Search:ca li

Corps Perdu emerges from Lamin Fofana’s ongoing practice of creating immersive and multisensory sound environments, informed and inspired by the historically rich texts of scholars and poets working in the tradition of Black Studies. The words of W.E.B. Du Bois, Sylvia Wynter, Dionne Brand, Fred Moten, Édouard Glissant, Suzanne Césaire and Aimé Césaire are transmuted and circulated as sound, offered to listeners through radio, live events, albums and installations. Fofana honours his sources with an audible historical awareness, yet his sounds always simultaneously open out into the turbulent uncertainties of the present.
The music we hear on the album Corps Perdu was previewed within a series of collective reading and listening sessions carried out in Paris, Barcelona, Tunis and New York City, where voices from the audience read aloud fragments from a body of texts Fofana had selected. The spontaneous unfolding of close reading and listening, mixed live by Fofana in these collective listening experiences, speaks to the open-ended quality of Corps Perdu. The album, now published, is but one iteration of this ongoing inquiry into the relationship between sound and text.
Corps Perdu presents an introspective journey with no return, and as such is full of omens of all kinds. Across ten tracks Lamin Fofana creates a sibling or companion to the transformation he initiated in his previous album Works in Metal, building a narrative that takes us into Krakatoa prior to its eruption, and lets us listen to Césaire’s ‘flying seed dreaming very loudly’. The album’s track titles and narrative arc hum in and out and alongside Césaire’s poetry, mainly Césaire’s 1950 collection Corps Perdu, in which the ten poems are accompanied by engravings by Picasso merging fragments of bodies and plants—a collaboration that emerged from their first encounter two years earlier, at the Communist-led World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace, in Wroclaw, Poland.
The music on Corps Perdu labours intuitive hand-held melodies through dense processing. There are many rhythms throughout, though these never surrender to the density of the dancefloor grooves we’ve heard Fofana craft on previous albums (think of the ‘Obscure Light’ pair from Works in Metal for example). Instead, Fofana gently releases the clenched hands Césaire’s Corps Perdu begins with: ‘Among me, from myself, to myself, outside any constellation, clenched in my hands only, the rare hiccup of an ultimate raving spasm, keep vibrating word’. The album carries through sound the scattering and liquid fragmentation that shape the desperate metamorphosis of a ‘lost body’.

Detroit techno visionary Keith Tucker returns through his acclaimed alter ego Optic Nerve with AUGMENTATIONS EP, a forward-thinking exploration of minimalist machine funk, futuristic sound design, and deep electronic movement.

Crafted with precision and unmistakable Detroit character, AUGMENTATIONS merges hypnotic analog sequences, mechanical rhythm structures, atmospheric synth textures, and driving electronic beats into a powerful sonic statement rooted in the city’s enduring techno legacy. Sparse yet immersive, the EP balances raw underground energy with cinematic futurism — designed equally for dark warehouse floors and deep headphone listening.

Pressed as a Limited Collector’s Edition Clear Vinyl 12-inch, PBX-38 captures the sleek, transparent aesthetic of the music itself: pure signal, machine emotion, and uncompromising Detroit innovation.


A1 — Augmented 1 (Optic Nerve Original Mix)

A deep, stripped down Detroit techno workout driven by pulsing drum programming, evolving synth modulation, and hypnotic minimalist sequencing. Functional futurism engineered for late-night motion.
B1 — Augmented 2 (Infinite Worlds Mix)

Built around a rolling funky bass line and eerie flowing string textures, this expansive composition moves through layers of atmospheric electronics and mechanical groove architecture. The track creates an immersive sense of drifting through endless digital landscapes while maintaining a sharp rhythmic intensity designed for the underground dance floor.
B2 — Augmented 3 (Visual Shapes Mix)

Abstract melodic fragments, and precision electronic rhythms collide to form a futuristic minimalist soundscape filled with movement, tension, and cinematic pulsed chords.

In a blizzard of crushed breaks and dissonant tones, Shelley Parker lands on Sneaker Social Club with her third album, Screed. Taking a forensic approach to noise sculpture and harmonic interference, the UK-based artist maintains a fringe perspective on the legacy of hardcore-derived dance music, extrapolating the renegade spirit of the earliest innovators into unexplored zones where sound art and sound systems collide.

Parker's path through the underground has been informed by her art school background, equally at home in the parallel world of galleries, installations and institutions as she is in the club. This dualistic dimension to her practice charges her music with an outsider spirit that manifests across 10 striking new productions on Screed. Focusing on the sound over an umbrella concept, it's an album that rejects comfortable, functional formulae in favour of original expression.

There are plenty of forthright structures for DJs and dancers to lock onto, from the militaristic techno thrust and tightly clipped breakbeat loop of 'Relentless' to the splayed boom bap guiding the giddy string sequences of 'Stargazer Lily'. The insistent pulse of 'April' meanwhile offers only the faintest of paths to navigate dense thickets of jerky, swinging static and metallic clamour. 'Georgian Wire' closes the record out on dissembled drum licks with a brittle patina - a scooped out closer with the skeletal remains of a rave dialect that's second nature to someone with as much skin in the game as Parker.

In amongst those tracks lies a wide-ranging tapestry of rhythmic, textural and emotional approaches, from head-knocking beatdowns to billowing clouds of dub techno, angular stabs and industrial smudges. On Screed, Parker proves herself to be peerless and purposeful in her quest to find new forms within the well-worn canon of hardcore and rave.

The fifth album from Saint Abdullah & Eomac began as a poem and became a record that refuses to stay in one place. The title arrived in a cab in Paris. Mohammad Mehrabani read it aloud from a list of options. Ian McDonnell said: that's interesting, what does that mean? The answer, it turned out, was the album. Their fifth album When The Sandbox Has No Edge is rooted in hip hop, but its cast tells you how far it travels. Abbas Zahedi, Richie Culver, and Armand Hammer contribute vocals and poetry. Lester St. Louis brings cello. Che Chen of 75 Dollar Bill brings guitar. The producer and sound designer Seraphim contributed textures and sound designs throughout. Samples run deep, from records pulled from charity shops to market stalls on road trips across the UK. Raw fragments were shaped into fully formed compositions, structuring the chaos without flattening it. The sandbox, rendered without an edge.

By the end of 1986, with Miles Davis’ career in resurgence, he was approached by the producers of the movie Siesta, based on the book by Patrice Chaplin and starring Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne and Martin Sheen. Miles agreed to create the music for the movie and immediately asked Marcus Miller to help compose and produce.

