The Predatory Wasp
Avi. C Engel’s new album Too Many Souls lands 23 February digitally, with additional formats including cassette by Cruel Nature Records (UK) and on CD by Somnimage (US). Lead single Hold This Flame is a spectral delight; sparse and haunting with Engel’s ghostly vocal contrasting with the gently rising dissonance of strings and percussion.
Hailing from Cornwall – namely Mousehole, which is what most people imagine when picturing a Cornish finishing village – Daisy Rickman is an artist, photographer and folk musician whose second album Howl is due out in March. Feed The Forest is the album’s lead single, a song that perfectly blends discordance with melody, and warmth with a creeping sense of dread, with Rickman’s confident, earthy vocals as haunting as they are reassuring.
Oso Leone’s 2019 album Gallery Love is an under-appreciated masterpiece, and while they haven’t officially announced a new LP yet, hopes are high for one sometime in 2024 following the release of two new songs, the latest of which is the almost pornographically dreamy Surfin’, which occupies a similarly soft-focus space as the The Antlers’ recent work.
It’s been a solid couple of years for Seoul based electronic duo Salamander, as they’ve slowly but surely become more widely known in the West via glowing features in tastemaker outlets like FACT and Crack Magazine. Sing Together landed on Christmas Eve and continues in a similar vibe to their latest album In Parallel; skeletal but warm electronic meanderings with naive melodies and plenty of whimsy.
The Predatory Wasp 