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Oceanine, Jolanda Moletta’s third album and her first for Beacon Sound, is a powerful and ethereal statement of artistic community. Expanding on her previous work, each track represents a collaboration with a different female vocalist, with the foundational elements being generated entirely by her own voice. By turns haunting, enchanting, and inspiring, you won’t want to come up for air once you’ve been pulled under. Representing a
musical practice that is distinctly feminist, this is an album with a longer view in mind, to an age when the altars were to goddesses and women were centered as powerful beings representing the earth’s cycles of regeneration and renewal. Oceanine then, in all its beauty, can be viewed as an album of survival. It is deeply transportive, accessing something that lies within all of us. As the late, great Lithuanian folklorist and archaeologist Marija Gimbutas noted, “We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of 'progress' is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth.”

Jolanda Moletta is a multimedia artist and one-woman electronic choir. She creates wordless compositions through extended vocal techniques, integrating wearable-controlled live processing, alongside symbolic visuals. Moletta considers her performances to be a collective ritual and creates her Sonic & Visual Spells following the cycles of nature and the moon. Jolanda's 2022 critically acclaimed album Nine Spells was released on the Ambientologist label, followed by Night Caves on Whitelabrecs in 2025. Moletta’s artistic practice is a radical and spiritual journey through sound art, ritual, and the symbolic archaeology of the feminine.

Oceanine is inspired by sirens, water nymphs, and the timeless call of the sea. At its core lies Jolanda’s deep, lifelong connection to the Mediterranean Sea and to the ancient and modern myths and folklore that have emerged from its waters. Growing up by the Mar Ligure, Jolanda was surrounded by stories carried by salt, wind, and waves: legends of sirens, echoes of ancient voices, and the sea as both origin and oracle. This intimate relationship with the Mediterranean is not merely a backdrop, but a living source that shapes Oceanine’s emotional, symbolic, and sonic world.

Each track features a different female vocalist, creating a rich tapestry of voices, styles, and perspectives. This artistic choice not only broadens the album’s sonic palette, but also deepens its narrative core: celebrating the power, beauty, and mystique of feminine energy through myth, history, and sound.

The entire album is built exclusively from the human voice, processed and layered, yet always remaining voice, and nothing else. For each piece, Jolanda invited every vocalist involved to contribute a raw stem: a short, unedited melodic fragment of just a few seconds, inspired by the album’s themes. These intimate vocal seeds became the foundation of each track: the guest artists’ voices appear as brief, melodic stems, while the entire surrounding “orchestral” fabric is created solely from Jolanda’s own layered and processed voice. In this way, Jolanda’s voice becomes the Ocean itself, embracing, absorbing, and carrying the sirens’ calls within a vast, immersive soundscape. Every song is a unique expression of the feminine experience, revealing its depth, complexity, and emotional range, echoing the call of the sea and the many faces of the siren archetype.

The figure of the siren has transformed across centuries. In myths of Ancient Greece and Rome, sirens were hybrid beings, part woman, part bird, whose irresistible songs lured sailors to their doom. During the Middle Ages, the image shifted toward the half-woman, half-fish figure, often associated with temptation and danger. Historically, the voice of women has often been feared. Sirens were considered harbingers of misfortune not simply because they seduced or destroyed, but because they were powerful liminal beings.

In Ancient Greek, sirens functioned as psychopomps: figures who existed between worlds and guided souls, especially between life and death. Their songs were believed to carry forbidden knowledge, including prophetic insight and the ability to reveal truths about fate and the future. The danger of the sirens lay in what they revealed: knowledge that humans were not meant, or ready, to hear.

Oceanine confronts this legacy head-on. The voices heard throughout the album are not merely beautiful: they are dark and luminous, wild and enchanting, magical, soothing, dreamy, and at times fractured or distorted. They whisper, lament, beckon, and enchant. Like sirens, they skim the surface of the water and sink into its depths, hovering on the edge between tenderness and danger, vulnerability and power. They rise toward the sky, dissolve into mist, and return as echoes charged with raw, elemental emotion: voices that seduce, warn, mourn, and remember. They refuse to be reduced to decoration.

