31.07.2025-NEWMOON Space (PIAS,2016)

 

SHOEGAZE / INDIE ROCK

   Newmoon, a Ghent and Antwerp based band with members who’ve previously played in the hardcore punk outfit Midnight Souls, is a band stepping into more challenging and matured territories. Space, their debut album, thrives with waves of reverb, extremely lush atmospheres, imposing riffs, a sound that often taps into more dreamy territories, and vocals that perfectly intertwine with the sonic environment that’s been constructed, deconstructed, and often amended.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/b1g3y4

30.07.2025-BARDO POND Bardo Pond (Fire,2010)

 

PSYCHEDELIC ROCK

   For their eighth studio album Bardo Pond once again bring out their sepia-toned psychedelia jams. Having experimented with various strains of psychedelic rock in the past, on this self-titled record they incorporate psych folk into their guitar freakouts. They even kick the album off with some acid-fried country on the opener ‘Just Once’, although the acoustic introduction is soon lost in a sea of distortion.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/szqxrt

27.07.2025-KATY B Honey (Rinse/Virgin,2016)

 

HOUSE

   Peckham pop hero Katy B has always had one foot in the underground – previous producers include Benga, Joker and DJ Zinc – but she seemed to be headed in an increasingly mainstream direction, typified by the sweeping drama-pop of 2014’s huge ‘Crying For No Reason’ – a track far more Radio Two than Rinse FM. For her third album, however, Katy’s ventured deeper underground than ever before: The collabo list on ‘Honey’ runs to 21 names and features some of the most buzzworthy names in grime, techno, hip hop and drum’n’bass.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/pu8zeh

26.07.2025-RUMER Into Colour (Atlantic,2014)

 

POP / SOUL

   While it’s neither noir-ish nor teen-driven, it is retro and, when it’s over, you’ll likely want to listen to it again and again.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/3z1au3

24.07.2025-SOL INVICTUS The Blade (Tursa,1997)

 

NEOFOLK / MODERN CLASSICAL

   Sol Invictus is one of the essential musical pillars for understanding the cultural foundations of the European neofolk scene, although conceptually, neoclassical musical structures are key to understanding its brilliant compositions and themes. In itself, the presence of wind and string instruments, particularly the violin, takes on great importance in many of its compositions. For this reason, the talented English artist Tony Wakeford, the driving force behind Sol Invictus, has always displayed creativity and an eclectic vision in his works and projects, to which he has lent extraordinary musical solidity, becoming one of its unmistakable artistic characteristics and one of its main hallmarks. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wqahio

21.07.2025-GRACE CUMMINGS Refuge Cove (Flightless,2019)

 

FOLK

   Refuge Cove features nine tracks, two of which Cummings had already released as singles. These highlight Cummings’ stunning contralto and her prowess as a songwriter. In the first track on the album, “The Look You Gave,” the opening strums of the guitar give way to Cummings’ enormous voice as she sings about resignation to the moon and the coldness she feels from some unnamed figure. 

     While asking “If I had no strength to fly/ would you be the one to lift me high?” in the minute–long and delicately restrained “Just Like That,” she infuses each note with a sense of longing that somehow we all understand. Cummings writes in the world of the metaphorical, and there is a candidness in her lyrics, even if we do not fully understand the truth that is being told.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/yv3ae6

20.07.2025-BIRD IN THE BELLY After The City (Cargo,2024)

 

FOLK NOIR

   It’s a concept album of sorts, inspired by the work of Victorian-era nature writer, Richard Jefferies, whose novel, After London, described an apocalyptic breakdown of civilisation following an unspecified disaster. The first part of the novel explores society’s descent into barbarism while the second concentrates on nature’s reclamation of a wrecked city.

     Bird In The Belly, with their typical mixture of meticulous historical research and dark, gothic ‘folk noir’ are on hand to catalogue every twist and turn in magnificent detail. With some of the songs adapted directly from the novel and others taken from various poems, texts and traditional folksong, the four take us on a spectacular journey through plague, war, famine, death, destruction and, eventually, sunshine, growth and rewilding.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rpvgzw

18.07.2025-STILL CORNERS Dream Talk (Wrecking Light,2024)

 

DREAM POP

   Anglo-American duo Still Corners return with their sixth album, Dream Talk, a 10-track exploration of ethereal dream pop soundscapes. While staying true to their signature sound, the duo do inject subtle elements of experimentation into proceedings, which makes Dream Talk a slightly different experience than their previous work.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ksxgmp

