Поиск:se

New album by FLOCKS, the duo of drone specialist WERNER DURAND and percussionist ULI HOHMANN. Musical landscapes that move between traditional as well as experimental sounds with influences from Krautrock and JON HASSELL's "fourth world" aesthetics.

WERNER DURAND has made himself a name with various projects with Dhrupad singer AMELIA CHRISTIANSEN, DAVID CHRISTER HENNIX, as the co-founder of THE 13th TRIBE, ARMCHAIR TRAVELLER and TONALIENS (with ROBIN HAYWARD and HILARY JEFFERY) plus numerous solo albums, released on labels like Black Truffle, Unseen Worlds or Edition Telemark. Having studied saxophone as well as Indian / Persian flutes, the Berlin based DURAND is a highly reputated protagonist in the drone scene, famous for his self-built wind instruments like buzz-clarinets or his PVC neys & horns.

His partner in FLOCKS (and longtime personal friend) is ULI HOHMANN whose early encounters with music from Asia, India and Africa led to studies with the Ghanaian master drummer MUSTAPHA TETTEY ADDY and later Tombak and Daf with NEMAD DARMAN (Iran). HOHMANN played in a couple of projects that explored the language of classical Persian music, and started building his own stringed instruments (being an educated carpenter). In 2014 he joined DURAND and AMELIA CUNI for the album "Clearing", and 2018 DURAND and HOHMANN decided to con- tinue as a duo: FLOCKS was born.

On “Lagoon”, the duo further explores the aesthetics it has crafted on its selftitled debut (2023, on the now defunct ZEHRA imprint): DURAND and HOHMANN shape drone-y soundscapes based on their self-built wind- & stringed instruments, Persian percussion and subtle electronics, drawing ad- ditional inspiration from Krautrock (listen to the irresistible, hypnotique, ever-changing rhythmic pattern of the title track) as well as JON

180g

Our very first release on the label back in 2018. We are always being asked if we will repress it again, and now we have. But this time it's slightly different to our first pressings - for this repress we took the original DAT rips to Dapz at Compound Audio for him to master. And then those masters were shipped to Beau at Ten Eight Seven Mastering. So now this release is audibly similar to our other releases over the past 8 years - and in turn the label has been updated. So for those collector headz out there, it'll always be apparent which pressing this one is.

For decades, Dan Penn’s mid 60s Muscle Shoals demos were the Holy Grail among southern soul fans, feted by the likes of Rick Hall and Jerry Wexler as being better than the hit versions. When they finally became accessible to all, 40-plus years after they were recorded, they turned out to be just as good as had been stated.

Further acclaim awaits the recent discovery by Soul-4-Real of two more demo masterpieces, written and performed by Dan and Spooner Oldham while working in Memphis at American Studio in 1967-68. The tape box shows who they were intended for, and it’s a real shame that James Carr never recorded either as both would have been perfect for him. At least we got to hear fine versions of “Cheaters Never Win” from Tony Borders and Bobby Boseman in due course. The lovely “I’m Believing In You” seems to exist only in the version you hear here.

New ‘old’ music from Dan is always worth hearing and having. These wonderful performances are no exception…