As had taken place with Tutu, Miles looked to bassist Marcus Miller—working with keyboardist/programmer Jason Miles—to compose and construct the various tracks, over which he blew his trumpet parts. Matching the music to the mood and tempo of the film’s scenes lay on Miller’s shoulders. The soundtrack came together in early 1987 in Los Angeles, Miller and Jason Miles working in North Hollywood, and Miles driving in from Malibu to play his parts. Miller brought in a number of players to add solos and texture: guitarists John Scofield and Earl Klugh; flautist James Walker, and drummer Omar Hakim.

Dedicated to arranger Gil Evans, the music is greatly influenced by his style with Miller creating an electrified but very warm orchestra to accompany Davis' melodic solos. This was the first of several instances in which Miles Davis, in the twilight of his life, returned to his roots.

Siësta is available as a numbered limited edition of 1000 copies on gold vinyl.

Hallelujah Trial is Tom Roberts (Cranebuilders, Beatowls) and John Canning Yates (Ella Guru): two Liverpool songwriters who knew each other for twenty years before they ever played a note together. Roberts brought a folder of songs to Yates' front room. Yates answered with piano. A weekly ritual of tea and talk became a repertoire, the repertoire became a debut performance at the final La Violette Società, and a few weeks later the songs became an album, recorded in May 2026 in the Gustav Adolf Church, the Scandinavian seamen's church on the edge of Liverpool's Baltic Triangle.

The sound is spacious, stripped back and gloriously melodic: voice, guitar and piano, songs in a room, storytelling that recalls Bill Callahan, Lee Hazlewood and the late Johnny Cash records. Yates' Ella Guru drew a Peel session and 'the best debut album since Marquee Moon' from the Independent on Sunday. Roberts' Cranebuilders recorded two Peel sessions of their own. The pedigree is genuine. The songs are better.

Recorded, mixed and produced by John Canning Yates. Mastered by Jason Mitchell (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding). Sleeve by Pascal Blua, after a rose from William Turner's herbal of 1568. The closing 'Reprise' carries a hallelujah chorus of friends and family, recorded live in the ch

Following hot on the heels of the Frequency Damage EP, DJ Quest returns to Cyberfunk with Squeaks / Snake Style— a two-track release that dives deep into the unmistakable sound that made Quest’s productions stand out during the early 2000s.
Rather than simply recreating the past, both tracks tap directly into the DNA of the original Cyberfunk sound: rolling breakbeats, huge basslines, twisted analogue synths and the kind of distinctive production that became synonymous with DJ Quest at the height of the Bassline Breaks era.
Built around original analogue synth work throughout, Squeaks / Snake Style is a deliberate throwback to the raw, futuristic sound of the early 2000s, produced with the weight and clarity needed for today’s sound systems.
It’s classic Quest, strange noises, big bass, rolling drums and plenty of attitude.

A. Squeaks
Everything DJ Quest became known for rolled into one track. Squeaks is an unapologetic throwback to the classic Quest sound of the early 2000s, driven by heavyweight breaks, deep bass and original analogue synth work throughout.
Twisted electronic squeaks and evolving analogue sounds weave their way around the drums, giving the track that instantly recognisable combination of funk, darkness and futuristic weirdness that characterised so many of Quest’s early productions.
Raw, energetic and built firmly for the dancefloor, Squeaks takes the spirit of the original Bassline Breaks era and brings it straight back onto a modern sound system.
AA. Snake Style
On the flip, Snake Style takes the same analogue-driven approach but moves into deeper rolling territory.
A more hypnotic, heads-down breaks roller, the track develops around a heavyweight bass groove, rolling drums and constantly shifting analogue synth lines. There’s less emphasis on the immediate impact of the A-side and more on building a groove that locks into a DJ set and keeps moving.
Still unmistakably Quest, Snake Style combines the rawness and character of early-2000s breakbeat with modern low-end weight and production, proper rolling Cyberfunk business.
Special Vinyl Edition
Making this release particularly special for collectors, the 12” vinyl comes with an exclusive book showcasing the artwork from some of DJ Quest’s biggest and most memorable releases.
The book looks back through Quest’s extensive catalogue and the visual identity that accompanied the records, bringing together a selection of classic release artwork from across his career plus photo collages of memories made across his journey.
It turns Squeaks / Snake Style into more than just a new DJ Quest 12”, it’s also a celebration of the music, artwork and history surrounding one of the original pioneers of the Bassline Breaks sound.
For long-time followers it offers a piece of Quest history alongside two brand-new productions, while newer listeners get an introduction to the catalogue and imagery behind the sound

A heavy, club-focused tribute vinyl. The MONOLOG mixes lead with live instrumentation, shifting from sultry-house "BUTTER' to heavy Afrobeat "STARTIN". The flip features a peak-time powerhouse "WHO'S BAD" and the techno weapon "MIRROR". Built for the selector's essential crates.

Reissued in 2026 for its 10th Anniversary on limited edition double vinyl 1 X Blue 1 X White, showcasing sought-after tracks from the catalogue.

Rebirth 10, a limited double CD released in 2016, celebrated the 10th anniversary of Rebirth Records. Curated by one of the greatest names in House Music, Larry Heard, aka Mr. Fingers, it featured key releases from the label's first decade.

Featuring original music and remixes from Larry Heard himself alongside further legends of the scene such as Motor City Drum Ensemble, Joe Clausell, Andrés, Jamie 3:26, Ripperton, and Mr Fingers himself. This compilation shines a light on forgotten classics from one of House Music’s most influential labels of the past 20 years. True house from THE house producer of the scene.

Life In Patterns welcomes Uncertain for his first appearance on the label with “Defeat”, a five-track EP bringing together five warehouse-focused techno tracks, moving between darker industrial tones and the classic rave influences that have long been part of his sound. “Defeat” will release on vinyl and digital formats on 16 October 2026. Across the EP, Uncertain explores a broad range of peak-time energy. “Anxiety” and “Dismiss” take a darker route, built around tense atmospheres, heavy percussion, and industrial textures, while the remaining tracks introduce classic rave chords and a more open, melodic character. Despite the differences in tone, the five tracks share the same directness and focus, designed with the dance floor firmly in mind. Uncertain, formerly known as Boriqua Tribez, has been active in electronic music since 1989. Over the past two decades, he has released and remixed more than 50 tracks for labels including KMS, Recycled Loops, and Ingoma, before starting a new chapter under the Uncertain name in 2018. Since then, his more frantic approach to techno has found a home on labels such as Rekids, Symbolism, Beard Man, H-Productions, WRKTRX, ANAOH, Illegal Alien, Mind Medizin, Intec, and Uncage. Alongside his productions, Uncertain is an experienced DJ known for fast, precise three-deck sets, with international performances and support from artists including Ben Sims, Radio Slave, Truncate, Mark Broom, Carl Cox, Blasha & Allatt, Chris Liebing, Richie Hawtin, Luke Slater, DJ Rush, DJ Bone, and others. With “Defeat”, Uncertain makes his Life In Patterns debut with a focused collection of five techno tracks — from dark industrial pressure to classic rave energy, all built for the warehouse.

