Buscar:growth

Fust’s first record "Evil Joy" was a bitter domestic drama obsessed with the kitchen-sink passage of time measured by moments of leaving and returning. With "Genevieve", we find a different kind of leaving: leaving behind, leaving one’s old ways, starting anew, a small life together, in “Family Country.” Thus, Genevieve: an historical name for both the saintly and the ordinary, the peasantry and the family, the community and the wife, extreme devotion and absolute forbearance. While sonically and instrumentally louder than Evil Joy, Genevieve is thematically more quiet about its pains—more settled in its ways. It is a collection of pathetic love stories written in dedication to “small life,” moving from gentle exceptions (“I can take the late hours if you’re with me”) to pitiful admissions (“I’m never going to change when I leave…”). What comes with a quiet life? The highest forms of beauty, but we also find here songs of unspeaking companions, the sublime dread of having children, the balance of humility and humiliation, playing the fool for the greater good, and… budget birthday parties. With these stories of possible growth, "Genevieve" can’t help but also feature tried and true examples of crisis and repression: seeking a bygone lifestyle in an old friend who hasn’t changed much over the years, pissing contests, search parties as the form of community for melancholics with no clue what they’ve lost, old flames you won't let go and dying flames you won’t admit. "Genevieve" was recorded throughout 2021-2022 (mostly) at Drop of Sun studio in Asheville NC by Alex Farrar. The painting by Sasha Popovici is exactly right: a domestic scene yet unfinished. Many friends helped to make it much better than it was without them—Xandy Chelmis, Michael Cormier-O’Leary, Indigo De Souza, MJ Lenderman, Courtney Werner.

Death Cab for Cutie is one of the definitive indie-rock bands of the century. After twenty-odd years in the major label system, the band returned to their indie roots and signed with ANTI- Records and they"re back with a brand-new eleventh album titled, I Built You A Tower out June 5th. I Built You A Tower is the sound of loss, compartmentalization, and then grief bursting out from the seams. It"s also the sound of the growth that comes after falling apart, of acknowledging pain without letting it destroy you. "I see the tower existing on your emotional horizon," Ben Gibbard states. "You don"t always have to look at what"s inside it, but it"s a reminder that it happened. You know it"s there. You have to face it." The band is set to hit the road in the US this summer, kicking off on July 10 and includes a two-night run at The Greek in Los Angeles. This comes on the heels of a historic, sold-out global tour marking the 20th anniversary of the album Transatlanticism, and the release of their universally acclaimed, 2022"s Asphalt Meadow.

Meet Me in the Garden is a richly textured exploration of love, loss, and renewal. Co-produced by Felix Bloxsom (SIA, Genesis Owusu), Daniel Mougerman (The Bamboos), and Rita Satch herself, and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Ben Kane (D’Angelo, Emily King), the album features contributions from some of Naarm/Melbourne’s finest, alongside a sweeping 12-piece string orchestra.
Blending smooth soul, contemporary R&B, orchestral flourishes, and stacked harmonies reminiscent of D’Angelo and Bilal, the album unfolds with cinematic beauty and emotional depth. It opens with a stirring string prelude by Mougerman before transitioning into the dreamy title track. Standouts include the meditative Breathe, the funk-fuelled Joyride, and Warrior Princess - a heartfelt tribute to Satch’s late grandmothers that helped her process grief through song.
Rooted in personal loss and spiritual growth, the album draws from Satch’s Kabbalistic studies and her belief in reunion beyond this life. With its timeless soul and modern edge, Meet Me in the Garden is a bold, soul-stirring debut that leaves a lasting impression.

Shaped from fragile, emotionally charged piano motifs that distort, disappear and transform into dense, cinematic textures, 'CANALS' is a debut that's finely matured, the result of years of friendship and growth. Italian artist Vanja Sturno and Montréal-based Belgian-Spanish composer Pablo Geeraert (aka Sanea Ima) have worked together extensively on various projects up until now, but 'CANALS' is their first official release as a duo. Having both studied music academically, the pair were eager to work more intuitively, so applied their well-honed set of skills to sound that, instead of fitting into a conceptual box, reflected more personal experiences.

Back in 2023, Geeraert travelled to Rome to support his friend at a difficult time and, during the trip, received some bad news of his own. The complicated feelings unconsciously surged through a series of delicate Ryuichi Sakamoto-inspired piano improvisations and a new project began to coalesce. They didn't realize it at the time, but once the record was finished, Sturno and Geeraert began to understand that the entire process had been a form a joint catharsis - a release of pressure. They were able to function so effortlessly and swiftly because they had already provided the space for each other to resonate emotionally and the music flowed from that point.

So the album's title, while remaining ambiguous, suggests its formation: a sequence of eight interconnected channels that feed a creative whole. On the first segment, Sturno and Geeraert's initial recordings can be perceived most nakedly, the melancholy, Satie-like phrases floating peacefully for a moment before the tranquility is agitated by stormy distortions and swelled into thick waves of harmony. The piano provides the record with its emotional anchor, offering focus and clarity as multi-dimensional noise wells up around it before inevitably dissipating, leaving gentle, unadorned sounds once again.

And the familiar instrument is reshaped into a wheezing artificial organ on the animated 'CANALS III', punctuated by percussive, tape-warped pitch fluctuations that seem to bite into its very essence. Gauzy acoustic granulations snowball into a powerful, bass-heavy crescendo on the fourth part, setting the tenor for the album's second half. But after the crushing 'CANALS VI', possibly Sturno and Geeraert's heaviest track, a brief tremolo-heavy vignette that ripples through experimental rock and ambient music's braided history, the duo clear the air with a jazzy diversion, introducing soft woodwind blasts as a palate cleanser before an epic, widescreen finale.

It's an album that's best absorbed as a whole, a vortex of ritualistic, rhythmic repetitions that Sturno and Geeraert appropriately refer to as "spiral listening".