Mutual Rytm welcomes new school tastemakers Klint and Hemka to sub-label Versus for imprint’s second drop. SHDW’s Mutual Rytm welcomes back two standout label alumnus for the second edition of Versus, a newly-launched conceptual sub-label focused around two artists whose sound works individually and in unity. Hemka made an impressive and well-received debut with her full solo EP back in 2025, while Klint appeared on ‘Federation of Rytm IV’. Both artists hail from France, and have crafted a well-earned reputation for their own distinctive approaches to sound design - pairing locked in grooves with cosmic synth escapes. Across the EP, each artist delivers three individual takes on techno to make for an essential collection of high-end cuts, exploring the label’s ethos of creative symbiosis between two artists on one shared release. Klint’s tracks lean towards minimal yet highly effective, dance floor-focused DJ tools, starting with the lithe, stripped back menace of ‘Prism’, before the sparse eeriness of ‘Dobermann’ keeps you looking over your shoulder while remaining trapped in the groove. Third cut ‘Romance’ is more bold and muscular, with contoured drums and icy pads ramping up the tension and energy. Hemka then dives deeper into a hypnotic and anthemic direction while introducing her own voice into the mix. ‘Leave It’ is textured, percussive deep techno with shadowy whispers, while ‘Breathe’ has a dark, grinning undercurrent and scintillating snares fluttering over the drums. ‘Mindness’ then pairs spoken word atmospherics with taught drum pressure and an ethereal backlit glow. In addition, Klint's digital only cuts ‘1112’ and ‘Blue’ marry minimal synths with meticulously defined drums that hit hard, while Hemka's ‘Push’ is an anxious percussive trip, contrasting with the introspective emotional core of ‘Live To Tell’.

A friend of mine told me he had visited the place that Cancer House live and record.He said they jammed together all afternoon. In the moment, in the zone so to speak,he became more and more convinced that what they were making together was thebest music he had ever been involved with. As the afternoon drifted by, second byrevelatory second, he began making grandiose plans to release the recording. By the timeit was dark outside the windows he imagined it as a future lost classic, a key livedocument of a scene, a moment and an aesthetic. He thought about all the recordshe loved. He thought about the great, little known, statements of lo-fi, downer indie:dark, sweet, crawling guitar music by bands like Farewood, Bedhead, UN, orThe Sonora Pine. He could even picture the sleeve down to the last detail.

The session ended and as they were all packing up he asked about the recording.And someone said ‘oh, we weren’t recording.’ ”- Jack Rollo

Sirens" resonate a lot in 2026. "Sirens" are everywhere right now, in the many fields of the human reign, sounding at its highest level ever... Pioneering Swiss DJ and electronic music producer Ripperton joins forces with Berlin-based singer, composer and passionate aural storyteller Joy Frempong (OY) to create a beautiful and deeply moving piece of electronic music. And after three years in the making, “Sirens” finally emerges. The roots of this collaboration however reach back more than a decade. Around 2010, Ripperton first encountered Joy’s first album with Oy after hearing it on Swiss national radio Couleur 3. Shortly after, he saw her playing live — a moment he describes as pure magic. So inspired, Ripperton approached her label with a request to remix her music. The label agreed, and in exchange, Joy promised to feature on one of his future productions. What began as a mutual artistic gesture quietly planted a seed and eventually, pretty much fifteen years later, that seed has fully grown. “Sirens” began as one of Ripperton’s nocturnal modular jams — exploring and playing around with pulsating sequences, pure analogue sound textures and fluid, hypnotic structures. The track was then elevated to an entirely new level by Joy Frempong’s deep, evocative lyrics and her celestial voice, transforming the song into something haunting and profoundly human. The song also grew on a shared work ethos rooted in patience, trust and refinement. A slow process, shaped by intuition and feeling rather than pressure. Listening over noise. The result is an emotionally charged composition that blurs the line between inner reflection and collective awareness — a sonic response to the sirens of our time.

Quotes: Laurent Garnier: “This is lovelyyyyy * “ Aera: “Love it! A brooding masterpiece. Simple yet multilayered, the real action is happening beyond the surface.” Acid Pauli: "This is really special. Like it a lot." Kalabrese: "Wonderful collaboration between two outstanding artists. Fresh sounds, deeper rauschen, beautiful vocals, hypnotic tribe. a bliss!” Vladimir Ivcovic: "Das ist so gut, aufrichtig, rein und kommt zum richtigen Zeitpunkt. Die Abwesenheit von Hysterie. Ich liebe es. Downcast Euphoria of the highest order und gerade. In der Tat wunderschön. Besonders Clouds Mix, gerade."

The programm with a personality, It will get on all your discs.
It will infiltrate your brains.

Yes it's (malware) bizzarre!