Naya Beat presents ‘Select Remixes and Reworks 2', a selection of new and exclusive dancefloor remixes featuring Thomaas Banks (Psychemagik), Dino Soccio (Pleasure of Love), Turbotito & Ragz (Naya Beat), and Woolfy vs. Projections. Putting a South Asian twist on the classic disco 12” remix format, Naya Beat have given some of dance music’s most exciting producers access to their storied back catalogue. Torchbearers of West Coast balearic, the California duo Woolfy vs Projections deliver an infectiously groovy electro funk version of Nainan Da Pyar De Gaya by Turbotito & Ragz and Say She She’s Piya Malik. Label cofounders, Turbotito & Ragz add some Naya Beat house flavour to Greek duo Boys’ Shorts Going Out Hoping To See You adding vocals by Australian Indian actress Pallavi Sharda. Thomaas Banks, one half of the celebrated UK duo Psychemagik, provides a scintillating dark wave remix of Tu Aaja by British Asian new wave pioneers Pinky Ann Rihal. And finally, Dino Soccio, head honcho of the LA-based disco edits label Pleasure of Love brings us a smooth as butter extended disco remix of Asha Puthli & Say She She’s recent classic Pawa! Cut to vinyl for the discerning DJ and listener by multi-Grammy-nominated Frank Merritt at The Carvery, the EP comes in a beautifully designed 12” disco sleeve with centre label cutout.

With her fifth solo studio album, Half An Owl And A Full Moon Rising, landing on Dekmantel Records, Steffi harnesses the energy of the dancefloor for a powerful, uplifting ride into the core of what makes this culture so transformative. From her years as a dedicated raver in the late 80s, through to her global tours, prolific production and ceaseless love for music in its many forms, Steffi's innate understanding of the dancefloor informs this new body of work. Key to all of this is the joy of the club experience: the high energy and the vibrational field that's created when the DJ, their musical selections and the dancers align on the same wavelength. The "Feel Factor" as she calls it. Even the title is a reference: half an owl meaning half a pill.

Each track is imbued with pure, unfiltered club energy. Steffi's approach with her albums is to start from scratch, working up and out from a core idea rather than compiling music from an existing collection, and Half An Owl And A Full Moon Rising is comprised of eight cuts, whittled down from over 40. Opening with 'The Rolling Wave', the album immediately transports the listener into a world of emotionally and physically moving soundscapes. Across all eight tracks Steffi weaves together potent drum programming with ethereal pads, strings, heartrending melodies and straight up grooves: honest, no fluff productions that are designed for a very specific purpose. Listening to cuts like 'Sweeping Leaps', you can hear echoes of the huge variety of house and techno Steffi has absorbed. The title track wraps you up in its scintillating rhythms and heady strings, while, midway through, 'Acoustics Of Space' fires on all cylinders with its dynamic tempo, relentless drums and euphoric pad work.

Singer-songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey was 20 years old when he became the third signing to Leon Russell and Denny Cordell's Shelter Records – after Russell himself and the legendary J.J. Cale. The result was Ramsey's 1972 eponymous debut, a masterpiece of laid-back Texas country-rock, blues-inflected folk and outlaw ballads.

As a child, Ramsey was an obsessive radio listener – from Elvis and the Beatles to Delta blues, country and even classical music. By middle school, he had formed his first garage band and started writing songs. After a brief stint at the University of Texas, he took to the burgeoning coffeehouse circuit where he toured alongside folks like Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker and Keith Sykes. It was during these shows that Ramsey developed much of the material for his LP, a diverse yet coherent mix that revealed his varied influences.

Recorded in Memphis, Nashville and at Russell's home studio in the Hollywood Hills, the album features some of the era's greatest session musicians: Eddie Hinton on guitar, Red Rhodes on pedal steel and the rhythm section of Leland Sklar and Jim Keltner. A true songwriter's songwriter album, its tunes have been covered by Waylon Jennings ("Satin Sheets"), Jimmy Buffett ("The Ballad of Spider John") and, most famously, Captain & Tennille ("Muskrat Love"), but no cover can beat the originals from the wise-beyond-his-years Ramsey.

Though Willis Alan Ramsey has continued to perform regularly and write new songs, a second album is yet to be released. For years, whenever someone asked about it, Ramsey was known to answer "What's wrong with the first one?" The answer is, of course, absolutely nothing. In fact, it's perfect.

This first-time vinyl reissue reproduces the original lyric sheet. Includes new interview with Ramsey and liner notes by author Richie Unterberger.

Seven years after 2019’s ‘The Dusk Loom’, Petrels returns with a pair of new albums, Infangthief and Outfangthief. The first of these releases, Infangthief, was originally written and recorded in 2022, before being reworked in light of a subsequent album, Outfangthief, due to be released later this year.

The two albums act as companion pieces, mirrors revealing facets of the other, overlapping in sound and subject matter. Though Outfangthief may have been written after Infangthief, it is no mere follow-up, with it's own creation causing a re-visiting and re-working of the earlier album, which in turn informed the writing of its twin.

Taking their titles from Old English legal terms ("thief seized without" and "thief seized within”), the central thread running through both albums is the illusion of assumed human authority - that which is given and that which is taken by force. With Western society seemingly hellbent on willingly embracing a brutally destructive economic model (even in its death throes), these albums attempt - in their own small way - to undertake the essential task of imagining alternative ways of being.

Petrels is the solo project of musician and artist, Oliver Barrett. Since releasing his debut, Haeligewielle, in 2011 (#9 in A Closer Listen's Best Albums of the Decade), Petrels has toured across Europe and shared a stage with the likes of Jóhann Jóhannsson, Tim Hecker, FIRE!, Nate Young (Wolf Eyes), Trouble Books, Demdike Stare, Nadja, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster). Working from his home in Somerset, UK, Barrett has released numerous albums through his Floating Limb imprint, as well as mixing and/or mastering hundreds of releases for the likes of Keiji Haino, Loren Connors & Alan Licht, Judith Hamann, Incapacitants, Mette Rasmussen & Sofia Jernberg, Yasunao Tone and more

“Petrels sidesteps the chilliness found in much of the music of his peers, replacing it instead with an almost spiritual ecstasy, his ravishing synths and almost choral vocal treatments calling out in cosmic, wide eyed wonder at the universe.” – Paul Margree, Louder Than War

For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.

