Midland’s debut album Fragments Of Us examines the queer experience, from the early days of the 80’s AIDs crisis up to the present day, and features the voices of some Midland’s artistic heroes including Arthur Russell, Marlon Riggs, David Wojnarowicz alongside the contemporary voices of Stereogamus’ Jonny Seymour and Horse Meat Disco’s Luke Howard. The subject matter is often dark, and includes news snippets following the introduction of Section 28 in the UK – which prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” in public life – to an excerpt from an audio diary of Wojnarowicz that concludes simply with “basically I don’t want to die”. But there’s hope and possibly catharsis in Midland’s production, which is warm and accessible without ever becoming bland or homogenised.
Leon Bridges’ voice is indescribably lush, and seems to belong to a completely different time. When he sings the hook on That’s What I Love, the stand-out track from his new album, Leon, everything else just melts away and you can ignore the trite, saccharine lyrics and even forgive him the ill-advised spoken word section about “the way the street smells after the rain”. In most other people’s hands this would be unbearable, but he makes it sublime.
Loads of interesting albums out today – from Thee Sacred Souls, Dawn Richard, Alessandro Cortini and others – but this is the song that’s made me happiest this week, and even though it officially came out months ago the album it was released on landed last week, so it still counts as new music. Ok? Good. Efterklang was a new name to me and it was Mabe Fratti’s involvement that initially piqued my interest, but after multiple daily listens I think I can now call myself a fan.
Quasar 554 is the project of producer Paolo Alberto Lodde, also known as Dusty Kid: someone I was pretty obsessed with close to two decades ago, especially his track Luna, which I think opened a mix or compilation I used to hammer and still holds up as an absolute banger. Anyway! As Quasar 554 he was invited by the One Instrument label to create an EP exclusively using the Roland Jupiter-6. Often overshadowed by its pricier predecessor, the Jupiter-8, and sometimes criticised for its cold and thin sound, Lodde has eked out some genuinely emotional moments from the Jupiter-6, the results of which are worth checking out even if you’re not a massive synth nerd.
The first solo project from Alan Sparkhawk, formerly of Low, was always going to be difficult. Following the death of his wife and bandmate Mimi Parker in 2022, Sparkhawk hasn’t been absent as such, still recording with his son and playing the occasional live show, but his new album, White Roses, My God is certainly his fullest musical statement since Parker’s death. And a surprising one it is, with Sparkhawk going full Kayne, albeit thankfully only in musical rather than political direction, with heavily autotuned vocals stretched over stripped-back, electro-ish arrangements. Brother is the only track that features any guitar at all – which will probably upset Low purists – and benefits from the additional texture that brings. But at this stage I think he’s earned the right to do whatever he wants.
The Worlds We Leave Behind, the second full-length from the duo of zakè (aka Zach Frizzell) and Tyresta (aka Nick Turner), opens with Undiscovered; a heavenly, inviting glide that occupies a full quarter of the album’s run time. It sets the scene perfectly with a bedrock drone beneath a cyclical, ascending melodic theme, until gently shifting into shadows and choral loveliness in its final third.
Oklou has been pretty quiet since the release of her exceptionally good 2020 album Galore; a Sega Bodega collab here, a remix EP there, but very little else. Friends & Family is her first official, original single for a number of years and finds her back in familiar territory: breathy vocals, simple, naive melodies and an unmistakable nostalgic quality emphasised by the home movie quality of the music video. Let’s hope there’s more to come, soon.
I was recently introduced to Qendresa’s brilliantly hazy 2020 album Midnight Request Line which I would highly recommend to any fans of Sade, System Olympia, and lo-fi r&B in general. Her latest single Sweet Lies, co-written, produced and mixed by Jkarri, came out last month and is well worth your time.
Now this was an unexpected delight. Says Liz Harris of the experience: “Making music was only an idea in my head when I first fell in love with Slowdive. What a strange dream all these years later to work with them. This track was such a lush pop hit to start, I just tried to boost and smear those gauzy highs and fields of dreamy texture, and Rachel’s ethereal vocals. Added a touch of tape, Wurlitzer, and space echo too. It was a pleasure to work on.”
Grouper’s celestial interpretation was accompanied by a Daniel Avery remix, which is also very good, but this is the one for me.
“We get lots of inspiration from the natural world: its quietness, rhythms and beauty”
Mary Lattimore and Walt McClements are two of contemporary music’s most renowned innovators. Lattimore’s inventive harp processing and looping has brought the instrument to a new audience and her prolific run of celestial solo albums and evocative film scores have redefined the instrument in the modern consciousness. Her genre-agnostic collaborations include work with Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Jeff Zeigler, Meg Baird, Bill Fay and Thurston Moore.
McClements, who tours as a member of Weyes Blood, is an acclaimed composer in his own right, sculpting glacial atmospherics from the accordion.
Recorded in the cozy setting of McClements’ apartment during a rainy December in LA, their new collaborative LP Rain on the Road unfurls as a series of sonic vignettes, rolling landscapes hewn from longform improvisations for harp and accordion. Embellished with additional instrumentation such as the shimmering constellations of hand bells on “Stolen Bells” that glisten like lights on wet pavement, or the stately piano figures on “The Top of Thomas Street”; their pastoral pieces manage to paint vivid images.
Currently in the middle of an extensive European tour, I was very happy they agreed to have a chat about the album, the origins of their collaborations and why Spotify sucks.
When did you first meet, and how long did it take for you to decide that you wanted to work together on music?
Walt – We met in 2017 when we were both playing a festival with the same band. I feel like we became friends then and did some collaboration here and there, Mary played some harp on an old project of mine’s record. But maybe not until the pandemic did we start to connect more musically. I had started making more instrumental ambient/drone work, and Mary was a big influence and supporter. I played on her porch when she started hosting socially distanced outdoor shows, and then we went on tour together in 2021, and I started to sit in on a few songs at the end of Mary’s set, which was so fun, and that led to the idea of making a record together.
Mary – We both grew up in North Carolina and turns out we attended some of the same shows. This collaboration and friendship feels meant-to-be. I’m a big fan of Walt’s ear and aesthetic and sonic curiosity, so it was natural to ask him to sit in when we were on tour together. It feels like a really organic way of getting to know someone, personality and musical sensibility and instincts going hand-in-hand.
The Predatory Wasp 