Transformation, growth, and rebirth drive Ascent Effort, the latest release from Portland, Oregon trio Rhododendron. The title points upward, but not toward arrival. The record documents a period of change defined as much by instability as progress, where confusion and renewal unfold at the same pace.
Formed in 2019 while the band’s members were still in high school, Rhododendron’s Ezra Chong (guitar, vocals), Gage Walker (bass), and Noah Mortola (drums) set out to push their musical limits without regard for genre boundaries or audience expectation. For Ascent Effort, the band joined the roster of The Flenser, aligning with a label that has long championed artists who work in tension rather than comfort.

In the past seven years the trio has developed a sound rooted in technical precision and repetition. Drawing from the angular experimentation of underground rock in the 1980s and 1990s alongside elements of jazz, ambient, and progressive music, their compositions are deliberate with intensity. Riffs fracture and reform, rhythms lock into patterns only to break apart, and extended passages build pressure before shifting direction.
Performing regularly in Portland, the band has cultivated an intense and loyal local following. The live setting hardened the material. Songs grew heavier, sharper, more physical through repetition and high volume.

The material that became Ascent Effort was tested on tour before entering the studio. Written largely in sequence, the album traces a period of personal change and internal friction. Growth is not always clean; sometimes it grinds forward. Nothing resolves without cost. Confusion and strain do not sit outside the songs, they shape their architecture. That is what the band has accomplished with Ascent Effort, a work that is not always clean but well-shaped by struggle and growth. The Pacific Northwest lingers in the background of the record, its long winters and brief summers echoing the album’s shifts between abrasion and restraint. Ascent Effort does not offer catharsis in the traditional sense. It allows tension to remain. In that unresolved space, transformation takes form and a band in motion is revealed.

Transformation, growth, and rebirth drive Ascent Effort, the latest release from Portland, Oregon trio Rhododendron. The title points upward, but not toward arrival. The record documents a period of change defined as much by instability as progress, where confusion and renewal unfold at the same pace.
Formed in 2019 while the band’s members were still in high school, Rhododendron’s Ezra Chong (guitar, vocals), Gage Walker (bass), and Noah Mortola (drums) set out to push their musical limits without regard for genre boundaries or audience expectation. For Ascent Effort, the band joined the roster of The Flenser, aligning with a label that has long championed artists who work in tension rather than comfort.

In the past seven years the trio has developed a sound rooted in technical precision and repetition. Drawing from the angular experimentation of underground rock in the 1980s and 1990s alongside elements of jazz, ambient, and progressive music, their compositions are deliberate with intensity. Riffs fracture and reform, rhythms lock into patterns only to break apart, and extended passages build pressure before shifting direction.
Performing regularly in Portland, the band has cultivated an intense and loyal local following. The live setting hardened the material. Songs grew heavier, sharper, more physical through repetition and high volume.

The material that became Ascent Effort was tested on tour before entering the studio. Written largely in sequence, the album traces a period of personal change and internal friction. Growth is not always clean; sometimes it grinds forward. Nothing resolves without cost. Confusion and strain do not sit outside the songs, they shape their architecture. That is what the band has accomplished with Ascent Effort, a work that is not always clean but well-shaped by struggle and growth. The Pacific Northwest lingers in the background of the record, its long winters and brief summers echoing the album’s shifts between abrasion and restraint. Ascent Effort does not offer catharsis in the traditional sense. It allows tension to remain. In that unresolved space, transformation takes form and a band in motion is revealed.

Transformation, growth, and rebirth drive Ascent Effort, the latest release from Portland, Oregon trio Rhododendron. The title points upward, but not toward arrival. The record documents a period of change defined as much by instability as progress, where confusion and renewal unfold at the same pace.
Formed in 2019 while the band’s members were still in high school, Rhododendron’s Ezra Chong (guitar, vocals), Gage Walker (bass), and Noah Mortola (drums) set out to push their musical limits without regard for genre boundaries or audience expectation. For Ascent Effort, the band joined the roster of The Flenser, aligning with a label that has long championed artists who work in tension rather than comfort.

In the past seven years the trio has developed a sound rooted in technical precision and repetition. Drawing from the angular experimentation of underground rock in the 1980s and 1990s alongside elements of jazz, ambient, and progressive music, their compositions are deliberate with intensity. Riffs fracture and reform, rhythms lock into patterns only to break apart, and extended passages build pressure before shifting direction.
Performing regularly in Portland, the band has cultivated an intense and loyal local following. The live setting hardened the material. Songs grew heavier, sharper, more physical through repetition and high volume.

The material that became Ascent Effort was tested on tour before entering the studio. Written largely in sequence, the album traces a period of personal change and internal friction. Growth is not always clean; sometimes it grinds forward. Nothing resolves without cost. Confusion and strain do not sit outside the songs, they shape their architecture. That is what the band has accomplished with Ascent Effort, a work that is not always clean but well-shaped by struggle and growth. The Pacific Northwest lingers in the background of the record, its long winters and brief summers echoing the album’s shifts between abrasion and restraint. Ascent Effort does not offer catharsis in the traditional sense. It allows tension to remain. In that unresolved space, transformation takes form and a band in motion is revealed.

In Sheep’s Clothing announces the long-awaited vinyl pressing of Marc Leclair’s beloved 2005 album Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes. The album will also be available on streaming for the first time via Community Music Group.

For years after Marc Leclair released Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes, he heard from listeners who had lived with the record in an unusually intimate way. Many described how the music became part of the emotional landscape of the months leading to birth. “I never expected that,” Leclair says. “Many women told me they listened to the record throughout their pregnancies. They said it made a real difference, that it helped them. It became more than just a record.”

First issued on CD in the early 2000s, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes (Music for Three Pregnant Women) now returns in a new edition from In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi, appearing on vinyl for the first time as a double LP. The record is being pressed in Detroit at Archer Record Pressing, the historic plant behind deep-groove classics by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Underground Resistance, UR’s Jeff Mills, and J Dilla.

