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Music

Jan Esbra – Eternally Recurring

Eternally Recurring is the lead single from New York City-based Colombian guitarist and composer Jan Esbra’s forthcoming debut album Temporary Objects: a collection of 10 improvisations and spontaneous compositions that draws influence from a variety of artists including Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros, Blank For.ms and Lightbath. Created using guitars, samplers and various effects pedals, it’s incredibly minimalistic and initially stark – clinical even – but over time starts to exude a real warmth and depth of character that completely draws you in.

https://www.janesbra.com/epk

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Music

Hannah Peel – Unheard Delia, Pt. 1

Unheard Delia was originally released as an exclusive vinyl with Electronic Sound alongside Peel’s cover feature back in March, but it landed on streaming platforms today so thought it was worth highlighting. It includes extracts from an interview with pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop artist Delia Derbyshire conducted by writer Jo Hutton in early 2000, around 18 months before Delia died, and consist of lovely, gentle washes of synth overlaid with Delia passionately talking about everything from her production techniques to how her music was often considered “too sophisticated for the BBC 2 audience”, and is completely mesmerising.

http://www.hannahpeel.com

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Music

Tim Rose x Ddidthat – Spirit Detour

This is a new collab from funk/soul music artist, producer, and songwriter Tim Rose and R&B and multi-instrumentalist DDidThat, the fourth in a series of reflective, funk-inspired lofi compositions. It’s a real, head-nodding vibe of a record, rolling unhurriedly along on shuffling breaks, gentle guitar and meandering Rhodes-y piano: the ideal soundtrack for drifting away to lands more pleasant and peaceful.

https://www.instagram.com/timrosemusic

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Music

Kizis – Kiss For The Valley

This came out back in March so may well be on your radar already, but I only just came across it after delving into the goldmine that is the Quietus’s best albums of the year so far list, which is highly recommended. Kiss for The Valley is one of 36(!) tracks on Kizis’s absolutely extraordinary album Tidibàbide / Turn, which seems to have flown under the radar a little, despite a fairly positive Pitchfork review. Honestly though, this sounds like nothing else I’ve heard this year, and deserves far greater acclaim than it looks likely to get. I’ve singled out Kiss For The Valley for special mention, not just because it takes a turn for the Sufjan-esque (choral choirs, falsetto, plaintive trumpets, etc.) about halfway through, but that it also sums up the raw energy and unpredictability of the entire LP. At three and a half hours, it’s not to be taken lightly, but it’s worth it.

https://tinangelrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tidib-bide-turn

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Music

Obongjayar X Sarz – Gone Girl

Taken from Nigerian artists Obongjayar and Sarz’s new collaborative EP Sweetness, Gone Girl is a perfect 80s r&b throwback, all velvety smooth vocals, churning bass and effervescent chords. That’s all I have to say: I’m off for a bubblebath.

https://orcd.co/sweetnessep

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Music

Shirley Collins – At Break of Day

At 86 years of age, Shirley Collins is still creating music brimming with life, vibrancy and hope. Her new EP Crowlink includes spoken-word poetry, ambient, glistening new-age synths and deep, earthy folk, dragging seemingly ancient tales into the present and creating something deeply personal and intimate yet entirely relatable and accessible. Crowlink is a thing of timeless, transportive beauty, and deserves your immediate attention.

https://shirleycollins.com

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Music

Quinton Barnes – Arouse

TPW favourite Quinton Barnes drops his latest single Arouse today, further establishing himself as an incredibly sexy and talented motherfucker. Haunting synths sit comfortably alongside his trademark hard-hitting drums and woozy flows – the entire thing is just fantastic and deserves to be listened to at an outrageously volume, preferably while receiving a massage.

https://quintonbarnes.bandcamp.com

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Music

Ora The Molecule – Helicopter

I’m back! Did you miss me? Didn’t even notice I was away? Well, I was – moving house since you asked. Yeah, it was pretty brutal. Boxes breeding boxes and all that. Anyway, here’s an absolute banger from Ora The Molecule’s new album Human Safari that you might not have heard yet by way of an apology. I won’t let it happen again.

https://orathemolecule.bandcamp.com

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Music

Lucy Gooch – Chained To A Woman

My obsession with anything that even vaguely evokes the 80s continues unabated, satiated generally today by Bristol-based artist Lucy Gooch’s beautiful EP Rain’s Break, and specifically by this track, with its sparse, crystalline synth lines and breathy vocals. Gooch said of the EP that she wanted to create something “with a dissonance and eeriness to it”, and those aims have absolutely been fulfilled, the resulting EP providing a brief but engrossing escape from the relentless grind of reality.

https://lucygooch.bandcamp.com/album/rains-break-ep

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Music

The War On Drugs – Living Proof

I’m a little conflicted about today’s post. On the one had, I love The War On Drugs, have listened to both Lost In The Dream and A Deeper Understanding relentlessly over the last few years, and an incredibly excited about their recently announced new album and European tour. All of that: great. Their new single however, I am not entirely convinced by. I’d even go so far as to say it was (whisper it) a bit boring and forgettable and fairly cliched? Note the question mark: I’m not even sure about my own opinion. What a sorry state of affairs. Anyway, here it is: make your own mind up.

https://www.thewarondrugs.net/