The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.

"Things are looking better than ever for GENERATION STEEL! The quintet from Wetzlar/Germany, has reinvented itself on all fronts and is set to take the music world by storm with its upcoming third studio album, Steelmachine.

With the addition of guitar wizard and songwriter Thilo Herrmann - who made his debut in 1985 on the FAITHFUL BREATH classic “Skol” and has written heavy metal history throughout his career with RISK (including “Ratman”), RUNNING WILD (including “Black Hand Inn”, “Masquerade”), and GRAVE DIGGER (including “Ballads of a Hangman”) - bandleader and guitarist Jack the Riffer now has a living legend by his side.

There has also been a change behind the mic: from now on, Swedish vocalist Mike Stark - who currently sings for the Argentinian band FEANOR and the Swedish group STORMBURNER - is setting the tone. His powerful, high-pitched yet dynamic voice gives the new tracks an absolute seal of quality.
GENERATION STEEL stands for authentic, traditional, '80s-influenced heavy metal, combining the styles of ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST.

The ten neck-breaking tracks on the band's third full-length album were produced by Piet Sielck (IRON SAVIOR), who has previously refined classics by GAMMA RAY, GRAVE DIGGER, HEADHUNTER, STORMWARRIOR and BLIND GUARDIAN.
The cover artwork, designed by Gyula Havancsak (who has also created artworks for POWERWOLF, ACCEPT and BLIND GUARDIAN, among others), is equally eye-catching.

Anyone who loves honest, traditional German metal will quickly embrace “Steelmachine”, because the quintet not only takes us back to the '80s, but also shows just how timeless true metal is. Ten home runs, including the four singles “Steelmachine”, “Witches Cross”, “Wings of Fire” and “Fields of Pain”.
Stay Metal – Stay Steel!"

Hopsydian are an Italian pop-metalcore outfit from Milan, formed in 2024, combining alluring and sacral atmospheres with modern metalcore power, alt-metal edge, and post-hardcore urgency.
Built on cinematic tension and explosive dynamics, their sound fuses dark, ritualistic undertones with sleek contemporary production and massive, chant-ready choruses
where beauty and brutality collide in equal measure.
The band was formed by vocalist Myles Idolo alongside guitarists Loris Ronchi and Nikolay Deliyski, later completed by bassist Roberto Vezi. The drummer remains anonymous. Their name--Hopsydian--comes from Hope and Obsidian, a ""magic rock"" symbolizing resilience, shadow, and rebirth, perfectly reflecting the duality at the heart of their music.
Hopsydian revolve around worship, love, obsession, sin, and the temptation of becoming God--balancing the holiness of gold with the black of transgression. Hopsydian balance modern heaviness with cinematic elegance--where intimate melodies and shimmering textures collide with crushing riffs and commanding rhythm sections. Their songs move like a ceremony: building atmosphere, sharpening emotion, and detonating into choruses designed to be shouted back from the crowd. Hopsydian explore the most dangerous forms of faith:
worship, love, obsession, sin, and the seduction of becoming God. Their narratives live in extremes:
desire framed as devotion, temptation disguised as salvation, and beauty that burns at the edges. It's an aesthetic of contrast: the holiness of gold set against the darkness that it can't fully conquer.
Benjamin Wilson from band Caskets helped the band develop their album artistic direction
Despite having released only six songs, Hopsydian have already proven their live impact. In 2025, they debuted on the Slam Dunk Italy main stage, sharing the bill with names such as LANDMVRKS, A Day To Remember, and Caskets, before going on to support Caskets in Milan shortly after. Momentum is building fast--and with a fanbase already demanding the next step, Hopsydian are poised to turn their growing catalogue into what it's meant to become: a fully-fledged era, and the tour that brings it to life.

Colorize presents Echoes, the highly anticipated debut album from Massachusetts songwriter, producer and musician Jack Willard, a richly melodic body of work.

Jack Willard blends organic songwriting with modern electronic production, cinematic storytelling and immersive sound design, an emotionally driven style that has earned support from Above & Beyond, Tritonal, Yotto, Nora En Pure and Bob Moses since debut single Celsius, alongside airplay on SiriusXM Chill and BBC Radio 1 and millions of streams worldwide. The Massachusetts native made his Colorize debut in 2023 with Big Sky, an instrumental favourite still in regular SiriusXM Chill rotation, before expanding his sound on the Patterns EP with his first larger scale vocal collaborations, including fan favourites Everything All At Once and Wanna Know. Following performances across both U.S. coasts, Echoes arrives as Willard’s most ambitious project to date.

The first INVT album to get pressed on vinyl, 8 AM Swim captures the Miami duo's swung, dub-influenced take on tech house, garage, Miami bass, and Latin club music. Pressed on 12" black vinyl. Housed in a matte sleeve featuring a washed lilac-purple texture. INVT-001 Written, Produced, & Mixed by INVT Mastered at Analogcut Mastering Distributed by Clone bandcamp for all INVT releases

After establishing their identity with their debut EP, Alma de Baile, Geneva-based duo Roshâni unveil Planet R, their first album, set for release on October 15, 2026, via Stonepixels and distributed by The Orchard.

More than just a record, Planet R is a world of its own: a planet shaped like a disco ball, where languages blend, synthesizers intertwine with organic grooves, and dancing becomes a form of futuristic therapy. Sung in Farsi, Spanish, French, and English, the album moves freely between futuristic disco, alternative pop, experimental electronic music, and contemplative ballads, never seeking to belong to a single scene or territory.

Omasta step into their own voice with “Hits Different”, marking a new stage in their evolution as musicians and storytellers.

Following their debut “Jazz Report From The Hood", which proved a major success and brought attention to Omasta as one of the most distinctive groups emerging from the contemporary jazz scene, the musicians return with their second album, “Hits Different”. The record develops the language established on their debut, pushing it into new territory and shifting the perspective from that of the protagonists themselves to that of a narrator telling the story.