Listeners who know the Montreal-based Leclair through his better-known work as Akufen might be surprised by the tone here. During the same years he was shaping the intricate micro-sampling tracks that made Akufen a cult figure on labels including Perlon, Force Inc. and Trapez, Leclair was quietly developing this far more personal project. The meticulous craftsmanship remained the same, though the focus shifted from the hyper-detailed cut-up rhythms of his dance records toward something slower and more atmospheric. “I always compare my work to a jeweler,” Leclair says. “It’s really very precise. I’m a bit of a detail freak. I can spend hours or days on just one phrase in one song. Everything has to be perfectly put together.”

The project began almost accidentally. A few members of Leclair’s circle became pregnant nearly simultaneously, including one who had long believed she couldn’t conceive. The first track he recorded for the project wasn’t meant to advance a larger concept, he says. “It was meant to highlight the fact that three of my closest friends became pregnant at exactly the same time.”

Leclair was already a father with a three-year-old daughter, so the emotional terrain of early parenthood was familiar. Gradually the idea expanded. “I began thinking, why not make a whole album that celebrates this and also follows the entire pregnancy, the nine months,” he says. The music developed piece by piece, including a track originally commissioned by the Berlin experimental duo Rechenzentrum that would later become the album’s opening movement.

Nearly seven years passed between the first composition and the finished album, and the music mirrors the strange arithmetic of pregnancy itself. What begins as a single idea multiplies outward, sounds layering and branching until the album feels less like a sequence of compositions than a living process unfolding in time. “I work very slowly,” Leclair says. “Everything has to be something I’m completely behind. I never want to rush anything. I want things to come naturally.” Across its 72 minutes, the album blossoms with the patience of a long meditation on time, growth and emergence.

When Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes first appeared via Mutek, it circulated quietly but steadily. Critics who discovered it later recognized its unusual scope. In a 2006 Pitchfork review, Mark Richardson gave the record an 8.1, calling “150e Jour” “an unfailingly gorgeous and tightly sequenced quilt of guitar and piano samples reminiscent of Tangerine Dream,” and describing “85e Jour” as infused with “viscous pop ambient drift, the gauzy synth pads ebbing and flowing with rhythm.” Boomkat described the album as “a majestic opus from a producer that's always promised so much — here delving into a panoramic construction of almost visibly radiant music that works so beautifully through each and every second of its 72 minute lifespan.”

The new In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi edition finally presents the record in the format Leclair long imagined. “I always thought that record deserved a vinyl edition,” he says. Spread across two LPs, the music now has room to unfold at its natural pace. More than twenty years after it first appeared, Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes remains what it was from the start: a carefully shaped meditation on transformation and the quiet miracle of life beginning.

With her third album, composer and bandleader Jasmine Myra has stepped confidently into the next stage of her unique musical explorations. Where Light Settles is a cohesive artistic statement from a distinctive and confident voice in UK music, and a significant evolution from the critically acclaimed Horizons (2022) and Rising (2024). Nine beautiful and powerfully grounded compositions express an accumulation of the artist"s ruminations on life, growth, and progression, powered by her vision of duality. "It"s those bittersweet moments which are heart-breaking but so important. Looking forward and trying to make sense of life," she says. "Pain is unavoidable, and you"ll have hardship no matter what, but you don"t grow or learn about yourself or the world around you without it. The duality is the growth and coming out the other side. I had the concept from the start."

Originally released on Ezekiel Honig's Anticipate label in 2007, Standing on a Hummingbird is the debut album by Canadian sound artist Mark Templeton, now appearing for the first time on vinyl, newly remastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and cut by LUPO. Working at the intersection of post-glitch, electroacoustic ambient, and textural minimalism, Templeton composes through restraint and erosion, building patient and richly tactile pieces primarily from acoustic sources - fingerpicked guitar, plaintive banjo, muted accordion tones - subjected to careful processes of granulation, filtering, and environmental masking. These gestures never overwhelm the source material; instead, they wonderfully destabilize it. Melodies appear briefly, only to dissolve into dense atmospheres of field recordings: distant streets, birds, water, air. Sounds hover, vibrate, and vanish, much like the wing beating latent in the album’s title.

Tracks such as “Pattern For a Pillow” and “Amidst Things Uncontrolled” articulate this approach with particular clarity, setting languid acoustic figures against churning granular backdrops that feel at once sheltering and unstable. Elsewhere, moments of fragile clarity - fluttering guitar lines, reedy accordion tones - briefly break the surface before being absorbed back into the field.

Heard today, the record offers a clarion, almost spartan strain of textural ambient music: intricate yet unforced, shaped by human touch rather than automated excess. Its refusal of spectacle feels especially vital in a landscape saturated with maximalist digitalia - a reminder that electronic music’s most enduring gestures often occur where sound is allowed to tremble and hold itself just long enough to be felt before disappearing once again. (Alex Cobb, 2026)

In 2025, we celebrate 30 years Out Of Line - Three decades of chaos, passion and 0 Years in - Still defiant, still evolving…2026 marks the 30th Anniversary of Massive Ego, and the release of a brand new album: “Symphony Of Flies” is revealed on May 8th, 2026 and marks the band’s first ever vinyl release. Available as Digipak CD and Limited Red Vinyl. Symphony Of Flies is a powerful, defining statement in Massive Ego’s long and uncompromising career, marking not only the band’s 30th anniversary, but also a moment of reckoning, survival and renewal. Across ten tracks, Massive Ego transform personal collapse, recovery and resistance into one of their darkest, most personal and emotional works to date. Musically, the album moves effortlessly between darkwave, electronic rock, EBM, glam-infused bombast and confrontational pop, pairing club-ready intensity with deeply introspective lyricism. Singles such as “In Your Own Darkness”, “Hit The Kerb Running”, “(My) Death Song”, “Man Become Monster”, and “Broken Tomorrow” showcase the band at their most fearless, culminating in a standout collaboration with Boy George, whose presence underscores the album’s themes of endurance, reinvention and personal growth. Lyrically, Symphony Of Flies reads like a confession and a journal. Frontman Marc Massive confronts mental health, betrayal, isolation, and the long climb back from the brink, reframing darkness not as something to romanticise, but something to fight through. The album’s central metaphor, the “Symphony Of Flies,” evokes surveillance, toxicity, decay and transformation: the unseen forces that drain, observe, and attempt to undermine, until they are finally confronted and dispersed. “The worst things that happen to you are the best things that happen to you”

Synopsis: Tsuna, a shy teenager, learns he is destined to become the next mafia boss. Guided by Reborn, a hitman in baby form, he faces countless enemies to protect his friends. Blending humor, action, and personal growth, Hitman Reborn! delivers a unique and thrilling adventure. This album draws on the musical style of quirky Italian mafia films, and includes the main openings and endings from the series.

