This week’s guide is by CF Smith and contributors Words By Shoaib, and Irfan Ayaan.
Hey good people, welcome to your new Between The Cracks selection. Once again, the end of the week brings six new discovries that have popped up on our radar. So, without further ado, here are new releases from Chão Maior, Lucifecit, Chicago Underground Duo to name a few. As always, enjoy the music, and support artists and labels.
Albums
Chão Maior – Snakes & Thunder
Thanks to Ralph Smit, we were introduced to Chão Maior back in 2021 through their debut album, Drawing Circles. Four years on and they’re back with another evocative offering. Snakes & Thunder explores the coexistence of meanings and views sound choreographically, as bodies in motion and energy in action. It’s also an ode to wandering: crossing paths, finding meaning, creating myths, and embracing the strange and the unfamiliar. Released on their Facada Records label, Yaw Tembe, João Almeida, and the Chão Maior crew conjure a whirlwind of free jazz, improvisation, rock, and pop across seven tracks. The album’s effortless genre-fluid style perfectly pairs with singer Leonor Arnaut’s lush and passionate vocals, often conjuring a hauntingly ethereal vibe. ‘The Shortest Way’, a standout track, opens the record with a powerful showcase of the band’s talent for crafting music that’s both complex and utterly entrancing. This record shouts its brilliance—you just need to sit back and lend an ear. – CFS
Lucifecit – Devoção
More musical magic from the Facada Records label! Led by Chão Maior bassist Norberto Lobo, he brings along João Pereira on drums, and trumpet players João Almeida and Yaw Tembe for an album deeply rooted in groove. Under the name Lucifecit, Lobo’s debut album, “Devoção” (meaning “Devotion” in English), is a dynamic release featuring anthems, mantras, and hypnotic grooves, all stretched (the shortest track is 5.28) in tribute to a forgotten deity. If you’re a fan of jazz that blends modal structures, pulsating syncopation, punk-Gnawa-inspired basslines, and dazzling horn improvisations, then this is right up your alley. – CFS
Chicago Underground Duo – Hyperglyph
After an eleven-year hiatus, Chicago Underground Duo returns with Hyperglyph, released via International Anthem, and it feels like no time has passed. Rob Mazurek (trumpet, synths) and Chad Taylor (drums, percussion) sound as daring as ever, blending avant-garde jazz with electronic textures and African rhythmic influences. The record is equal parts cosmic and grounded, a vivid reminder of why the duo have remained a vital force in experimental music since the late 1990s. Opener ‘Click Song’ sets the tone with its buoyant horn chants and cyclical polyrhythms. Taylor’s layered percussion locks into a steady pulse, giving Mazurek the freedom to stretch his trumpet into joyous, distorted cries. It’s an exhilarating track that feels both ritualistic and playful, reaffirming the Duo’s talent for balancing structure with improvisation. The title piece, ‘Hyperglyph’, pushes deeper, building a celebratory haze of toms, bells, and pitch-shifted trumpet before resolving in a euphoric chant. Together, they highlight the album’s central theme: music as multidimensional geometry, both physical and transcendent. With Hyperglyph, Mazurek and Taylor have crafted an album that is vibrant, accessible, and exploratory, a triumphant new chapter in their enduring partnership. – WBS
Nate Mercereau, Josh Johnson & Carlos Niño – Openness Trio
Released via Blue Note Records, Openness Trio is a luminous meditation in five parts from guitarist Nate Mercereau, saxophonist Josh Johnson, and percussionist Carlos Niño. Rooted in spiritual jazz and ambient improvisation, the record unfolds like a living landscape, never static, always in motion, always listening. ‘Hawk Dreams’ sets the tone: a sprawling nine-minute dreamscape of looped guitar, soft synths, and drifting saxophone. There’s no urgency, only invitation, each note suspended like mist. Percussion is sparse and elemental, evoking wind chimes or breath. It feels less like a song and more like a shared silence between musicians and the land around them. ‘Openness’, already released as a single, offers a more grounded moment. Woozy guitar lines and brushed drums swirl with Johnson’s electronically processed sax, forming a pocket of serenity. It’s meditative yet alert, unfolding with curiosity rather than conclusion. Every track here feels like an act of presence, nothing forced, everything felt. Openness Trio is brief but expansive, a quiet triumph of collaboration, intuition, and deeply felt sound. – WBS
MRCY – VOLUME 2
MRCY’s Volume 2 arrives like a sonic balm for turbulent times, showcasing the remarkable chemistry between vocalist Kojo Degraft-Johnson and producer Barney Lister. This duo, who connected through Instagram in 2021, has quickly evolved from their promising debut to deliver something more sophisticated and thematically cohesive. Degraft-Johnson’s gospel-trained falsetto, reminiscent of Stevie Wonder, soars over Lister’s masterful analogue production, which seamlessly blends classic soul with cutting-edge sensibilities. The album opens with familiar MRCY territory, Angels and Wanna Know (Ontario) features infectious grooves and warm horns, before venturing into bolder sonic landscapes. Man tackles modern masculinity over Afrobeat polyrhythms, while Flicker combines Ghanaian highlife with dancefloor-ready basslines, creating an irresistible groove about emotional vulnerability. Following their breakout success and Black Pumas tour, MRCY has crafted eight tracks that balance optimism with angst, comfort with surprise. This is vital music for complicated times, essential listening that dances through darkness. – IA
EP’s
lvdf – lvdf
The debut self-titled EP from international jazz quartet lvdf is a bold statement of intent, blending deep-rooted jazz traditions with contemporary grooves and electronic textures. Formed by four accomplished bandleaders —Myele Manzanza (drums), Maria Chiara Argirò (piano & synth), Alex Hitchcock (sax), and Michelangelo Scandroglio (double bass) —the group thrives on interplay, creating music that feels alive, unpredictable, and deeply collaborative. The opener, ‘Silver’, immediately sets the tone. With metallic grit in its texture and expansive layers of acoustic and electronic interplay, it feels both raw and refined, like a soundscape constantly shifting beneath the listener’s feet. Its hypnotic momentum makes it one of the EP’s standout moments. Another highlight, ‘Home’, offers a more grounded reflection. Inspired by Manzanza’s New Zealand roots, it carries a sense of space and openness, layering lyrical harmonies with percussive drive. The track radiates warmth while still holding the quartet’s signature unpredictability. As a debut, lvdf establishes the quartet as a force of innovation in contemporary jazz, forward-looking yet steeped in tradition, intimate yet expansive. – WBS