It will stick to you like glue and it will modify reality, to send in the bizzarre.

Vita Noctis is a curious Belgian formation that, in a more experimental vein, recorded two cassette tapes featuring a dark and distorted sound blending industrial with minimal, darkwave, and synthpop. Active during the 1980s, they remained inactive for many years until Dark Entries Records revived their work in 2011, releasing recordings created between 1984 and 1986. This encouraged Kris and Martine, the current members of the band, to continue the legacy of Vita Noctis by creating new music.

This EP is a selection of tracks created by Vita Noctis from the 2000s onwards. It includes songs that have never been released before, such as “Betrail,” an extended version of the song “Engaged,” along with other tracks that will appear on vinyl for the first time, marking the first release of Casual Strippers Rubicon Records. Also the EP comes with an insert featuring an image of Vita Noctis printed on yellow paper.

Hope you enjoy!

Little Beat More welcomes a new 7” from Conjunto Media Luna, a release that moves along the deep axis connecting Colombia and Mexico where cumbia mutates, and projects itself into new dimensions.
On the A-side, “Kumbia Tequendama” sees the group joined by rebajada pioneer Amantes del Futuro, a key figure in shaping the futuristic vision of cumbia across generations and geographies. Born between Mérida, Medellín, and the legendary Mambo Negro studios in Bogotá, the track reflects years of friendship and shared sonic research. Hypnotic accordion lines intertwine with dense low-end pressure, channeling an energy rooted in tradition but fully tuned to the present, built for dancefloors, sound systems, and the growing decentralized community of modern cumbia.
On the flip side, French producer La Dame reshapes “No es Moda”, originally featuring La Terrorista del Sabor, into a forward-leaning DnB and Future Bass reinterpretation. Faster, sharper, and more weightless, the remix opens a new perspective on the original while preserving its nocturnal spirit and emotional depth.
The artwork is signed by Bogotá’s own Mateo Rivano, whose unmistakable visual language has defined the aesthetic of some of the most visionary projects in contemporary cumbia.
Part of the wider sonic universe of Sociedad Internacional de la Kumbia, Conjunto Media Luna’s upcoming album, this 7” captures the group’s ongoing exploration of cumbia as a shared space, where distance disappears, traditions remain in motion, and new frequencies emerge from collective memory.


Made with Love by Little Beat More 2026
“We Dance We Think”

Different strokes for different folks. The celebrative 11-track 'xoxo' compilation, originally pressed as a 3xLP, is now also available as three separate EPs. On EP 1, Legowelt lures you in with Bos Ochtend Mist, before Aurora Halal's deep chords on Spiral send you ascending. Antenna's Break Flute shifts the pace and prints a ghostly image on your retina, and SFV Acid rolls the credits with UrbanFury128, a groover that goes down smooth.

Different strokes for different folks. The celebrative 11-track 'xoxo' compilation, originally pressed as a 3xLP, is now also available as three separate EPs. No pussyfootin' on EP 2. M.S.L.'s Hydrolic brings Canadian electro with a pinch of Dutch Westcoast salt. RAFF takes the wheel on Radiant and drifts between break-y, 4x4 and IDM. Percussion connaisseur Tala Drum Corps delivers a well-deserved breather on Gargoyle, with basslines that leap like frogs. As we lose track of time, GEN-Y's SkyStalker shows how a midnight-minded groove gets pulled along by lush progressions.

Frappé starts 2026 with a new Various Artist EP and as always with the French imprint, this one is made to shake the dancefloors over the world. Frappé co-founders Basile de Suresnes have invited their House Music cousins from over the Alps Dexter Troy and Mathis Vuillemier to collaborate on this one, along with Lone Dog, one of the label's favorite banger providers. Ranging from deep house, to French House, House and acid house, the 5 tracks will suit all sort of DJs and sets, with the extra Frappé flavor and an exclusive artwork from Ivan Peev.

Das dritte Album der Londoner Band Sorry!

