With so much good music coming through thick and fast, it’s easy for albums to drop online and go overlooked. No lengthy write-ups as who reads those anyway? We keep it short and to the point because you’re here to listen to the music! Check out our weekly mini-guide below and if you like what you hear, click the links and support the artists.
Albums
Les Filles De Illighadad – At Pioneer Works
The brilliant Sahel Sounds unveil their latest gem. Les Filles De Illighadad returns with their third album, ‘At Pioneer Works’. Drawing from two distinct styles from the village of Illighadad in a remote region of central Niger across the LP, you’ll hear ancient village choral chants and desert guitar. Recorded just after a massive two-year world tour, it captures the trio at the height of their powers.
Cucina Povera – Seesteyttaa
Finnish-born, Glasgow-based sound artist Maria Rossi aka Cucina Povera, returns with a new EP, ‘Seesteyttää’. Following on from the folkloric and futurist fusing of her collaboration with Haron last year, the new EP finds Povera sliding seamlessly through four stunningly beautiful tracks. Povera is at her otherworldly best as she combines ethereal improvised vocals with atmospheric ambient textures, delicate glockenspiels, and eerie electronics. Refreshingly good.
Emma-Jean Thackray – Yellow
We’ve been championing composer, producer and trumpeter Emma-Jean Thackray from way back and for a good reason too – her music is brilliant! With her anticipated debut album just dropping, she continues to cast her magical spell on us. As promised, it’s a transcendent journey through jazz fusion, funk, psychedelia and orchestral pop. Just press play and let EJT and her musical friends go deep inside your mindspace. A soon-to-be-classic that will move the mind, the body and the soul for years to come.
Alpha – Failure
Failure sees Alpha push the boundaries to explore new territory not heard before. With five new singers, Micheal, Lear, Yinshyen, Jakeoat and Sean, all very different, bringing diversity in songs not heard before from Alpha. A profoundly unique and original listen.
LV & Joshua Idehen – Ends
Production duo and electronic wizards LV team up once again with poet Joshua Idehen for their new record, ‘Ends’, the third and final chapter in their decade-long collaboration. The duo creates tough polyrhythms, sound system energy and pulsating electronic grooves while Idehen lyrically meditates on race, mental health, identity and alienation. You’ll want to turn the volume up for this one!
Guess What – Children In Space
London/France duo Guess What return, and once again, they bring us an entertaining mix of styles. Space-jazz, nursery rhymes, hip-hop beats, cosmic synthesisers, science or sports lessons – all seamlessly merge, taking you on a trip like no other. The sound is rich and colourful, especially the space disco anthem ‘Lessons In Space’. Listen for yourself right now and enjoy!
Alice Coltrane – Kirtan: Turiya Sings
Recorded in 1981, Alice Coltrane’s Kirtan: Turiya Sings album is out commercially for the first time, thanks to Impulse! Records/UMe. Originally released on cassette and available only at Alice’s Sai Anantam Ashram, the album contains a suite of nine devotional songs. Her combination of vocals, organs, strings, and synthesisers is heavenly. One play and the meditative soundscape will warm their way into your heart.
Reissues
Wayne Davis – Wayne Davis
Strut present the first-ever reissue of an essential lost classic from the Black Fire catalogue, Wayne Davis’ powerful self-titled gospel-soul album from 1976. If you don’t already own it, now’s your chance.
EP’s
Sandunes – Nowhere To Stand
The 6th solo EP by Indian musician Sandunes is the farthest-reaching leap yet into her growing collaborative universe. Four unique and diverse vocalists feature on four tracks – each driven and overseen by Sanaya Ardeshir’s powerful musicianship and lyricism towards a newfound pop-inspired direction.
Forthcoming
Gudrun Gut + Mabe Fratti – Let’s Talk About The Weather
Gudrun Gut and Mabe Fratti come together on a powerful hybrid album, where taut rhythms fuse with haunting vocal melodies, spoken word, field recordings melted with extended ambient pieces divided into four movements.