Alongside the album’s release in May, Oceanine will also unfold as a visual and performative work through a short art film. The film includes a live session recorded inside a sea cave facing the Mar Ligure, the very coastline where Jolanda spent her childhood, dreaming of sirens and listening to the sea as if it were speaking directly to her. This site-specific performance reconnects the music to its place of origin, allowing the voice to resonate within stone, water, and air, and transforming the cave into both a sanctuary and a threshold between myth and reality.

What if the sirens’ songs were considered dangerous because they carried another truth, an ancient truth long forgotten?

Oceanine embraces the idea that we are still deeply woven into myth. Though we may see ourselves as rational and modern beings, our world is saturated with ancient symbols and archetypes, often distorted, simplified, or stripped of their original meaning. And if those symbols are allowed to shift, if the mirror once held by the siren becomes an invitation to look beyond appearances and into what has been obscured, then we may finally uncover a deeper truth and reclaim the voice that was always ours.

Oceanine is not just an album. It is a reclamation, a spell, and a call from the depths.

Divine wasn’t just a singer, Divine was a phenomenon. Born Harris Glenn Milstead, Divine transformed drag, performance, and queer visibility long before it was mainstream. From the underground stages of Baltimore to international fame, Divine became a muse for filmmaker John Waters, starring in classic cult films like Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Hairspray, that redefined shock, satire, and queer cinema.

Native and Queer (The Complete Experience) brings together the full force of Divine's musical legacy in one explosive HI-NRG compilation. anthems,. Featuring the iconic anthems that shook dancefloors worldwide, “Native Love (Step By Step)”, the track that launched Divine into international stardom, “Shoot Your Shot”, “Walk Like A Man”, “You Think You’re Man” and more bold tracks. American producer Bobby Orlando aka Bobby “O” was the architect behind Divine’s most tracks and is regarded as an innovator in the HI-NRG genre, while Pete Waterman & Barry Evangeli produced “You Think You’re A Man” and “Walk Like A Man“ was a solo effort by Barry Evangeli.

All tracks are sequenced, edited and mastered by Ben Liebrand.

Native And Queer (The Complete Experience) is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on blue splatter vinyl.

Relive three decades of Belgian clubbing history.

We're celebrating the 35th anniversary of Cherry Moon withan essential collection of the anthems that defined a generation. Hard to find tracks, classics and sounds from the underground combined in a splendid 10x12" Vinyl Box Set.

From the first beats of 1991 to the peak of the "House of House", this is the ultimate tribute to a legendary venue.

Tajemnica is a transgression—too gentle for dancing, too euphoric for standing still. Sparse, scarce, and subtle, the new album by Polish performance artist, musician, and poet Wojciech Kosma, aka spalarnia, eagerly explores modern dance genres, experimental production, and nostalgic electronics to surrender to what is truest—essential song forms, melodies, harmonic and rhythmic basics, the most resonant feelings.

Sung in spalarnia’s trademark soft, low, almost tactile voice, the eight hypnotic songs tell stories of closeness and love, and their favored companions—pain and heartbreak. In “Bliżej” he sings “I love not loving you / I want to be a part of you.” And in “Jedyna”—the album's single—he states: “You are the only one / there is no other me / only the one for whom you are the only one.”

Contrary to the meaning of its Polish title (Tajemnica translates to “secret”), the album that moves between ghostly ambient pop, languid R’n’B, and Eastern European folk doesn’t reveal anything outright—the music only points to where the secrets might lie. One can choose whether to hear them or not.

There comes a point in every bands life when originality stops being a virtue and honesty takes the wheel. On their 11th long-playing record: Forgeries (72-84)-(16)- return to the impulse that first dragged them into loud rooms and bad ideas: the urge to steal what we love and make it semi-unrecognizable through devotion. We have partnered with Heavy Psych Sounds Records to release a collection of covers that function less as homage and more as a possession to be given away. The artworkrendered by the ever-amazing Maraldcompletes the ritualiconicunsettlingand unafraid. Weve always believed that a great cover is not mimicry but revelation. Its finding a song that's already lived inside you since youth and letting it crawl outbruised and changed. From the early 90s onward-(16)- have treated covers as translations rather than as replicasacts of tribute and emulationfiltered through distortionfatigueand lived experience. These are songs that taught us how to standhow to falland how to keep going. In our collective headthis album exists because these songs demanded it. Because they screamed copy meand we listened. In the endForgeries (72-84) stands as both a thank you note and a thefta reminder that all music worth a damn is borrowedbrokenand passed on between friends. The selections on Forgeries 72-84 span eras and attitudesunified not by genre but by necessity. Each track is a document of obsessionof influence absorbed and re-expressed without permission.