LA-based producer Real Bad Man and Detroit rapper Boldy James return with their third collaborative album, Conversational Pieces, out now via Real Bad Man Records. The project features the singles “Come Back Around” featuring DC polymath dreamcastmoe, and “It Factor” featuring El-P. Their creative chemistry has never been clearer: this new album sees the duo pushing into fresh sonic territory through an expanded production palette that Real Bad Man continues to evolve and experiment with.

Recorded immediately after their 2022 album Killing Nothing and revisited in 2023 following Boldy’s serious car accident, Conversational Pieces is a deliberate, reflective body of work. It captures two distinct periods in the artists’ lives—documenting their growth as musicians, fathers, and long-time collaborators. The album’s artwork, along with the accompanying single art, draws inspiration from Rorschach inkblot tests—abstract visuals that invite interpretation and spark conversation, mirroring the album’s introspective nature.

Courtney Marie Andrews has long been celebrated as an artist who challenges herself, and who finds new interplays of Folk and Americana.. Also a vivid poet and accomplished painter, she brings a multidisciplinary richness to her work that shines throughout her 9th studio album, Valentine. Co-produced with Jerry Bernhardt and recorded almost entirely to tape, the album features complete in-studio performances that prize raw performance rather than perfection. It is Andrews’s most sonically explorative record thus far – she plays flute, high strung guitars, myriad synths, and draws heavy inspiration from her art outside of music. Her voice is gorgeous and acrobatic always, but on Valentine it finds a new depth, an assertiveness that brings new dimension to its biggest anthems and its softest moments. Written during a period of profound endings and new beginnings, Valentine is a vulnerable exploration of love vs. limerence. While anticipating the imminent loss of a loved one who would eventually recover, a new but uncertain romance began to develop. Rather than lift her up, the two emotional poles seemed to bleed into each other to sow doubt, trouble, even obsession. But through her own exploration of music and art, Andrews found a way to grow stronger inside this feeling. “I didn’t want to slink into my pain, I wanted to embrace it, own it” she says. The songs that emerged are devotional in their lyrics but defiant in their energy; it’s the very sound of a woman standing in her first wisdom. With Valentine, Andrews rejects the objectification of love, the love filled with gestures and objects instead of trust, mess, and growth. In doing so, she delivers her most beautiful and loving album to date.

With the Hormesis EP, Alric Aerial explores the delicate threshold between pressure and growth. The title a reference to the biological phenomenon where stress triggers a positive adaptation serves as the conceptual foundation for a sound born from deep introspection.

It is a testament to the idea that resilience is not just about enduring, but about evolving through the friction.

In his productions, Alric Aerial weaves together personal and cultural fragments, bridging the echoes of his heritage (Tales From The Desert Part II) with a conscious departure from familiar scenes and habits (Good To Be Gone). This work marks a natural evolution a shift from the noise of the outside world toward a more refined, intentional focus in the studio.

The tracks strike a balance between "dirty" authenticity and infectious, groovy basslines. From driving, straight-forward rhythms to melodic leads, the work shifts between cinematic tension and uncompromising momentum. Especially in the title track, Hormesis, Alric’s vision culminates in the transformation of fragmentation into energy. The music invites the listener to find a new kind of presence within the act of disappearing to get lost in the pulse, only to emerge more resilient.

Ella Langley, who has redefined the next wave of country music with her magnetic, unmistakable voice, and fearless songwriting, has announced her highly anticipated sophomore album Dandelion, out April 10 on SAWGOD/Columbia Records. Co-produced by Ella, Miranda Lambert and Ben West, this 18-track album, which features her #5 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Choosin’ Texas,” is one about growth, and carries a deeper symbolism of hope, healing, and resilience. In Ella’s own words: "I've thought about this record every single day for the last year and a half, and I'm so excited to finally say: 'Welcome to Dandelion.’"

Broadside has never been a band to stay in one place for too long—musically or otherwise. The Richmond, Virginia-based band has spent the past decade carving out their own space in the pop rock scene. Drawing influence from The Killers, AFI, Kings of Leon, and Taking Back Sunday, their sound seamlessly fuses nostalgic rock energy with a fresh, modern edge. Their evolution has been nothing short of remarkable, taking them from underground favorites to genre staples, all while embracing the idea that growth and change are not just inevitable but necessary. With Oliver Baxxter (vocals), Domenic Reid (guitar), and Patrick Diaz (bass/backup vocals) at the helm, Broadside has built a career on crafting music that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable.

Their last full-length album, Hotel Bleu, served as a bold chapter in their story, using the transient nature of hotel stays as a metaphor for self-reflection, fleeting moments, and personal reinvention. The album marked a significant milestone in their career, amassing over 100 million streams and standing as their boldest, brightest, and most ambitious work to date. Now, as they prepare to enter their next era, the band is gearing up to release their most dynamic music yet, continuing to evolve while staying true to the energy and authenticity that first captivated listeners.

Broadside has never been a band to stay in one place for too long—musically or otherwise. The Richmond, Virginia-based band has spent the past decade carving out their own space in the pop rock scene. Drawing influence from The Killers, AFI, Kings of Leon, and Taking Back Sunday, their sound seamlessly fuses nostalgic rock energy with a fresh, modern edge. Their evolution has been nothing short of remarkable, taking them from underground favorites to genre staples, all while embracing the idea that growth and change are not just inevitable but necessary.

