The Predatory Wasp
I wasn’t really into Beirut until 2019’s Galipoli, which for me remains the high watermark of his career. But on the first few listens A Study Of Losses is going to give it a run for its money. Lots of wonderful, atmospheric highlights but Garbo’s Face is the standout so far. There’s something about a plaintive organ line that reduces me to a weepy mess.
Washed Up arrives midway through On a Painted Ocean, Walt McClements’ excellent second solo album. Like much of the record, it blends processed accordion with pipe organ and subtle electronics, creating a slow-moving, textural piece that leans into repetition and decay. Washed Up feels deliberately suspended – caught in a kind of emotional stasis. It’s not trying to build or resolve, just to hold a space. There’s something compelling about how stripped-back it is. No big gestures, just atmosphere and tension left to hang.
https://waltmcclements.bandcamp.com/album/on-a-painted-ocean
Penelope Trappes doesn’t so much write songs as she carves out little underwater worlds to sit and stare at your feelings in. Anchor us To The Seabed Floor from her new album A Requiem is synths that start soft and end up ragged, hushed vocals, and heavy emotional fog. It’s slow, it’s sad, it’s very beautiful. Let it wash over you and maybe cry a bit. Or don’t. It’ll still haunt you either way.
Stonefly is the third single from Maria Somerville’s upcoming album Luster, due out April 25 via 4AD . It’s a slow, minimal track built around soft synth loops and Somerville’s low-key vocal delivery. There’s not much in the way of hooks, but it’s easy to get drawn into its atmosphere after a couple of listens. The track also comes with a video directed by Daniel Swan, which fits the mood without overdoing it
Barke’s new album Stochastic Drift is absolutely brilliant, and if it’s not in my top 10 of 2025 at the end of the I will be amazed. It’s not really fair to pick out a single track as you should really just dive in in its entirety, but The Remembering Self is the one that really stopped me in my tracks: probably the most purely ambient track Barker has ever produced, and achingly beautiful.
OK EG and Priori team up for a four-tracker that keeps things fast and focused without ever going full throttle, recorded from sessions at Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio. Stand out Serpentine 1 plays like a set of finely tuned sketches and there’s a definite Dozzy-like touch to the rhythms: slightly disorientating, never dull.
duendita’s cutie lands as one of the standout tracks from their new album a strong desire to survive, out via MIKE’s 10k label. It’s a low-slung, slightly off-kilter soul tune that leans into brittle drums, tangled instrumentation and a vocal that pulls everything into place without trying too hard.
https://duendita.bandcamp.com/album/a-strong-desire-to-survive
Saya Gray’s debut album SAYA is out now. It’s a loose, low-key collection that floats between folk, R&B and experimental pop – mostly quiet, often heavy. Written after a breakup and a solo trip through Japan, the record feels personal without over-explaining. Sketchy guitar loops, voice notes, half-sung vocals – it’s all pretty stripped-back and all the better for it with PUDDLE ( OF ME ) a clear standout.
i was put on this earth is DJ Python’s debut EP for XL Records and his first solo release since 2022. Across five tracks, Python (Brian Piñeyro) gently forays into uncharted territory as a singer, producer and collaborator. For me, his 2020 LP Mas Amable is still the high watermark, and I do wish he’d return to that hypnotic style, but until that happens Marry Me Maia will more than do.
https://djpythonnyc.bandcamp.com/album/i-was-put-on-this-earth
OHYUNG made my favourite album of 2022, the ludicrously under-appreciated ambient masterpiece imagine naked!, and on the basis of my first few listens their latest LP is going to be right up there in 2025. You Are Always On My Mind marks a shift—away from the rawness of their earlier experimental work and towards something more pop-adjacent, but no less nuanced. Built from processed string loops and glistening synths, You Are Always On My Mind is “a declaration of love for raves and the dark hazy rooms that helped me to be free and true with myself – seeing other people who are so free and beautiful and thinking that one day that can be me – that’s me in the future.”
The Predatory Wasp 