There comes a point in every bands life when originality stops being a virtue and honesty takes the wheel. On their 11th long-playing record: Forgeries (72-84)-(16)- return to the impulse that first dragged them into loud rooms and bad ideas: the urge to steal what we love and make it semi-unrecognizable through devotion. We have partnered with Heavy Psych Sounds Records to release a collection of covers that function less as homage and more as a possession to be given away. The artworkrendered by the ever-amazing Maraldcompletes the ritualiconicunsettlingand unafraid. Weve always believed that a great cover is not mimicry but revelation. Its finding a song that's already lived inside you since youth and letting it crawl outbruised and changed. From the early 90s onward-(16)- have treated covers as translations rather than as replicasacts of tribute and emulationfiltered through distortionfatigueand lived experience. These are songs that taught us how to standhow to falland how to keep going. In our collective headthis album exists because these songs demanded it. Because they screamed copy meand we listened. In the endForgeries (72-84) stands as both a thank you note and a thefta reminder that all music worth a damn is borrowedbrokenand passed on between friends. The selections on Forgeries 72-84 span eras and attitudesunified not by genre but by necessity. Each track is a document of obsessionof influence absorbed and re-expressed without permission.

We are welcoming a fresh blood from the south of Italy: Delikwe

Words Create Vibrations is a solo EP recorded between 2023 and 2025, where techno and dub foundations merge seamlessly with ambient textures and breaky-step rhythms. Across five tracks, the record unfolds as a deeply atmospheric journey — hypnotic, spacious, and rhythmically dynamic. Sub-heavy frequencies meet shifting percussive structures, while layers of delay and texture generate a sense of depth that feels both physical and introspective. Each composition evolves patiently, acting as a meditation on resonance, movement, and the unseen architecture of vibration.

The A-side presents Delikwe’s original works in their purest form: immersive, restrained, and subtly transformative. Rooted in sound system culture yet open in structure, the tracks balance meditative stillness with rhythmic propulsion.

On the B-side, Australian producer Pugilist delivers a powerful reinterpretation. Known for his refined low-end pressure and deeply immersive productions, he reshapes the source material into a weightier, system-focused experience. His remix amplifies the sub frequencies and spatial depth while preserving the meditative core of the originals, creating a compelling dialogue between exploratory dub atmospheres and grounded sonic precision.

Words Create Vibrations stands as a sonic exploration where rhythm, space, and texture converge into a fully immersive listening experience — crafted for powerful sound systems, late-night sessions, and attentive minds alike.



[c] a3. Agna Street [Words Create Vibrations]
[d] b1. 6am [Ice Mix]
[e] b2. 6am [Pugilist Remix]

With Le Tact, Joseph Schiano di Lombo delivers a work of rare finesse, conceived as a posthumous conversation with photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Through seven meditative pieces - whose evocative titles echo the photographer's words when describing the art of creating an image - this album explores the instinctive and delicate relationship that connects music and photography to our everyday lives.

Presented for the first time on stage during the 20th anniversary of the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, Le Tact draws its inspiration from the photographer’s art: a sensitive and respectful approach, capturing the essence of things without altering them. This spirit of discretion and precision is distilled by Joseph into his music, blending composition and improvisation with intuitive elegance. While Joseph composed and performed the piano, organ, synthesizer, clarinet, and guitar himself, he opened his arrangements for the first time to other musicians. Agnes Wasniewska (oboe), Barbara Misiewicz (cello), and Tomasz Baye Zietek (trumpet) bring their sonic textures, enriching this work, which is both intimate and collaborative. The album was recorded between Paris and Sopot (Poland) during a residency organized by the CNM.