With Oliver Baxxter (vocals), Domenic Reid (guitar), and Patrick Diaz (bass/backup vocals) at the helm, Broadside has built a career on crafting music that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable. Their last full-length album, Hotel Bleu, served as a bold chapter in their story, using the transient nature of hotel stays as a metaphor for self-reflection, fleeting moments, and personal reinvention. The album marked a significant milestone in their career, amassing over 100 million streams and standing as their boldest, brightest, and most ambitious work to date. Now, as they prepare to enter their next era, the band is gearing up to release their most dynamic music yet, continuing to evolve while staying true to the energy and authenticity that first captivated listeners.

The Portland, ME trio returns with Feels Like Hell, their most self-assured and emotionally charged record yet. Despite the title, the album is a celebration of personal growth, creative freedom, and defiant joy in the face of a chaotic world.

Coming off the burnout and frustration captured in their 2021 album Quitter, Feels Like Hell finds Sonia Sturino (vocals/guitar), Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals), and Adam Hand (drums) leaning into clarity, gratitude, and renewed purpose. Sturino’s lyrics are as raw and honest as ever, but now they reflect strength rather than despair. It’s an album that drags existential dread into the daylight and sets it on fire.

“I decided to stop being such a sad-sap negative person,” Sturino says. “Now I practice being grateful, being proud, being happy, and not being envious.” That mindset shift shapes the tone of Feels Like Hell, which looks at darkness but chooses not to be consumed by it.

The record also marks the band’s first foray into co-writing, with Hoffman playing a significant role in shaping its sound. Embracing a more intuitive recording process, the trio stripped back the excess and focused on what felt right. The result is a record that’s resilient, cathartic, and brimming with creative energy.

While the world may still feel like it’s falling apart, Feels Like Hell pulses with the power of letting go. Letting go of fear, of perfectionism, of the illusion that vulnerability is weakness. With driving guitars, unflinching lyrics, and a renewed sense of purpose, Weakened Friends prove that it’s possible to stand in the wreckage and still find something worth singing about.

Specs: Wrapped in shrink, DL code, insert with liner notes

"Music in DNA" is an album recorded in the early 1980s in New York City by Yasuhito Ohno, a young Japanese man breaking free from the constraints of his homeland. The album is a naive burst of outsider DIY enthusiasm, inspired by the multiple avant-garde movements of the era, in music, painting and performance, as well as the native energy of 80s NYC. Ohno channeled his youthful “edge” and zeal into open-minded lo-fi musical explorations using a mere two machines: the then-new technological glories of a four-track cassette recorder and that polyphonic synthesizer masterpiece, the Roland Juno-60; on several pieces he vocalizes. These seven tracks have a zestful, innocent, anything-goes charm, free from preciousness and self-consciousness: a raw and youthful human spirit at play in a new world. Ohno was also inspired by the humanistic promise of the general technological developments of the day, including DNA research, personal computing, and early computer graphics, an example of which can be found on the cover. Ohno later returned to Japan, becoming a renowned composer/producer. In an era of jaded cynicism, "Music in DNA" is a welcome taste of big-hearted innocence, a revival of a raw self. Available on CD/LP/Digital, with E/J liner notes.

When you notice the cheerful mystery playing with the synths, the edges of this small world start to look slightly distorted. In any era, someone is always creating mysterious music on their own. (7FO)

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Music in DNA is an album recorded in the early 1980s in New York City by Yasuhito Ohno, a young Japanese man breaking free from the constraints of his homeland. The album is a naive burst of outsider DIY enthusiasm, inspired by the multiple avant-garde movements of the era, in music, painting and performance, as well as the native energy of 80s NYC. Ohno channeled his youthful "edge" and zeal into open-minded lo-fi musical explorations using a mere two machines: the then-new technological glories of a four-track cassette recorder and that polyphonic synthesizer masterpiece, the Roland Juno-60; on several pieces he vocalizes. These seven tracks have a zestful, innocent, anything-goes charm, free from preciousness and self-consciousness: a raw and youthful human spirit at play in a new world. Ohno was also inspired by the humanistic promise of the general technological developments of the day, including DNA research, personal computing, and early computer graphics, an example of which can be found on the cover. Ohno later returned to Japan, becoming a renowned composer/producer. In an era of jaded cynicism, Music in DNA is a welcome taste of big-hearted innocence, a revival of a raw self. Available on CD/LP/Digital, with E/J liner notes.

MYRYRS3 presents a calculated compilation of cuts pulled from a variety of styles and backgrounds for their third and largest release to date. Having been quiet on the release front since 2023, this collection sets a calibrated tone for a label in its growth stage. Comprising present, esoteric, and regional techno expressions. Remaining grounded in their cultivation of a space where dancefloors and artistic endeavours share conversation, this release opens the room to an array of talent who approach the idea from varying angles of the dancefloor.

A Pandora's box of modern and daring ideas awaits inside MYRYRS3.

Special Friend have become the masters of weaving elegant and sophisticated pop musical webs while staying true to their low-fi indiepop roots. The French/American duo (Guillaume on guitar and vocals, Erica on drums and vocals) manage to create a sound like no other band. When they play live, audiences marvel at the huge, intricate structures the band construct, while falling in love with the crystal-clear vocal melodies that are threaded in between the shards of guitar and the rattle of the drums. How can a duo achieve so much? UK audiences will be able to ponder this question in March: Special Friend are coming over from France to do a substantial tour of the UK. These shows are highly recommended!
The new album is more diverse that the last, with the high-tempo indiepop of first single ‘Breakfast’, the majestic, Yo La Tengo-like dreampop of ‘Clipping’ and the country-ish, gentle, homesick melancholy of ‘Isolation’. Final track ‘OOO’ is a bold piece of Krautrock-inspired experimentation; ‘Mold’ is a beautiful slice of slowcore and opener ‘Paint A Picture’ is modern pop at its catchiest and most direct.