While the debut album was a story about the lives and emotions of the band’s members, “Hits Different” adopts the perspective of a narrator, giving the album a more cinematic structure. As on the first record, the story is never told explicitly. The track titles merely point the way, leaving space for listeners to bring their own emotions, imagination, and experiences to the music. Each track becomes another scene in a story that moves through a broad spectrum of emotions, from happiness and excitement to anxiety, tension, and disorientation. It is a story that allows everyone to create their own interpretation, but its ending leaves no room for doubt. There is no happy ending here.

Norman Gervais and Charles Bals return after last year’s Transcoastal compilation with their first project for the Italian label Periodica Records and its newly founded imprint, Periodica International.
The concept behind SiRENE 89 is quite particular and took six years to develop. It is presented as the live recording of one long evening, with different bands taking the stage one after another on the terrace of a Mediterranean holiday resort in 1989, inspired by the places Charles and Norm remember from their summer holidays around that time.
The songs were recorded between 1982 and 1993 and gathered from small-time artists, beach-club vagabonds, local micro-labels, library records and privately released tapes. The music moves lightly between mystical ballads, digital samba and loose, sunburnt dance songs, carried by drum machines, not-quite-tuned guitars and college-band voices.
The audience on the terrace remains quietly present throughout, joining the tracks into one continuous, partly improvised set. By the end, it feels less like a compilation and more like a place where you have spent the night, proving that charm can carry further than perfection.

Another Day on Earth (2005) was Brian Eno’s first song-based album since Nerve Net in1992, and remains one of his most acclaimed solo records. It featured a young Jon Hopkins alongside long-standing collaborators Nell Catchpole, J. Peter Schwalm and Leo Abrahams, with lyrics co-written by Michel Faber and Danny Hillis. The album was launched with a public conversation between Eno and the writer Michael Bracewell at the Marble Palace in St Petersburg and its cover photograph was taken by Eno himself in Beijing, during his first Chinese audio installation in the city’s Ritan Park. Following Warner Bros’ purchase of Hannibal Records in 2006, the licence for Another Day on Earth lapsed in 2008 and the album has been unavailable outside Japan ever since.

“Grand, sweeping choruses ... that insinuate themselves deep into the memory, but also moments of whispering intimacy - a wistful, haunting record that runs warm with understated emotion. ★★★★★” - Matthew Collin, The Observer (2005)

KYSH returns to wax with its third vinyl release — another milestone in the label’s steadily growing catalogue. More than a year and a half into the journey, KYSH feels more in its element than ever, bringing together five names that represent both the label’s own extended family and fresh acts joining the ranks. All well-established and highly respected figures in the modern techno landscape, they deliver a sharp selection of contemporary club weapons. Kashpitzky opens with “Blush”, a raw, boomy cut where rough-edged rhythmics meet crisp modern production, channeling the spirit of industrial techno at its best. “Tarmac” by Regent follows with a dense, restless groove, while Chontane’s “Gyuto” dives into hypnotic territory, layering rhythmic elements around subtle dissonant melodies. On the flipside, Temudo & Pierce join forces for the threatening, aggressively contemporary “Highest Clarity Grade”, balancing intricate sound design between rhythm and atmosphere. Closing comes GCOD with “Sleeper Agent” — dancing sub bass, a striking hook and a relentless hi-hat groove keeping the weight firmly down low. Another strong statement on wax, KYSH-003 confirms the label’s vinyl output as a mark of quality, with five floor-tested cuts drawing from a fresh, current take on the industrial influences that shaped techno a decade ago. A new lineup, a distinct direction, and five tracks ready to speak for themselves on a proper soundsystem.

For more than 20 years, every CASPIAN album has been driven by a desire to stretch boundaries — a relentless ambition that's resulted in one of post-rock's most revered catalogs and established the Massachusetts quintet as an enduring, global force in the genre's modern era. On CASPIAN, the band’s first album in six years and debut for Wax Bodega, the more unexpected way forward was to stop searching for what they hadn’t yet done and instead trust what had defined them from the beginning.

The six-song, 39-minute effort draws freely from the musical vocabulary the band have spent their career writing: evocative melodic themes, dense textures, swelling crescendos and crushing heaviness that rolls in like a slow-moving storm on the horizon. But they still find new possibilities within those familiar contours, allowing patient development and repetition to carry as much weight as surprise. The nine-minute “Remain” turns a recurring melody into a sweeping study in tension and release, while “No One Left to Tell” layers subtle shifts around a hypnotic tremolo figure and “A Great Fire” sends serpentine guitars crashing into buzzsaw riffs. Even the graceful 3/4-time closer “Waltz for the End,” completed in a half-hour burst of inspiration, reflects the quiet confidence of five musicians comfortable enough in their skin to resist tearing everything down for the sake of reinvention, even as the circumstances surrounding them change dramatically.

From Richmond, Virginia, Shy, Low have a reputation as one of the most compelling voices within the modern instrumental underground. Their music speaks to fans of post-rock's emotional grandeur and post-metal's crushing intensity alike, while simultaneously appealing to listeners drawn to experimental, atmospheric, and cinematic forms of heavy music. The band's ability to merge these seemingly disparate qualities has resulted in a body of work that is immediately recognizable and continually evolving. Luminous melodies, driving heaviness, layered textures, and carefully controlled tension allows `Purity Spiral' to move effortlessly between fragile moments of introspection and towering passages of intensity. Whether constructing intricate layers of harmony or driving songs toward explosive climaxes, there is a deep understanding of pacing, atmosphere, and the power of restraint. Momentum is at the heart of this album, through intricate rhythmic detail, and explosive bursts of energy, drums become the anchor and catalyst, supporting the band's expansive arrangements while pushing them toward moments of cathartic release. What distinguishes Shy, Low is their ability to balance enormity with restraint. Their music unfolds patiently, allowing tension to accumulate through layers of texture, melody, and dynamics. Moments of delicate clarity often coexist with overwhelming weight, creating a sense of organic motion. At the core of the band's sound lies an acute understanding of contrast. From shimmering, expansive passages to towering walls of distortion, the rhythm section provides both propulsion and atmosphere, becoming integral narrative voices that shape the emotion. There is a disciplined sense of purpose in their writing, an understanding that every note serves a larger arc. Shy, Low thrives in the space between introspection and catharsis, where subtle details become as impactful as the heaviest climaxes, and listeners are taken on a journey that is as visceral as it is profound. FOR FANS OF Caspian * Russian Circles * If These Trees Could Talk * Pelican * Toundra