Seit ihrem Debüt "925" 2020 arbeiten Sorry an einer Topografie aus Anspielungen, Zitaten, falschen Fährten. Nun, mit COSPLAY (ab 7. November bei Domino), reißen sie die Landkarte ab, zeichnen alles neu. Ein Album als Maskenball: Jede Figur darf hier auftreten, lebend oder tot, real oder erdacht. Es ist das Werk, das Sorry von sich selbst befreit. Das Album fühlt sich an wie ein Spielzimmer für popkulturelle Geister. Ein Guided by Voices-Song mutiert zur Ballade über die Schmuddelecken des Ruhms, die berühmteste Cartoonfigur der Welt schleicht sich als Sirene ins Bild, theoretische Physik wird zu Rockmusik, die schwerer schlägt als jede Formel. Sorry haben das neue Material bereits live erprobt, erst auf eigener UK-Tour, dann als Support von Fontaines D.C., und man hört die Mischung aus Selbstsicherheit und Übermut, die dabei gewachsen ist.

If art is to be exhibited, then Ulrika Spacek will ensure that their art is collective; that even as the world becomes inhospitable to community, their intentions are an act of resistance.

Whether it is Oysterland, the self-curated night the band have been Hosting for over ten years to platform artists of other disciplines in live music spaces, or Total Refreshment Centre, the East London studio Syd runs which connects the dots between the jazz scene and like-minded experimental artists of the capital and beyond, or their creative bleed as musicians and producers over the years with the likes of Crack Cloud, caroline, DIIV, Holy Wave and Slowdive, the band’s existence is inseparable from their community.

In a hyper-individual world, the band’s fourth album, ‘EXPO’, offers an antidote. It’s there, in the shared dream logic of the music, the off-kilter melodies, jagged guitars and cirrus cloud atmospherics. It’s there, in all the things that are said and unsaid between them; there in the writing, producing and mixing processes they share in. And even as each of their parts Moves toward a unified vision, it’s never more keenly felt than in the bigger Picture to which Ulrika Spacek belong.

Though their well-established foundations are in the art-rock world - and though they are inspired by electronic elements more than ever - Ulrika Spacek are interested in the glitch that exists between the two. Their Music reckons with human warmth and digital isolation, equal parts welcoming and altogether alienating. “Our music has always been a collage - a bit patchwork, sonically - but what makes this album a landmark for us is that we went one step further and made our own sample bank,” explains singer / guitarist Rhys. They create their own doppelgängers in a world of almostreal, where the band appear as if in a hall of mirrors. Digital drums are sampled layered upon real drums, and the effect is almost like birth in reverse - pulled from the ether and returned back to the tangible world.

“There’s a lot that can be said about writing when there is no aim, there is a freedom and a purity in it which opens a door to more music, and in this case, it set a mood for a new album, one that would be colder, darker and one that would embrace electronics and new instrumentation in a new terrain,” the band share. “The album’s greater theme is isolation and alienation in an online world where it seems everybody around you is constantly exhibiting themselves, living in public wanting to be seen and heard. The age of ‘individuality’ is lonely, it’s a room of concave mirrors, and with this in mind, we set upon making our most collective effort; ‘It’s back to strength in numbers, count in fives.”

For fans of Radiohead, Moin, DIIV, Astrel K, Slowdive.

LP presented on Crystal Clear vinyl.

2 x LP Vinyl in Gatefold Sleeve with Insert

Compiled by Rainer Trüby & Miche, this collection dives deep into the soulful, spiritual, and jazz sound of LA’s Catalyst Records. A PANORAMA special for RSD 2026, The Catalyst Files celebrates the label’s rich history and deep catalog that has been championed by so many DJs including Gilles Peterson and Patrick Forge over the years. Packaged as a 2xLP with gatefold in homage to the original Catalyst releases, liner notes from Andrew Jervis, an insert and an OBI strip. This is an essential for RSD 2026. 2xLP 180g Heavyweight Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve, Insert, Liner notes from Andrew Jervis.