The album’s title perfectly encapsulates its essence: Le Tact. This simple word, evoking both the sense of touch and artistic intuition, reflects the way Joseph composes—with respect, humility, and attention to detail. Each note seems to float lightly, as if to preserve the serenity of the moment. Le Tact transcends genre boundaries. Between ambient music and contemporary art, this album invites listeners to slow down and truly listen. It is a tribute to the beauty of the world, captured with the subtlety of a photographer and the sensitivity of a musician.

Welcoming prolific and essential Mexican artist Andy Martin to Animalia, with his mesmerising, mind-bending musical interpretation of the Nahual, a common & integral figure of the belief systems of ancient Indigenous peoples of the Americas, which embodies the spiritual connection between humans & animals. In some traditional stories, this connection is so strong that they are said to transform into one of them. Tierra de Nahuales refers to a region of ancient America inhabited by these mythological beings, which in this EP become part of the Animalia universe, shaped by psychedelic broken rhythms, tribal sounds, and dub influences. A release that feels both deeply personal to Andy's musical & cultural identity as well as the label's own - a telling ode to the abilities of the depth & outer worldly sense to his music - a world-building, shapeshifting & one of a kind artist who feels truly at home in the Animalia family.

Odyssey was originally a CD-only release by Japanese duo Master Mind (Hiroshi Ogawa & Hisaki Kurosawa) and was their 3rd full-length album. 30+ years later it is now available as a double LP on the California-based Forest Jams label. Its one of many albums of this particular genre that came out in the decade but one that is wholly unique with the depth in its sculpted sounds and the transportation it provides to an audio realm of equally fantastical and soothing proportions. For fans of ambient, lush gardens, auditory massages, RPG OST/BGM, and Kankyō Ongaku. Licensed by NHK Publishing and limited to 300 copies.

PLONC's second offering. Thronvio — the sons of Thron, mighty Vodun, great benefactor and protector of the faithful — transplant the acoustic into the electronic, the ceremonial into the club. Cutting across genres, from peak-time to the small hours: Club jackin' grooves, ritual ambience, hand drums, 909, acid lines, chanting voices, distorted bass. Far out.

EU/UK Exclusive

Japanese pressing

From Universal Music's vast catalogue, the essence of Japanese AOR, all tracks are selected and played in Muro's mix cd 'Diggin' Japanese AOR' released in 2017 and now released on 2LP.

This includes some of hidden gems such as Maki Asakawa's 'American Night', Yoshio Harada and more from the late 80's to early 90's - the golden time of Japanese AOR.

2x12" Brown Marbled Vinyl 2026 Repress

A foray into deep, organic, cinematic dance music. Subterranean bass, intercepted alien transmissions, and stripped down dance-beats meld with sheets of sounds that roll over the listener like waves lapping up on the shore. Shimmering, watery, brain hemisphere synchronization tones caress and melt stress away. Dance floor friendly tracks that work equally well in one s private listening space. Immersive music with a distinctive aquatic quality. Inspired by Detroit & Berlin s dance genres, but tempered by more ambience / atmosphere than one would expect from those genres. Music without harshness or rough edges. Fuzzy, out-of-focus, soft-sounds that slip in and out of the listener's consciousness. Uniquely melds current dance rhythms with lushness and spirituality. Synesthetic sounds that trigger sensory experiences in cognitive pathways other than hearing smells of perfumes, thoughts of colours, and altered perception of time and space. Psychoacoustic, cerebral, electronic listening music for those wanting a different experience than the current harsher, darker dance trends are offering. Responsibly made gentle music designed from the ground-up to have a positive effect on the nervous system and leave the listener invigorated and recharged. Chi-building sonic balm. Timeless, exotic dance tracks for a new school of electronic music enthusiasts who are searching for beautiful sounds, crafted with a higher purpose in mind.