From Richmond, Virginia, Shy, Low have a reputation as one of the most compelling voices within the modern instrumental underground. Their music speaks to fans of post-rock's emotional grandeur and post-metal's crushing intensity alike, while simultaneously appealing to listeners drawn to experimental, atmospheric, and cinematic forms of heavy music. The band's ability to merge these seemingly disparate qualities has resulted in a body of work that is immediately recognizable and continually evolving. Luminous melodies, driving heaviness, layered textures, and carefully controlled tension allows `Purity Spiral' to move effortlessly between fragile moments of introspection and towering passages of intensity. Whether constructing intricate layers of harmony or driving songs toward explosive climaxes, there is a deep understanding of pacing, atmosphere, and the power of restraint. Momentum is at the heart of this album, through intricate rhythmic detail, and explosive bursts of energy, drums become the anchor and catalyst, supporting the band's expansive arrangements while pushing them toward moments of cathartic release. What distinguishes Shy, Low is their ability to balance enormity with restraint. Their music unfolds patiently, allowing tension to accumulate through layers of texture, melody, and dynamics. Moments of delicate clarity often coexist with overwhelming weight, creating a sense of organic motion. At the core of the band's sound lies an acute understanding of contrast. From shimmering, expansive passages to towering walls of distortion, the rhythm section provides both propulsion and atmosphere, becoming integral narrative voices that shape the emotion. There is a disciplined sense of purpose in their writing, an understanding that every note serves a larger arc. Shy, Low thrives in the space between introspection and catharsis, where subtle details become as impactful as the heaviest climaxes, and listeners are taken on a journey that is as visceral as it is profound. FOR FANS OF Caspian * Russian Circles * If These Trees Could Talk * Pelican * Toundra

The threeway combo you never knew you needed. Sam Binga, Machinedrum and Cesco built the raw bones of these tunes across a single morning in LA, overlooking MacArthur Park, in an intense session that saw them throwing live Bingerian vocals, raw Brazilian shrimp-sellers and tweaked-out Acid lines into the melting pot.

Further sessions between Highland Park and Stokes Croft saw these bare bones jams get fleshed out into the four genre-bending tracks that make up the Niche Flex EP, all of which have been tested out in clubs and festivals across the world, and which land this September via Binga's Pineapple Records imprint, on both vinyl and digital formats.

While obviously handy in the studio, Team MACESGA (as nobody calls them) also can operate a DJ booth to a reasonably high standard, as witnessed at the raucous Pineapple Takeover at the Beatport HQ in LA, and are available to showcase their Transatlantic Threesome at a Quality Music Venue or Devious Fetish Spot near you.

shishi, das sind drei Frauen, die an den Ufern der litauischen Ostsee Post-Punk und Indie-Rock mit Surf-Einflüssen spielen. Diese physische Split-EP (und ihr Debüt auf Vinyl) enthält die neue QUEEN DEYONNA-EP und die frühere FAQ-EP. Ihre Musik verwandelt die Angst und Paranoia einer Welt im Umbruch in kathartische Verrücktheit. Ihre Live-Auftritte sind legendär - voller reichhaltiger dreistimmiger Harmonien, ineinander verwobener Gitarrenparts, grooviger Basslinien und treibender Schlagzeugbeats.

Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl. Babe Haven ist eine queere Punkband, bekannt für ihre Riot-Grrrl-Attitüde und ihren Nu-Metal-Einschlag. Gegründet in Boone, North Carolina, von Lillie Della Penna und Naomi Poesel, kreiert die Band Hymnen über Selbstermächtigung und Widerstand, die vor roher Aggression nur so strotzen.Die Band hat sich schnell zu einem ikonischen Bestandteil der modernen Punkszene entwickelt, bringt Bühnen zum Brennen, spielt ausverkaufte Shows in den gesamten USA und stand bereits mit Acts wie Die Spitz, Mannequin Pussy, Soft Play und Pup auf der Bühne.Ihr zweites Album ,Nuisance" zeigt eine mutige Weiterentwicklung ihres Sounds - eine Mischung aus Nu Metal, Thrash und Punk, die sich zu einem intensiven, genreübergreifenden Statement verbindet und ihren Platz als eine der wichtigsten aufstrebenden Stimmen des Punk festigt.,Nuisance" erschien ursprünglich im Juni 2024 und wird nun im Oktober 2026 erstmals physisch über Hassle Records veröffentlicht.

Tenuous Links welcomes Torino’s very own VIOLA to the label with his new ‘Wrinkles’ EP. As the label owner of Reflue Records, VIOLA first caught my attention with his debut full-length release, a body of work that showcased a deep, rugged sound and a clear technical prowess shaped by his surroundings rugged coastlines and industrial landscapes of Torino in northern Italy. After speaking with Cristiano for over a year, it felt like a natural progression to bring his music to Tenuous Links. “The music I write almost always functions as a visceral soundtrack to whatever environment surrounds and infects me while I'm creating. Deeply rooted in the architectural contrasts of the places I’ve inhabited.”

‘Wrinkles’ is VIOLA’s second full-length body of work, yet the years of graft and dedication behind it are immediately apparent. Across three original tracks and a remix from London’s Jay Duncan, the EP delivers pure grit and crunch, inhabiting large, cavernous atmospheres grounded by pummelling bass, dynamic drums and intricate rhythmic detail.

The title track ‘Wrinkles’ is an ode to club spaces and the scene that revolves around them. Its broken rhythm channels the dancefloors of Cristiano’s formative years, spent partying in abandoned bunkers and warehouses in and around Torino. VIOLA explains: “Crafting such a raw, gritty bassline felt like an absolute necessity during the writing process, retracing memories of long nights spent dancing in silence.” The track’s cavernous atmosphere mirrors those pitch-black, unlit spaces, drawing us deeper and deeper into the abyss, with only brief glimmers of light offering reprieve from its relentless, all-enveloping bassline.

‘Mon Tom’ draws heavily from VIOLA’s hometown and his complicated relationship with Torino ,a city where tranquillity and beauty sit alongside heavy industry. The calm of the coastline is violently interrupted by vast steelworks and plumes of black smoke, leaving an imposing industrial mark on both the landscape and its people. The track reflects these contrasts. Metallic yet fluid, it moves at a faster pace, built around a driving 4/4 rhythm designed to suspend the listener while skittering percussion creates an increasingly uneasy sense of movement. It’s a meeting point between the beauty and brutality of the environment that inspired it.

‘P Maggiore’ was written between 2019 and 2020 while VIOLA was living in Rome’s chaotic Porta Maggiore district. Surrounded day and night by the grinding noise of trains, screeching tram brakes and beaten metal, he translated those raw auditory memories directly into high-pressure sound design. Yet, in contrast to the intensity of his surroundings, VIOLA deliberately pulls back the tempo.