In the spring of 1971, somewhere between Brussels, Paris and a collective pop fever dream, Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki landed on vinyl. It sounded like nothing else then and it still does not today. More than half a century later, Sdban Records proudly presents a reissue of this singular cult album, available from April 3, 2026 on vinyl.

The album was produced by Jean Kluger and written both by Jean and Daniel Vangarde (aka Bangalter, later the father of Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk), who were alreadywell ahead of their time, long before electronic music rewrote the rules of pop culture.

Released under the name Yamasuki, also referred to as The Yamasuki Singers, or The Yamasuki's, the project was never intended as a conventional band. It was a studio-born fantasy, a concept album disguised as a pop record. What began as a standalone single quickly expanded into a full-blown pan-cultural pop opera that ignored genres and common sense with joyful abandon.

Musically, the album sits at a delirious crossroads. Psychedelic pop collides with funk rhythms, samba and bubblegum melodies, full of chants and choruses in a phonetic pseudo-Japanese, written with the help of a dictionary. Kluger and Vangarde famously recruited a children's choir to perform the vocals, and for added spectacle, they brought in a Japanese judo grandmaster, whose ritualistic shouts and battle cries erupt throughout the record.

Several singles were released. One of them, Yamasuki, with accompanying dance move, appeared in the United Kingdom and France on John Peel's Dandelion label, a fitting home for a record that thrived on the margins of pop culture. Its B-side, Aieaoa, proved even more potent. In 1975, the song was reborn as A.I.E. (A Mwana) by Black Blood, an African group recording in Belgium, this time sung in Swahili. That melody would travel even further. Aie a Mwana became the debut single of English pop group Bananarama, and in 2010 it resurfaced once more as Helele, an official song of the FIFA World Cup, recorded by South African singer Velile Mchunu with Danish percussion duo Safri Duo. That version became the most widely known incarnation of the song. With Jean Kluger directly involved, it was less a cover than a continuation of the original idea.

The album's afterlife did not stop there. Over the years, Yamasuki has been quietly sampled, covered, and featured across media far beyond the realm of novelty pop. Kono Samourai was sampled in The Healer by Erykah Badu (2007), produced by Madlib, while Yama Yama has found its way into recent pop culture as well: appearing in the television series Fargo, on Angus Stone's project Dope Lemon, and on the 2008 Late Night Tales compilation curated by Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders. Proof, if any were needed, that this strange little record carries a deeper musical DNA than its playful exterior might suggest.

This new reissue of Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki proves the renewed interest and respect for this cult album, faithful to the original spirit while finally giving it back the physical presence it deserves. In an era obsessed with genres and algorithmic neatness, Yamasuki still laughs, dances and karate-kicks its way past definitions. It reminds us that pop music can be playful without being disposable, strange without being cynical and joyfulwithout explanation. The world of Yamasuki was always fabulous, we are just lucky it found its way back to us!

Presse: Eclipsed Interview, Jazzthing, Folker, OX, TAZ World Music, Bad Alchemy, Westzeit, Stadtrevue, Saarbrücker Zeitung, TIP Berlin, Zitty Konzert Tipp, Musikexpress, Choices, Journal Frankfurt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, FAZ, ...

Radio: WDR Cosmo, ByteFM Tour presentation, DLF Kultur Tonart Interview, BR 2 Nachtmix & Kulturwelt, DLF Corso, DLR Kultur Tonart, Radioeins Planet Fruit and other shows, BR 2 Zündfunk, NDR Info Nachtclub Radio Globo and Domingo, Radio Bremen Nordwestradio Sounds, SR 2 Voyages, NDR Kultur Neo, WDR 3 tba, HR 2 Hörbar, MDR Kultur, RBB kulturradio Musik der Kontinente, ByteFM, M94,5 Transglobal Express, Radio Querfunk Orsinos Lied, Oldenburg 1, Radio Dreyeckland, Freies Radio Stuttgart, Radio Darmstadt, tide Radio, Radio Corax, bermudafunk, Radio X, Radio Lora....


