I’m feeling somewhat bleak today and this is matching my mood.
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Cindy – The Bell
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Becky and the Birds – Star
Becky and the Birds is the project of Swedish artist Thea Gustafsson. Her sound blends neo-soul, electronic, and R&B influences, drawing inspiration from artists such as Bon Iver and Frank Ocean and her new album Only music makes me cry now landed today. Opener Star hints at a slightly more abrasive, glitchier style than some of her previous releases which have leaned more into atmospheric dream pop, but her voice remains as beguiling and fragile as ever.
https://shop.4ad.com/release/472790-becky-and-the-birds-only-music-makes-me-cry-now
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Milan W. – Ballad
Milan W.’s new album Leave Another Day feels like the culmination of 16 years weaving his way through projects like Crumar Young, Mittland Och Leo, Speedqueen, and Beach. Across 12 tracks, he distills dusky country, noir jazz, and indie-pop melancholia into a cohesive, dreamlike whole. His voice – weightless yet commanding – hovers in perfect suspension, threading through warm synth tones and intricate textures with the grace of an old soul navigating new terrain.
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Night Tapes – to be free
The latest single from my favourite new musical discovery of 2024 isn’t quite reaching the lofty heights of Assisted Memories, but the formula’s still working.
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Skee Mask – MDP1
Skee Mask just released the latest album in a series that pulls together batches of previously unreleased tracks, these made between 2016 and 2022. As with its predecessors, D is more coherent and accomplished than 99% of electronic albums released this year; an impressive feat given that this is essentially a sweep of the cutting room floor.
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doris dana – tedio
Did you miss me? I was in Scotland for a week, and the wifi situation was untenable. Anyway I’m back now and have this deliciously mournful, Grouper-adjacent recommendation as an apology gift. The alias of Colombian-born artist Mónica Mesa, doris dana delves into the abstract aesthetics of liminal spaces and intangible experiences, and her new album Reveries is a late contender for experimental album of the year.
College Music Presents: PhonoSynthesis is the label’s fourth VA compilation, and explores the intimate relationship between music and nature, spanning solo, acoustic sounds through to modular synthesis masterpieces, and everything in between. Includes contributions from Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Shopan and this beauty from Dylan Henner.
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DANIAILYAS – Breathe and Start Again
Well this is just totally lush. DANIAILYAS is a transatlantic collaboration between Barcelona’s Dania Shihab and Portland’s Ilyas Ahmed. On their debut EP, Enough For Me To Remain, Shihab’s ethereal vocals and sweeping synths are intricately intertwined with Ahmed’s fluid, unpredictable guitar work. The result is a deeply immersive, almost spectral experience, balancing tenderness with an underlying tension. What emerges is both intimate and disorienting, like a love letter written in shadow and light, offering release and rupture in equal measure.
https://daniailyas.bandcamp.com/album/enough-for-me-to-remain
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Joshua Idehen – Mum Does The Washing
Joshua Idehen is a British-born Nigerian based in Sweden. A spoken word artist and musician, he has contributed poems to Mercury-nominated albums Channel The Spirits by The Comet Is Coming, Your Queen Is A Reptile and the Mobo winning Black Is The Future, both by Sons of Kemet. His latest single, Mum Does The Washing, takes a simple household chore and turns it into a commentary on society and the way we structure it, his dry, spoken-word delivery floating over stripped-back production, making the whole thing feel introspective yet still sharply pointed.
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Oliver Coates – 90
The blog has gone pretty ambient-heavy this week, but the heart wants what it wants. Today’s offering is taken fromThrob, shiver, arrow of time, the new album from Oliver Coates who created the incredibly moving soundtracks for the 2022 film Aftersun (highly recommended) amongst many other things. 90 is glassy, sparse, delicate and beautiful.