Rounding off the EP is a skeletal remix of ‘Wrinkles’ from London’s Jay Duncan. She strips the original back into a techy, rolling cut, retaining its atmosphere and darkness while introducing a lighter touch of minimal-esque sound design. The result is a subtly transformed take on the title track that provides a fitting conclusion to the EP.

‘Wrinkles’ EP is a record shaped by place, by architecture, industry, memory and the physical spaces that leave their mark on us. From Torino’s industrial coastline to the chaos of Rome and the darkness of abandoned club spaces, VIOLA turns his surroundings into sound. Coming to vinyl and digital October 16th of October.

Early DJ Support: Massimiliano Pagliara, Paranoid London, Logan Fisher, Terry Farley, James Holroyd, Rocky (X Press 2), Francois K, Marcel Vogel, Sean Johnston, Austin Ato, Ron Basejam, Richard Rogers, Oliver Dollar, Crazy P and many more

Creating an international name for itself over the past decade as a sample pack label, Samples From Mars made its inevitable venture into the music world originally as a home for founder Teddy Stuart’s work. Long before making samples, Stuart garnered credits working as a grammy-nominated recording engineer in the hip hop world, and DJing / producing with Justin Strauss as A/JUS/TED, for labels such as DFA, Domino Records and Southern Fried Records. Now the label is set to release a variety of genres - house, disco, techno, ambient, all with a vintage tinge and a focus on high quality, analog production.

Enter Salt Queen. Visual artist and musician Magali van Caloen together with Samples From Mars founder, Teddy Stuart. Based in New York, the duo combine hardware dance aesthetics with dry, salty takes on familiar club moments into music that sits somewhere between funny, raw and unpredictable.

Salt Queen’s debut ‘ARE U OK’ is an acid-laced, deadpan spoken word track with an opening line that snaps any room to attention. A disorienting club encounter unfolds over Italo-inflected 808s and a relentless 303 bassline. There are no chords and no melodies - just a skeletal groove and an intimate voice circling the dancefloor. Drifting between concern and provocation, the vocal runs through cliché club conversations before destabilizing completely into a siren-laden crash out. The ‘Freak Nasty Club Mix’ ditches the plot and lets the hardware breathe, with a thick SH-101 bassline anchoring the first half before a sudden switch into an unrelenting acid pattern that refuses to settle. Two versions of the same wild night out.

Daydream: 30th Anniversary Edition is a 2-CD set featuring the original multi-platinum-certified album Daydream, which includes the smash hits “Fantasy,” “Always Be My Baby” and “One Sweet Day." Disc 2 collects remixes and rare B-sides, including a brand-new remix, “Underneath The Stars (Eric Kupper Klassic Club Mix) (Radio Edit).” The second disc also features a writing session demo for “I Am Free.”

Injury Reserve was originally a trio, consisting of rappers Ritchie With a T and Stepa J. Groggs and producer Parker Corey. Their mixtapes Live From The Dentist (released in 2015) and Floss (2016) earned them underground buzz, and they capitalized on the attention with their debut album in 2019, the eponymous Injury Reserve.

The group's momentum was put on hold when in June of 2020 Groggs tragically passed away. By the Time I Get to Phoenix was largely completed ahead of Groggs' passing with his contributions, and will be the first Injury Reserve music to be released since their eponymous debut album. Ritchie and Corey took the past year to complete the record, and the title has meaning past simply referencing Injury Reserve's hometown. It's an homage to a song that has been covered countless times, which is in line with Injury Reserve's ethos and approach when it comes to creating music. The group pulls from several styles and eras of hip hop, but runs each one through the Injury Reserve lens, putting their own distinct and cohesive sound across their references. Nowhere is that dynamic more present than on By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

After years of building around techno, Genex is moving somewhere else.

The shift has been happening for a while. The music is becoming less about the expected function of a techno record and more about groove, movement and the details that make a track feel alive.House has always been part of the picture, but now it takes a much bigger role. Weeks & Weeks EP marks the first release from this new chapter.

It also opens the catalogue of Concrete Soul, a new label built around house and techno with soul. A place for music that can be raw without losing its character, and functional without losing the feeling behind it. Concrete Soul is about the contrast between the hard and the human, the concrete and the soul.

"For those who feel the ground"

Yesca is back on Shall Not Fade with ‘Paint on Walls’ 12” EP.

2024’s Yesca EP on SNF - “Mood Loops” - set a high bar, so when we say this record is something special you should take note. Of course if you already know Yesca’s music or have had the pleasure of a Yesca DJ set then you will have already this queued up.

Sweet Spot: Ben Sims, Deetron, Oliver Ho, Vince Watson, Grain (Artwork’s Techno alias). Planet-E, Primate Recordings, Paul Mac & Stimulus Recordings found the sweet spot.

According to the OED the first use of the phrase “Sweet Spot” was in 1976 in reference to tennis rackets and golf swings. It’s where everything hits just right. And that’s what this EP does, hits just right. What strikes me is how descriptive the phrase ‘Sweet Spot’ is. Given enough swings and some luck we all know what it feels like to hit the sweet spot in some regard. Finding the sweet spot regularly though takes time and skill. But being able to hit the sweet spot by design every time, well that’s something different. That’s what makes the greats great.

For us at SNF there’s a consensus that in the lineage of electronic music there have been many moments where artists & labels converged on a sweet spot. One such sweet spot for us is in Techno
around 2003 when at the tail end of Hardgroove tempos began to slow and a groovier more refined tech house infused goodness appeared in the racks from a group of killer techno labels & artists (some mentioned above) that moment before the fuller emergence of the 2nd wave of Tech House in the mid 00’s.

That sound, while often emulated, never quite hit the same for us at least – until Yesca came along. His music has everything that we love about that sweet spot. Raw driving groove, rolling basslines and hip shaking percussion. What’s different on ‘Paint on Walls’ is that Yesca stepped on - he had already found the sweet spot on 2024’s Mood Loop EP - now his sound (or swing) is natural. Repeatable, refined and seemingly effortless. To revisit the tennis and golf analogy, this is the start of a Grand Slam run from an artist ready to etch their name in dance music history. Tiger..... Serena......Yesca.

Run the Tracks:
‘How I Do It (They Wonder)’ - A masterclass in less is more, and a serious DJ tool. Full of groove - slow it down and it will light the touchpaper in a house set - speed it up and you’ve got techno weaponry. Forget gatekeeping, this will make you feel like you just found a 2004 techno white label from the likes of Grain or Ben Sims.