Türkischer Folk-Psych-Rock aus Amsterdam der brennt und funkt und treibt und unwiderstehlich außergewöhnlich ist. Wenn türkische Folk-Music Psych-Rock und Elektro-Pop trifft entstehen Altin Gün. Mit ihrem außergewöhnlichen Spagat zwischen scheinbar komplett unterschiedlichen Stilen gelingt dieser Band, die türkisch klingt, von deren sechs Mitglieder aber nur eines in der Türkei geboren wurde, etwas wirklich Außergewöhnliches. Als türkischen Psych Folk bezeichnen sich diese Niederländer selbst, und betonen, dass sie ihre Musik im Kern als Folk verstehen, freilich ein solcher, dem man die tiefe Liebe zur Musik der funkigen 60er und 70er anmerkt. Sehr groovig, elektrisch und voll explosiver psychedelischer Strukturen kommen die türkischen Stücke daher. Lieder, die zum Teil schon unzählige Male gehört und interpretiert wurden, die zur musikalischen Vergangenheit der Türkei gehören, ihr Erbe sind, aber völlig neu klingen. Bandgründer und Bassist von Altin Gün, Jasper Verhulst, betont, wie wichtig das identitätsstiftende Potential der Lieder ist, dass man diesem aber etwas Einzigartiges hinzufügen wollte, was die Hörer innehalten lässt. "Die Lieder stammen aus einer langen Tradition. Das ist Musik, die versucht, eine Stimme für Viele zu sein. (... Und dann) brauchen wir etwas, das die Leute dazu bringt zuzuhören, als wäre es das erste Mal." Der Sound von Altin Gün klingt gleichermaßen traditionell wie vollständig zeitgenössisch und zeigt auf fast schon märchenhafte Art und Weise, dass Musik ein kulturell durchlässiges, experimentelles Medium ist, in dem uns immer wieder wunderschöne Überraschungen begegnen. Mit "Gece", ihrem zweiten Album, hat sich die Band nun endgültig als unverzichtbarer Interpret des anatolischen Rock- und Folk-Erbes etabliert und ist eine absolut unverwechselbare Stimme in der aufstrebenden globalen Psych-Rock-Szene geworden.

XKatedral Anthology I is the first in a series of archival releases dedicated to presenting music by XKatedral affiliated composers working within the realm of slowly evolving harmonic and timbral music. This double-vinyl set contains an array of pieces dating from 2010 - 2020. Four of the works included here were originally released on cassette tape early on in the label's history, while the two remaining pieces are presented by the label for the first time.

"The works Ir Himinn, Grooenn by Kristoffer Svensson, Disquiet (Heart) by Marta Forsberg and Lamé by Isak Edberg were first released on the compilation XKatedral Volume II in 2016. Svenssons piece from 2014 combines justly tuned gamelan percussion and prepared piano intricately interwoven in a way that obscures the boundaries between the two instrument groups. Forsberg and Edbergs pieces both use a monolithic form to explore the timbral and harmonic spaces provided by the Düben Baroque organ situated in Tyska Kyrkan in the oldest part of Stockholm. While similar in terms of instrumentation the two works differ formally - Edbergs Lamé composed in 2010 uses the registers of the organ to articulate a seamless spectral transformation while Forsbergs Disquiet (Heart) from 2014 deals in blocks of sound with a varying degree of opacity, saturation and intensity.

Glory for two electric guitars by Caterina Barbieri and Kali Malone was composed and recorded in Tempo Reale in Florence, Italy, and was originally released on the cassette compilation XKatedral Volume III in 2016. This music takes the form of an ever-evolving hypnotic pattern shared by the two instruments articulated through an additive and subtractive canon. Dissolving Ceremony, composed in 2012 by Edberg/Erlandsson/Lisinski, was first presented publicly on the self-released record Stratum. The music contained in that release was formed from a collection of gamelan percussion instruments augmented by two sets of live-electronic instruments tuned to the harmonic framework formed by the partials of the metal percussion. Originally positioned in the center of the record running order between two long monolithic process-based pieces, Dissolving Ceremony now stands on its own as a memory of a time and methodology from the not so distant past.

