versalife which is also well worth checking out.
https://www.juno.co.uk/products/terrestrial-access-network-distant-lands-ep/857210-01/
It’s been a while since I featured a big ‘ol trappy banger on the blog, so here you go! Yung Kayo’s debut album DFTK landed last week packed full of punchy drums, crispy hats and bravado, so if that sounds like something you’re in the mood for, who you gon call won’t disappoint.
The Predatory Wasp 