‘I Desire’ - House music that I reckon Deetron would be proud of... Blissed out machine funk, whispered vocals, slick jazzy chords and dubbed out techno stabs are all grounded by Yesca’s impeccable, loopy drum programming. The best tunes always end too soon.

‘Domination’ - The ever rising bass, err, dominates this track and this track will dominate on many a dancefloor, but Yesca's knack for dubbed out swinging synth lines has to get a shout out here too. He turns what would be melodic elements into what feels like part of the percussion. Double Threat. Hands Up and Heads Down business.

‘Paint on Walls’ - It would be a tough call to say Yesca’s saved the best til last with the EP’s eponymous track given what’s come before, but Paint On Walls works all the highlights from the rest of the EP into a latin techno/house infused anthem. Skittering percussion, a hint of Detroit goodness and a deep deep rolling bassline and THAT vocal. In every way hopeful yet resistant, and that is what techno is all about.

Fila Brazillia is the name of the decidedly singular collaboration between Steve Cobby and David McSherry, born in the coastal town of Hull in the UK. Bending—and often outright breaking—more or less every rule in the book, they've been effortlessly blending deep house, downtempo, breaks, ambient, and wry humour, sampling anything they can get their hands on. Their first outing was the 1990 single-sided white label 12" Mermaids, an airy deep house tune featuring a cheeky sample taken from the theme from Robison Crusoe. Since then, they've released a boat load of singles, seven highly regarded full-lengths, and more than 60 remixes for artists such as Radiohead, Busta Rhymes, and Lamb.

Black Market Gardening is their third full-length and marks a creative high-point for the duo. Over nine tracks, Fila Brazillia guides you through hazy, bass-heavy trip hop, cosmic synth lines, brisk breakbeats, funky guitar riffs, and even touch of drum 'n bass (it's the mid-1990s after all...). There's just so much to take in, leaving the listener wondering where the samples end and the live instrumentation begins. Yes, Fila Brazillia's output fits squarely within the chill-out tradition prevalent in the UK at that point in time, but their unmatched creativity and boundless approach to the studio process makes their music truly timeless.

Black Market Gardening is available as a 30th anniversary edition for the first time since 2001.

On January 17th, 2026, Grammy Award-winning hip-hop icon Lupe Fiasco joined Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble, a hybrid orchestra dedicated to reimagining music from all genres, for a special concert at Miami Bandshell. This Juneteenth, Lupe and Nu Deco will release the recording for the whole world to hear, presenting Lupe Fiasco’s hits and new classics as they have never been heard before. Invigorated by the backing of the 33-person full orchestra, led by conductor Jacomo Bairos, Lupe forcefully rhymes every word of career highlights like “Daydreamin’,” “Kick, Push,” and “Paris, Tokyo,” emphasizing the musicality innate to Lupe’s tongue-twisting bars. In addition, Lupe presents unique live versions of new hits, including “Samurai,” from his critically acclaimed 2024 album of the same title, and “SOS,” an outtake released for the first time on 2025’s Samurai DX. The Nu Deco version of 2015’s “Dots & Lines” begins with a solo guitar exhibition from Aaron Lebos, while songs like “Daydreamin’” and thrilling closer “Superstar” benefit from the powerful pipes of backing vocalist Kelley Kessell and J Howard. The 9-track set is a scorcher, reaffirming Lupe’s status as one of the most proficient and electrifying live performers in hip-hop today.

Without turning anything upside down, the trio has released their second album, gracefully deepening the unique path they have carved out for themselves. It is an album that already stands in stark contrast to the attention-deficit culture of our times. Indeed, whilst music sometimes seeks to concentrate the intensity of its references and artefacts, the trio takes a step back, deploying an intensity that is subtly distributed. Thanks to their progressive instrumental tracks blending elements inherited from dub, jazz, folk and even musique concrète, the trio has never allowed the quality of their music to suffer from their experimentation; at the same time, they have never been afraid to venture off the beaten track to achieve the sound they desire. Every single track of this album cast like fragile bridges over various landscapes that explore cycles and the natural rhythm within. It is up to the listener to tread carefully and not lose their footing and embrace the cinematic movement of this music. The three artists have indeed achieved a musical expression so free that it possesses the power of illusion. We are suddenly swept up in all these illusions, to the point where our memories are in flux. Both haunting and in motion, this trio’s music offers an impregnable mental retreat and an invitation to dance. This album conveys a dreamlike conviction that time, in its relentless flight, might—if only for a moment—be brought to a halt. A halt that awaits you.

Words by Carl Åhnebrink

Richly progressive folk-informed heavy post-rock and a sick burn to boot. - The Obelisk Rebecca Vernon (SubRosa), the driving creative force behind THE KEENING returns with her second album, Devotion. The new album sees Vernon and company releasing one of the year's most evocative albums; a truly compelling mix of slow burning, ethereal post-rock, folk, goth, and soaring doom. For Vernon, the writing process for Devotion took place in two starkly different environments. It ranged from the contemplative solitude of a friend’s cabin in a deserted Idaho ski resort, to the hectic reality of a 55+ senior living community in Spokane, Washington, where she was staying with her father. This shift resulted in an explosive album with a subtle duality that resonates throughout its most poignant moments. Take the lead single, "A Little Bit of Blood," for example. Quiet, acoustic guitar strums give way for Vernon's haunting vocals, before the backing instrumentation explodes into a soaring chorus reminding the listener that sometimes the best paths taken are the most difficult. "You drew a little bit of blood to show me Just a little bit of blood to make me see It took a little bit of blood to wake me Just a little wound in the night to free me" In a 2024 interview with Decibel Magazine, Vernon discussed the drastic shift in heavy music's themes in recent years, highlighting a willingness to convey raw emotion: "Metal is beginning to share more vulnerable things, more confessional things. Metal has almost become a safe place to talk about those things. People are being open with their struggles. Twenty years ago, they wouldn't have." Devotion lays these emotional confessions bare and showcases a truly bright burn. Devotion was recorded in April 2022, again at Hallowed Halls in Portland, with Billy Anderson and Nathan Carson featured in their same roles as heard on Little Bird. Once again, Vernon showcases her writing prowess, having a heavy hand on all the instrumentation for Devotion; Vernon played drums, guitar, piano, organ, and hammered dulcimer, and provided most of the vocals on both albums, with a few guest vocalists added to the mix.