Passages in Time, the third album from Kasper Bjørke Quartet, traces the contours of a blend of spiritual jazz reverence and the calming grandeur of '80s ambient. Inspired by Christopher Nolan's observation that "time is the most fundamental part of our human experience," the compositions are approached as fragments of time and memory. Meditations on the elusive nature of time form the heart of the work, merging freeform jazz improvisations with cyclical synthesizer patterns that mirror its quiet undulations.
Dreamy synths intertwine with guitar, harp, trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophone, and flute, creating a spacious environment for contemplation. The music invites reflection on the choices that shape our lives and the lives of those closest to us, and on the quiet weight of our priorities within the brief span we call life on this planet. Each passage unfolds as a fleeting moment suspended in time. The subtitles hint at fragments from someone's diary, tender observations of love, parenthood, and connection. Together, the passages form a musical memoir of sorts, where memory and emotion are gently woven into the compositions.
Passages in Time does not impose structure or meaning, it reflects them, offering an open space as the instruments drift in and out of focus, tracing time's subtle rhythms and inviting the listener to infuse their own memories and meaning into these passages.
The album also marks a transformation for the Quartet project itself. Langstrakt (Claus Noreen), part of the original ensemble, continues to operate the synthesizers alongside Bjørke, while the wider constellation of contributing musicians has evolved. Strings and piano give way to flute and saxophone by Oilly Wallace, guitars by Danish ambient composer Anna Roemer, trumpet and flugelhorn by Malthe Kaptain, and cascading orchestral harp by Katie Buckley, principal harpist with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra.
The cover painting is by American artist Marcus Leslie Singleton, courtesy of V1 Gallery, and reflects the meditative and timeless atmosphere of the music.
Passages in Time is released on Bjørke's own imprint, Sensitive Records, following the two previous Quartet albums released on Kompakt Records: The Fifty Eleven Project (2018), a debut that introduced Bjørke's ambient and neoclassical explorations, and Mother (2022), which expanded the ensemble's sound with emotive choir compositions and guest appearance by Sofie Birch (Unsound / Stroom). Together, these three albums trace a journey of artistic growth, from introspective experimentation to a fully realized, contemplative expression of time, memory, and human connection.

VA – Memories. Untold is a delicate and emotionally rich compilation from TAMIZDAT, capturing the subtle beauty of deep and tech house with a gentle, melancholic twist. Thoughtfully curated for sunset sessions and introspective moments, this four-track vinyl release drifts between ambient textures, melodic phrasing, and dubby undertones—crafted for open-air environments and graceful transitions.

A1. Joshua Pendergrass – The Leopard (Frederick Ansgar Remix) opens the record with an ambient-infused deep house piece—warm, slow-moving, and deeply involving. It invites the listener into a calm, curious, and emotionally attentive state.
A2. Dubsud – Memories (BarBQ Remix) follows with a more upbeat, melodic character. Playful yet refined, it offers a bright continuation of the journey, carrying momentum without losing its emotional depth.
On the flip, B1. Heward, Kirill Matveev – Your Gentle Breath emerges like a breeze—floaty, nuanced, and ideal for that golden-hour moment. It’s an elegant piece full of space, subtlety, and feeling.
B2. Nj Helder – Gazi closes the release with dubby warmth and light breakbeat elements, a soothing yet rhythmically engaging finale—like the last light fading over a distant horizon.

Featuring label mastermind Kirill Matveev, MixCult regulars Heward, Joshua Pendergrass, BarBQ, and Dubsud, the record is further elevated by South African talent Nj Helder, whose presence brings a soulful character to its closing chapter.
Memories. Untold is evocative, chilled, and designed for those who seek emotional connection through sound—a graceful companion for deep listening and open skies.
TAMIZDAT is a division of MixCult Records

Repress

The Collaboration - Having toured together over the years, Lattimore and Barwick now join forces to co-write and record this full-length album. Their creative synergy brings together harp, voice, and analog synths in a deeply emotional, immersive sound journey. The album was recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris with co-producer Trevor Spencer (Fleet Foxes, Beach House). This album continues a unique series of collaborations between the label and the Musée de la Musique, featuring historical instruments in contemporary composition. Since 2017, InFiné and the Philharmonie de Paris have co-developed a series of albums designed to highlight the extraordinary instrument collection of the Musée de la Musique. Following the albums InBach by Arandel (2020) and Saturn 63 by Seb Martel (2022), this third release is a meeting of two iconic contemporary ambient voices: Mary Lattimore and Julianna Barwick. The project offers the artists full access to the museum’s playable instruments for recording, sound conservation, and creative reinterpretation.