15.07.2025-HISTORY OF APPLE PIE Feel Something (Marshall Teller,2014)

 

INDIE / DREAM POP

   The History of Apple Pie have no illusions that they're reinventing the wheel, but Feel Something should silence critics who dismissed the group as another example of record collection rock. It also reintroduces the idea that rock music can still be fun, something far too many of the band's contemporaries seem to have forgotten.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/wxgwhh

13.07.2025-LONE Always Inside Your Head (Greco-Roman,2021)

 

ELECTRONIC / AMBIENT

   Nottingham-born Matt Cutler, AKA Lone, has been one of the most consistent and prolific electronic artist of recent times, churning out seven impressive albums in the last 15 years. After a five-year hiatus, his eagerly-anticipated eighth album sees the introduction of vocalist Morgane Diet, whose ethereal vocals join ambient synths and downtempo breakbeats to create a fresh new sound. Always Inside Your Head marks a fresh new chapter the UK producer. The record never settles in one place and instead blurs the lines between trip-hop, deep house and Balearic beat.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/l11evk

12.07.2025-AYA NAKAMURA Aya (Rec.118/Parlophone,2020)

 

R&B / POP / AFROBEAT

   On her third album, the French-Malian singer artfully slides between lingo and genres—Afrobeats, zouk, R&B—to create a far-reaching pop experience about life, love, and freedom.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/4vuzan

09.07.2025-MNDR Hell To Be You Baby (WonderSound,2021)

 

ELECTROPOP

   Co-produced by Mark Ronson, “Hell to Be You Baby” boasts a distinct early Nineties dance feel. A restless drum groove, gritty synths, and a big house piano anchor the tune, while still allowing it to expand into headier spaces.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/7605c6

08.07.2025-SAN CISCO The Water (Island City,2017)

 

INDIE POP

    The Water as a record personifies the trivialities and tribulations of relationships – making you fall in and out of love across its half-hour run. From descending into the steep decline of uncertainty, to being brought up to the glorious heights of pleasurable, emotional confusion, The Water takes the listener on an emotional journey, from break-up to hook-up in short spaces of time.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/w27c7t

07.07.2025-SUPERHUMANOIDS Do You Feel OK? (Innovative Leisure,2015)

 

ELECTRONIC / SYNTH-POP

   Superhumanoid’s Do You Feel Ok blends the perfect mix of electronic beats and raw emotions. The sound not only gives an electronic touch to the human, but also a human touch to the electronic. It is surprising to hear Urgency, which was released in 2010, and predict that the same band would be producing this strikingly different and remarkable sound. 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/vh6bd2

05.07.2025-ANAIS MITCHELL Hymns For The Exiled (Waterbug,2004)

 

INDIE FOLK

   The first thing that strikes you about Anaïs Mitchell is her voice. It's not as kooky as Joanna Newsom, nor as girlish as Stacey Earle, or even as worldly as Cindy Lauper, but somewhere in between all three. That makes it something of an acquired taste, but if you're a fan of any of these artists, you'll probably 'get' it.

     The second thing that really comes across is that this artist isn't afraid to be political with her lyrics. Maybe that's one reason why feminist folk icon Ani DiFranco signed Mitchell to her Righteous Babe label.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/kf2hrf

03.07.2025-IDIOT GLEE Idiot Glee (Hop Hop,2016)

 

INDIE ROCK

   Idiot Glee is the musical nom de plume of James Friley. After a first listen to Idiot Glee’s new, self-titled album, the glee doesn’t immediately jump out at you. But after repeat listens you start to find it in odd places. A melody here, poignant vocal there and then suddenly you realise that you’ve played Idiot Glee about 30 times, and each time you’ve gleaned something new from it.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ljrh9y

01.07.2025-ALEX WINSTON Bingo! (Rat Rizzo,2024)

 

INDIE POP

   Written over the course of three years during a mercurial period in her life—which she lovingly refers to as her “swamp era”—the album is packed with sonic elements of old school Americana, psychedelia and an untethered wiliness, all anchored by Winston’s assured pop sensibilities.  Bingo! is an unfiltered snapshot of Alex’s nosedive into the uncertainty and discomfort of growth. The 10-track project is both nostalgic and freshly compelling in its honesty and hard earned optimism.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/rxx9mo