The newest piece in this set is Shipwrecks by Daniel M Karlsson. While this work is a recent one Karlsson should be considered one of the forerunners of the musical expression contained within this record set. Active within new music for two decades his strongly articulated musical ideas and constantly evolving craftsmanship has resulted in an enormous body of work, and has served as an inspiration for many of his fellow composers. This piece is a celebration of transposition and its immense capacity for timbral transformation using a vast array of instruments performed, recorded and electronically treated by the composer to form a liquid uncanny topography where a deeply personal harmonic language constantly shifts, slides and shivers."

Für Kevin Morby ist das ,kleine Weite" der weite Himmel, das einfache Leben, seine Herkunft aus dem Mittleren Westen und alle Pflichten, Bescheidenheit, Vertrautheit und Isolation: das Land, die Menschen und die Teile davon, die in ihm stecken. ,Der Mittlere Westen hat etwas Unbeabsichtigtes Musikalisches an sich: Zikaden, die in den Bäumen zirpen, ein vorbeifahrender Zug, eine Tornadosirene, die losgeht", erklärt Morby. ,Wenn man genau hinhört, gibt es diese fast unheilvollen Geräusche unter dem weiten Himmel - seine Hässlichkeit und seine Schönheit und wie beide oft gleichzeitig zusammenwirken. Und obwohl der Mittlere Westen technisch gesehen keine Ödnis ist, ist er meine Ödnis." Little Wide Open ist der Titel von Kevin Morbys achtem Studioalbum, produziert von Aaron Dessner. Im Sommer 2024 hatte Dessner Morby gebeten, The National bei ihrem Konzert im Londoner Crystal Palace Park zu unterstützen. Kurz darauf wandte sich Dessner, der gerade eine Glückssträhne hatte, nachdem er Alben für Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran und Gracie Abrams produziert hatte, wandte sich an Morby und teilte ihm mit, dass er gerne sein nächstes Album produzieren würde. Anfang 2025 begannen sie mit den Aufnahmen in Aarons Long Pond Studio in Stuyvesant, New York, und beendeten sie im September desselben Jahres. Das Album, an dem eine Vielzahl von Mitwirkenden wie Dessner, der mehrere Instrumente spielt, Amelia Meath, Andrew Barr, Justin Vernon, Katie Gavin, Lucinda Williams, Meg Duffy und anderen, wurde von Morby als dritter Teil einer Trilogie nach ,Sundowner" (2020) und ,This Is a Photograph" (2022) beschrieben, in denen er seine Zeit im Mittleren Westen nach seiner Rückkehr nach Kansas City dokumentierte. Dieses Mal wertet Dessners Produktion Morbys Aufnahmen auf, ohne dabei den Fokus auf die Songs selbst zu verlieren. Es gibt eine neu gewonnene Zuversicht und Klarheit sowohl in Morbys Songwriting als auch in Dessners Produktion, die an Tom Pettys Klassiker Wildflowers aus dem Jahr 1994 erinnert. Da Morby mittlerweile hauptsächlich in LA lebt, hat sich die Atmosphäre, die Little Wide Open durchzieht, gegenüber seinen Vorgängern etwas verändert. Wie Rachel Kushner in ihrem Begleittext zum Album über Morby schreibt: ,Es geht um Zeit, um das Gefühl, dass er sich von der Nostalgie und dem verlorenen, aber schönen Kampf, an der Vergangenheit festzuhalten, gelöst hat. Er hat akzeptiert, dass die Zeit unaufhörlich fließt und man sie nicht aufhalten kann. Stattdessen hat er das Gefühl, dass er auf ihr reitet. Er ist Passagier der Zeit."