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Tragic Magic brings together Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore, two of contemporary ambient, experimental and electronic music’s most celebrated composers, for a unique collaboration at the Philharmonie de Paris, with extraordinary access to the Musée de la Musique’s instrument collection, in partnership with the French label InFiné. The album features seven immersive, evocative compositions guided by the human spirit – intimate, grounded in friendship, both earthly and cosmic – and part of a greater continuum, reflecting the solace and transformative power of artistry across generations.

Co-produced by Trevor Spencer (Fleet Foxes, Beach House), Tragic Magic was created in just nine days, a testament to the “musical telepathy” that has developed between Barwick and Lattimore over years of touring and friendship. Arriving in Paris from Los Angeles shortly after the 2025 wildfires, their sessions combined improvisation with the emotions and experiences they carried, in a setting both inspiring and deeply supportive. Lattimore selected harps tracing the instrument’s evolution from 1728 to 1873, while Barwick chose several iconic analog synthesizers, including the Roland JUPITER and Sequential Circuits PROPHET-5. In freeform dialogue between voice and instrument, they create a meditation on tragedy, wonder, and the restorative power of shared experience.

The duo, often joined by Spencer, also explored the city, sharing meals and visiting museums and landmarks, each encounter leaving an impression on their next session. The experience allowed them to work intimately with rare instruments, blending their personal sensibilities with centuries of history, resulting in music that honors the past while remaining a deeply authentic expression of the present.
Throughout Tragic Magic, Barwick and Lattimore find something beyond themselves: a sense that while everything may not be okay, beauty persists. Their approach – transforming life into music, observing, feeling, and creating – continues a lineage of creative expression and visionary invention, embodied in the very instruments they employed for this project.

After standout collaborations with Christophe Honoré and Bertrand Mandico, Calypso has signed with Pop Noire for the original soundtrack of Caroline Deruas’ film Les Immortelles. She unveils her new single, L’Homme Poisson, a gem of magnetic pop. With this ultra-catchy track, she reinvents 70s synth-pop with her signature poetry—both modern and timeless.


With Les Immortelles, Calypso Valois does more than accompany the film: she becomes its sonic soul. Each track—from enchanting choruses to rich instrumentation (piano, synths, strings, brass)—immerses the listener in a dreamlike universe, where music weaves the emotional thread. A singular cinematic experience, infused with mystery and magic. Whether you’re a fan of sophisticated pop, evocative soundtracks, or simply seeking an enchanting musical journey, this album transcends the boundaries of genre and era.
The film opened the Venice Film Festival and continues to make waves at festivals before its release a on Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

Much like the duo’s music, the story of Rural France is both mundane and magical. Tom Brown (also of transatlantic janglepunks Teenage Tom Petties) and Rob Fawkes moved to London in their mid-twenties. Despite living under the same roof, they never picked up a guitar – except for one drunken, failed attempt at writing a Spoon song (“Big Chops” …don’t ask). It was only after both separately relocating to Wiltshire and starting families that they began assembling songs as a way of meeting up. Tom had amassed a pile of sprightly slacker jams that were calling out for Fawkes’ messily melodic guitar lines. Rural France was born.

After a debut album on their hero, ex-Lemonhead Nic Dalton’s Half-a-Cow Records, they retreated to a garage to record their next two albums: RF (2021) and Exacamondo! (2024), both released on much-respected jangle label Meritorio Records. Despite being lo-fi in the truest GbV sense, both records were warmly received by the DIY indie blogosphere, with their short, scrappy, but supremely melodic songs landing on numerous AOTY lists. RF even won Album of the Year at Janglepop Hub.