‘Clipping’, the album title, refers to the discipline of pruning growth back, removing dead wood to create a perfectly shaped tree with abundant blossoms: an accurate description of the album, and of the songs that hang from its elegant branches. The album artwork is by Erica: Special Friend are in control of every aspect of this elegant artefact.
‘Clipping’ was recorded in 2025 at Studio Claudio by Alexis Fugain and Margaux Bouchaudon. Set in an isolated rural environment conducive to immersion, the band had seven days in the studio—significantly more than for previous records—allowing for greater care in the recording process, particularly for vocals and arrangements. Several tracks feature synthesizers and organs, acoustic guitar, and even an electric bass on “Sanctuary,” a first for Special Friend. Overall, the record benefits from a more developed and detailed production while preserving the band’s direct approach and spontaneity.

The album was mixed by Syd Kemp, who has worked with artists such as Thurston Moore, Ulrika Spacek, Caroline, Crack Cloud, and Vanishing Twin.
Special Friend’s previous album on Skep Wax, ‘Wait Until The Flames Come Rushing In’ was an underground hit, with a significant amount of airplay in the UK and in the US.
‘Clipping’ is a co-release with Howlin Banana Records and Hidden Bay Records (both in France). Skep Wax is proud to present the album in the UK and in North America.

Rooted in modern blues but unafraid to stretch beyond tradition, the record crackles with grit, groove, and lived- in emotion, presenting an artist who isn't waiting for answers, he's moving forward without them. Across the album, Stillman digs deep into themes of self-reckoning, loss, pride, and renewal.

Songs wrestle openly with identity, shame, and hard- earned perspective, balancing moments of vulnerability with sharp wit and raw confidence. Whether confronting inner demons or finding humor in heartbreak, the writing feels honest and unfiltered, anchored by soulful vocals and muscular musicianship . What Happens Next? is an album about growth through motion-- accepting change, facing consequences, and choosing momentum over fear. High- energy, emotionally grounded, and deeply human, it marks a defining step forward for Gabe Stillman , capturing an artist fully stepping into his voice and daring the listener to do the same.

For our first EP and 12", we're joined by Italian sound artist and long-time Goodness friend Yraki for 5 tracks of sonic hypnosis on a bass-heavy theme: ‘Tendril’ is meditative future-techno meticulously constructed through an experimental, high-poly lens.

Detailed, tactile sound design with deep, hypnotic momentum, it shapeshifts between stripped-back bass pressure and elastic, experimental flow in one costant, evolving, unravelling thread.

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The shadowed interstice between root and circuit, Tendrils creep through soil and signal alike, tracing patterns unseen, carrying memory and mutation. Time folds in layers of sediment and data; decay becomes growth, fracture becomes connection.

Tendrils are the pulse of the unseen, a meditation on growth, entropy, and the uncanny geometry of becoming.

POD & Edward Richards return with their second release on Kinetic Vision, the ‘Polar Phase’ EP, following their much lauded ‘SQZR’ EP. A landmark release for the label, ‘Polar Phase’ marks the first of a series of records to come. Set at a tempo of 100 BPM, the duo mix minimalism, broken beats, world music percussion and psychedelic synths to weave a tapestry of darkness, albeit more zen than melancholy.

The opening track ‘Mind Machine’ is propelled by a broken beat and flurry of hard hitting snares. A swirl of synths abound while a tribal incantation is whispered in the dark. The title track ‘Polar Phase’ takes us on a pulsing journey of techno hypnotism, with icy synths threatening deep underwater immersion. The B side ‘Flux Growth’ elicits an obscure playfulness with its punctuated kick and slowly building chaos. Finally the Sub Basics remix of ‘ Polar Phase’ lifts the tempo and we find ourselves in a bliss of pure dancefloor hedonism.

POD & Edward Richards have crafted a rich textural sound with slow paced hypnotic grooves, creating deep absorption for both DJ and listener alike.

Pick a Piper is a Toronto-based electronica duo featuring Caribou drummer Brad Weber and vocalist–songwriter Sophia Alexandra. Their music pairs catchy, ethereal vocals with warm synths, upbeat percussion, and a distinctive sense of sound design that feels both grounded and vulnerable.
The duo’s live show is an intoxicating blend of vibrant physicality and immersive lights and visuals, creating an experience that is both danceable and hypnotic. Pulsing with momentum, vocally driven and haunting, it radiates a charisma that unites the band and audience in cathartic release.
Their new album "Dandelion", explores how we exist in the space between opposing feelings while calling for resilience and the courage to recognize that growth is possible and inherently beautiful, even in life’s most difficult experiences. The record employs skippy beats, bass-heavy kicks, warm subs, hyperactive percussion, woozy synths and organic textures, delivered with a lovingly human-curated feel.
Pick a Piper has toured across Europe, the US, Canada, Guatemala, and Colombia, and has shared the bill with Bonobo, Gold Panda, Blue Hawaii, Do Make Say Think and Ghetto Kumbe.

Caleb Caudle’s body of work is shaped from the ground up. His artistry has emerged through endurance and the steady momentum of a life in motion, carrying him from small stages in the North Carolina foothills he calls home, all the way to the Grand Ole Opry. Now, Caudle is entering a pivotal chapter – one of a profound culmination where life and art converge in powerful ways. The recent discovery that he and his wife are going to be first-time parents has added a new perspective, full of the responsibility and wonder that welcoming a child into the world brings. On his new album, Heavy Thrill, this personal evolution mirrors his artistic journey. He takes full creative control, self producing for the first time while recording at the storied Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tenn., where reverence for tradition meets his singular artistic vision.

Repress. "Across its rather considerable span, II demonstrates there's still room for growth in the realm of post-Colour Haze heavy psych, and more than the debut, Weedpecker leave an individual impression here in songs like "Reality Fades" and the peaceful, patient closer, "Already Gone," tapping into Elder-style riffing on "Flowering Dimensions" as they did the first time out, but elsewhere taking on a similar low-key mindset that drove Sungrazer's second LP toward such expansive jamming. They can be quite heavy at times!" - JJ Koczan

Repress. Highlighter yellow vinyl, limited to 300 copies. "Across its rather considerable span, II demonstrates there's still room for growth in the realm of post-Colour Haze heavy psych, and more than the debut, Weedpecker leave an individual impression here in songs like "Reality Fades" and the peaceful, patient closer, "Already Gone," tapping into Elder-style riffing on "Flowering Dimensions" as they did the first time out, but elsewhere taking on a similar low-key mindset that drove Sungrazer's second LP toward such expansive jamming. They can be quite heavy at times!" - JJ Koczan

Joe Allotta's solo project (drummer, composer, and singer) was born from his need for freedom of expression after numerous experiences
as a session musician for artists such as Davide Shorty, Johnny Marsiglia, Funk Shui Project, Mario Biondi, Leburn Maddox, Giles Robson,
Amy True, and Imaani (Incognito).
His compositions embody the desire to make jazz, in its various forms and influences, accessible to the widest possible audience without sacrificing the impact of an engaging and captivating live performance.
Joe Allotta blends hip hop, funk, and drum 'n' bass with contemporary jazz, perfectly blending vocals with his performances. He combines
his rhythmic exploration with a sweet and surprising voice, capable of lending further emotional depth to his music.
"Transition" is a musical journey that reflects a life in constant motion, where everything seems fleeting, fast, and fleeting, immersed in the
frenetic rhythms that surround us every day. The title also encompasses a more intimate dimension: the growth of his artistic identity. Joe is
no longer just a drummer and composer, but also a singer. His intense and surprising voice intertwines with his drumming in a continuous
dialogue, opening up new expressive possibilities and adding further depth to his musical language.
The album was produced in the studios of the Sghetto Club in Bologna, where Joe, together with his producer Jacopo Trapani, spent weeks
researching and experimenting: rehearsing, playing, processing and synthesizing sounds, developing and arranging ideas, thanks also to
the collaboration of extraordinary musicians. The result is a work that blends instinct and research, intimacy and openness, movement and
transformation: exactly what Transition aims to convey.
CREDITS
Giuseppe "Joe" Allotta: Compositions, Vocals, Drums, Bass, Keyboards
Jacopo Trapani: Compositions, Recording, Mixing
Chicco Allotta: Piano (Track 1)
Giovanni Galdo: Bass (Track 1)
Riccardo Dalle Vedove: Trombone (Track 1)
Piergiorgio Perrella: Guitar (Tracks 2, 5, 8, 9)
Elijah Lee Last Jacinto: Piano (Track 6)
Matteo Diego Scarcella: Sax (Track 6) Francesco Brini: Master

Born in East London to Jamaican parents, 28 year old Tiana Major9 was immersed in music from an early age, influenced by jazz, praise and worship, and the neo-soul sounds of Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. Their journey into music saw debut releases establishing their soulful voice as one of the UK's most enticing, featuring with Stormzy, Bryson Tiller, Smino and Unknown T, support slots with Victoria Monet, Jazmine Sullivan and Adele as well as a GRAMMY nomination for "Collide" from the Queen & Slim soundtrack. After two years of self-discovery, Tiana is set to release their long-awaited debut album in 2025; a rich tapestry of love, loss, and growth, recorded in LA, the UK, and Jamaica, filled with luxurious melodies, featherlight floating production and raw, grounded storytelling. As a queer Black femme artist, Tiana reclaims the term "diva" on the project, embracing it with pride in the spirit of icons like Beyoncé and Whitney Houston, and approaches this next chapter with a focus on classic artistry, longevity, and self-expression

LP, Green Slime Vinyl

The Portland, ME trio returns with Feels Like Hell, their most self-assured and emotionally charged record yet. Despite the title, the album is a celebration of personal growth, creative freedom, and defiant joy in the face of a chaotic world.

Coming off the burnout and frustration captured in their 2021 album Quitter, Feels Like Hell finds Sonia Sturino (vocals/guitar), Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals), and Adam Hand (drums) leaning into clarity, gratitude, and renewed purpose. Sturino’s lyrics are as raw and honest as ever, but now they reflect strength rather than despair. It’s an album that drags existential dread into the daylight and sets it on fire.

“I decided to stop being such a sad-sap negative person,” Sturino says. “Now I practice being grateful, being proud, being happy, and not being envious.” That mindset shift shapes the tone of Feels Like Hell, which looks at darkness but chooses not to be consumed by it.

The record also marks the band’s first foray into co-writing, with Hoffman playing a significant role in shaping its sound. Embracing a more intuitive recording process, the trio stripped back the excess and focused on what felt right. The result is a record that’s resilient, cathartic, and brimming with creative energy.

While the world may still feel like it’s falling apart, Feels Like Hell pulses with the power of letting go. Letting go of fear, of perfectionism, of the illusion that vulnerability is weakness. With driving guitars, unflinching lyrics, and a renewed sense of purpose, Weakened Friends prove that it’s possible to stand in the wreckage and still find something worth singing about.

Maurice “Mobetta” Brown has always thrived at the crossroads—between jazz and hip-hop, improvisation and songcraft, trumpet and microphone. With Betta Days, the Grammy-winning trumpeter, composer, and MC sharpens his genre-bending vision into one of his most dynamic statements yet.

The album plays like a conversation between worlds: lush horn arrangements sit beside hard-hitting beats, verses weave seamlessly through melodies, and Brown’s trumpet leads with equal parts fire and finesse. A student of jazz tradition who came up in Chicago’s storied scene, he’s since expanded his reach into hip-hop and soul, collaborating with icons like Aretha Franklin, Santigold, Talib Kweli, and Anderson .Paak. Betta Days captures the spirit of all those influences while standing firmly in Mobetta’s lane.

At its core, Betta Days is about resilience and growth—finding light even in heavy times. The songs carry a message of pushing forward, fuelled by the energy of community and the joy of creation. Whether he’s delivering sharp verses or soaring trumpet lines, Maurice Mobetta Brown reminds listeners that the future is wide open, and that better (or Betta) days are always ahead.