Raven Sings The Blues probably summed up the sound best: “With drunken visions of Beach Boys harmonies playing in the back of their heads and hooks that consume Teenage Fanclub cheeriness with the same beautiful brevity that drives Tony Molina, the pair have knocked out eleven rumpled classics.” Album four, SLOTHS, arrives via Meritorio Records and Safe Suburban Home Records on 08/05, and is a slightly different beast. For one, it’s been mixed by a professional – Rob Slater (Westside Cowboy, Yard Act, Thank) – giving the guitars and drums room to breathe. It’s easily their most high-fidelity record to date. It’s also their jangliest, most baroque and thoughtful album yet. But alongside added organ, horns and mellotron – and drums from Tom’s Teenage Tom Petties bandmate Jeff Hamm – it still retains the buzzes, hums and little freak-outs that stick to the duo’s original “Pavement playing Teenage Fanclub” mission statement. “Rob and I both wanted to do something a little slower and a little more melancholy,” says Tom. “We resisted our usual urge to hit the distortion pedal and made something that fitted where we are now and celebrates how we still listen to Meatloaf when we get drunk.”

SLOTHS is also the most thematically consistent Rural France record to date. While it wouldn’t be right to call it grown-up, it definitely has homeowners’ insurance. From the Silver Jews-esque Americana of “Slab” and mid-life rallying cry of “Thirty Seven Forever”, to the horn-embossed loser anthem “Lonely Heart Pyramid Scheme,” the songs celebrate (and rail against) the absurdities of getting older, forming a band in your thirties, and the strange phenomenon of time passing. Because no matter how slow you move, everything else goes fast. SLOTHS.

Caterina Barbieri & Bendik Giske's At Source resounds music as wellspring, that which is essential and unknowable, and yet utterly primary. It finds two acclaimed composer-musicians building a world together in self-contained collaboration between analogue synthesis and an extended approach to the saxophone that conjures its own universe of sound. It is at once intimate and cosmic, drawing on the challenges and possibilities of their artistic exchange, tearing down technique to access all the expansive possibilities of their sonic meeting point.



At Source is a document of the world of sound to be conjured when two artists strive for something together, discovering the expansions and limitations of performance by bodies and machines. It is not an exercise in assimilation, but in productive exchange and creative confrontation. It does not draw on outside energies or influences, but grapples with what there is to find in their respective playing. "It also reflects how natural the collaboration was," says Barbieri, "a meeting at the source which was spontaneous, graceful and natural".



Barbieri and Giske first met and were enthralled by one another's performances at Kunsthaus Glarus in 2019, a meeting that spurred conversations on the power of transitions as a compositional force. Giske later contributed a rework of Fantas for Fantas Variations (Editions Mego, 2021), an ambitious undertaking to rescore Barbieri’s work for his saxophone and voice, a challenge Giske had started undertaking two years prior as an ongoing practice of transcription. “The request came as a proof of aligned ideas”, says Giske.



Their new collaborative project then started during an artistic residency in Milan’s ICA in 2021, by invitation of swiss artist and curator Jan Vorisek, as the world was emerging from lockdown. This meeting, and the preceding closure of sites for cultural exchange, made their work together 'feel like springtime' says Barbieri. Giske, who was on the brink of releasing his sophomore album, Cracks, then joined Barbieri's light-years tour, which functioned as an inaugural incarnation of her newborn label and platform through a series of multi-artist curated shows with appearances of Lyra Pramuk, Nkisi, MFO, among other artists.



Through the tour, they continued to develop material live, and this release, laid down in the studio, is true to that ever-evolving process of creation, where live feedback stays essential to the vitality of this collaborative effort. The tracks are each named with two evocative words that contain the two poles of their sound. Theirs is both abstract and cosmic, in the synth as machine undermined by Barbieri's naturalistic playing, and in Giske's continuous exploration of the symbiosis between his instrument, voice, and body. These binaries, of body and machine, posed various challenges, notably in how the stepped patterns Barbieri uses were near-impossible to translate for Giske's body to perform, and other times where mathematical resolutions were needed to sync their playing. Explains Giske: "It forced me to go to the core of what I am and what I have to offer”. Barbieri says that it "explores the liminality between the machine and the human, and the vulnerability in this process".



At Source is testament to two divergent practices finding a whole cosmos in which to convene; music is crystalised and made utterly enveloping through the focused and critical work of two musicians working at their peak. The versions here are, temptingly, "just one of many versions" of this abundant source material Giske explains. Like the best collaborations, At Source is more than the sum of its parts – bringing more to the feast than the simple combination of two musicians, promising versions upon versions of the exquisite material captured here.