Two years after their debut on Berlin-based Mannequin Records, Parisian duo Leroy Se Meurt returns with their second full-length album, Hier Pour Toujours. Far from any sense of nostalgia, this record offers no illusion of hope—history repeats itself, the future looks bleak, and their brand of electronic punk is the perfect soundtrack to it all.Drum machines dictate the pace while synths saturate the space, looping sequences grind relentlessly, and vocals lead this machine orchestra straight into the heart of the chaos. Drawing from their roots, Leroy Se Meurt pushes their fierce electronics further than ever—experimenting with bold slogans, spoken passages, and powerful sing-along choruses.The album opens with Pas Ma Croix, a commanding anthem built for the stage. It flows into Du Plafond à La Terre, driven by a monstrous electro beat and bassline, flirting with emotional vulnerability in its chorus before exploding into a synth solo. Alevlere Karşı once again taps into the duo’s EBM-meets-Turkish vocals signature style, hitting the mark with dancefloor precision.The title track, Hier Pour Toujours, closes side A with a more intimate, drumless moment—solemn but no less intense.That brief calm is shattered by Déviance, marking the return of guitars and an eruptive chorus brimming with raw energy. From there, the album launches into the furious Révolte Ardente, with its syncopated rhythm and vocals drenched in distortion, and continues with Pro Déclin, a stripped-down rhythmic skeleton carrying anti-growth mantras straight to the point. In a world clouded by confusion, the most direct messages often land the hardest.For a change of scenery, Fütürsüz dives into John Carpenter-esque territory—no drums, eerie night-streaked synths, and, for the first time in the band’s history, nearly clean vocals.Closing the record, Encore crawls at a BPM so slow it’s nearly in reverse. But what it lacks in speed, it makes up for in weight—a crushing incantation capable of toppling sound systems.With Hier Pour Toujours, Leroy Se Meurt isn’t offering optimism, but rather persistence. Nothing is settled yet—and perhaps, just perhaps—there’s still light at the end of the tunnel.

This album is about growth... Living and learning, having fun, wordplay, heartbreak, and moving on. Flashes in the dark is pretty much a testament to what can be done with two turntables and a mic to create something different yet brilliant in the hip hop space. The album also shows maturity and a certain vulnerability not being expressed by a lot of other artists at this time.
There is so much going on in the world and this album is J Scienide's expression of what was going on in his world during the time of recording. "As soon as I got beats from Giallo if I was up in the wee hours of the night, I was writing and recording. To me this album shows that even in the darkest hours there's always flashes of brilliance that shine through".

This album is about growth... Living and learning, having fun, wordplay, heartbreak, and moving on. Flashes in the dark is pretty much a testament to what can be done with two turntables and a mic to create something different yet brilliant in the hip hop space. The album also shows maturity and a certain vulnerability not being expressed by a lot of other artists at this time.
There is so much going on in the world and this album is J Scienide's expression of what was going on in his world during the time of recording. "As soon as I got beats from Giallo if I was up in the wee hours of the night, I was writing and recording. To me this album shows that even in the darkest hours there's always flashes of brilliance that shine through".

"An Eternity Still" delves into the theme of closure, capturing the emotional journey of closing one chapter and beginning another. It evokes a stirring blend of nostalgia and the need to move forward, balancing bright memories with the desire for growth and new challenges.

For this project, Vanity Productions' Christian Stadsgaard teamed up with close collaborators Emma Acs and Malthe Fischer, who joined in the compositional process. While the album maintains Stadsgaard's signature melancholia, it also introduces a fresh sonic palette, incorporating vocals and guitar alongside the project's hallmark broken electronics and dark, evocative melodies.

The Album also features remixes by acclaimed artists Farzané and Ireen Amnes, further enriching the album's collaborative spirit and adding new dimensions to its haunting soundscapes.

With WHERE IS MY HEAD?, his first full-length album since 2019, Indonesian-born artist Rich Brian redefines success on his own terms. No longer chasing hits, he turns inward — creating the most vulnerable and honest music of his career. The result is a cohesive, deeply personal body of work that strengthens his bond with an ever-growing fanbase. Brian handled most of the production himself, shaping an analog-forward sound rooted in his self-taught mastery of synthesizers and keyboards. He sings more than ever before, with a newfound confidence and maturity that signals real artistic growth. WHERE IS MY HEAD? isn’t just a return — it’s a revelation. Each track answers one central question: how can I make art that truly makes me happy? To visually explore this feeling of self-reflection, the album introduces two versions of Brian — a MAESTRO who scores music for the dreams of MOVIE BRIAN, who exists unaware inside the world the Maestro has created. This surreal, introspective concept is brought to life through a series of cinematic music videos and visualizers, all directed by Jared Hogan, expanding the depth of the album into a fully realized narrative world.

Greywind is an Irish emo/alternative rock duo from Killarney, formed by siblings Steph and Paul O’Sullivan. Known for their atmospheric soundscapes, soaring melodies, and deeply emotive lyrics, the band first gained attention with their critically acclaimed debut album Afterthoughts in 2017. Blending post-hardcore energy with cinematic grandeur, Greywind quickly earned a devoted following, praised for their anthemic choruses and powerful emotional honesty. Their long-awaited sophomore album, Severed Heart City, was recorded in Los Angeles with acclaimed producer Sam Guaiana and is set for release via Frontiers Label Group in September 2025. The record showcases the band’s continued growth both sonically and thematically — evolving their signature blend of brooding textures and explosive hooks into something even more dynamic and expressive. From the haunting opener Acid Rain to the cathartic closer Cope in the Coma, Severed Heart City is a visceral, emotionally resonant journey. Themes of mental health, inner conflict, and fragile hope run throughout, elevated by Steph’s impassioned vocal delivery and Paul’s gripping guitar work. With Severed Heart City, Greywind cements their place as one of the most compelling and authentic voices in modern alt-rock. This is a band that turns vulnerability into power — and pain into unforgettable songs