This week’s guide is by CF Smith and contributors Words By Shoaib, Neil G, and Irfan Ayaan.
Welcome back to Between The Cracks, our weelky dive into the releases that deserve your ears but might slip past your radar. This edition as always is all about boundaryโpushing sounds โ from cosmic jazz explorations, to improvised wonders and leftfield electronic experiments. Lend an ear to the music, and if it strikes a chord, show some love to the artists and labels by supporting them.
Albums
The Cosmic Tones Research Trio – The Cosmic Tones Research Trio
The Cosmic Tones Research Trio, a group from Portland that includes Roman Norfleet, Harlan Silverman, and Kennedy Verrett, releases their namesake album with the same genre-breaking approach in mind. Flowing deep harmonic resonance and genuine spiritual intention into their music, the result is a truly “cosmic” album that transcends into greater musical heights. Exploring different experimental soundscapes that interweave with telepathic restraint, the layers of an array of instruments all melt together to create a blend of contemplative minimalism where sound becomes a conduit to the soul. Songs such as ‘Sankofa’, ‘Ba Hi Yah’, and ‘Invocation’ show the healing power of the trio’s musicality that communicates a serene and meditative exploration, which rewards the most patient of listeners. Inhale, exhale and immerse. – NG
Tortoise – Touch
Around nine years since the release of their last album, Tortoise returns with their boldest and diverse work to date with the album Touch. Balancing out their signature sound with daring and experimental new directions, Touch was recorded across different cities in the United States, showing the beauty of interconnectedness amidst distance. With influences of techno, ambient jazz, and groovy layers mixing and harmonising throughout the album in songs such as ‘Works and Days’, ‘Promenade ร deux’, and ‘Rated OG’, the evolution of the band’s sound and their collectivist songwriting process is on full display. The result of this synergy is a timeless and forward-thinking collection of tracks that remain essential. – NG
Perera Elsewhere โ Just Wanna Live Some
On Just Wanna Live Some, Berlin-based producer and vocalist Perera Elsewhere throws open the doors of her creative world, blending avant-pop, experimental rap, and footwork into a bold, borderless statement. It’s her loudest, freest, and most impulsive work yet, a rejection of overthinking in favour of raw, lived experience. Where her earlier records brooded in “doom folk” introspection, this one bursts with restless motion, like a club set that slips between dreams and riots. ‘NGL’ captures that chaos beautifully: warped bass and sharp vocal cuts slide beneath Sasha’s smoky delivery, blurring the line between confession and defiance. In ‘F*ck Le System’ (featuring Ivorian rapper Andy S), she channels protest energy into a jagged mix of grime and tropical rhythm, rebellion that moves your body as much as your mind. The hauntingly atmospheric ‘Fountain’ with Congolese-Angolan musician Batila and Senegalese singer Yaadikone is a personal highlight. Across its twelve tracks, Just Wanna Live Some feels alive, messy, and utterly human, proof that Perera Elsewhere is still one of electronic music’s most fearless shape-shifters. – WBS
OKO DJ โ As Above, So Below
Paris-based producer and DJ OKO DJ makes a stunning full-length debut with As Above, So Below. A conceptual, smoke-filled trip through cosmic trip-hop, dub, and spiritual electronics, the record radiates mysticism without losing its sense of momentum. OKO DJ (Marine Tordjemann) treats each track as ritual theatre, basslines hum like tectonic plates, voices drift between languages, and every detail feels dusted in cinematic glow. The Greek-language single “ฮตฮฏฮผฮฑฮน ฮฎ ฮดฮตฮฝ ฮตฮฏฮผฮฑฮน” (“Am I or Am I Not”) is a hypnotic highlight, weaving existential reflection through deep bass pulses and reverberant whispers, a collision of philosophy and pulse. Meanwhile, “Formentera” (feat. lux18) softens the record’s darker edges, layering sunlit guitars over dreamy Balearic air, offering a brief reprieve in the album’s sensory maze. Across the whole album, As Above, So Below feels like Massive Attack’s Mezzanine reimagined through Jean-Claude Vannier’s surreal lens, equal parts spiritual sรฉance and club catharsis. It’s atmospheric, intoxicating, and utterly transportive. – WBS
feeo โ Goodness
It has been another excellent year for some surprisingly unexpected but significant debut album releases.ย Feeo’s debut album, ‘Goodness’, falls into that category. The London-based artist’s first offeringย is a quiet revelation, a debut that radiates intimacy, courage, and poetic tension. Across 11 interconnected pieces, she builds a world where drone, ambient electronics, and experimental songwriting come together in a soft collision. Her voice moves like a current, sometimes whispering through static, sometimes blooming into tender harmony, anchoring an album that feels as vulnerable as it is visionary. Tracks likeย ‘The Hammer Strikes the Bell’ย shimmer with broken drum patterns and meditative release, whileย ‘Here’ย expands into cinematic stillness, layered with baritone guitar and haunting atmosphere. Vocally, this track has strong early-90s trip-hop vibes reminiscent of Beth Gibbons. In ‘Sandpit’, Feeo pens a minimalist, looped piano soundscape to allow her intimate vocals to take centre stage. These moments captureย feeo’sย fascination with duality: darkness and light, solitude and connection, the city and its echoing interior. Goodnessย doesn’t demand understanding; it invites surrender. Every sound feels deliberate yet organic, born from reflection and quiet rebellion. With breathtaking precision and emotional clarity,ย feeoย crafts not just an album but a living space for contemplation, a rare debut that turns solitude into something communal, strange, and profoundly human. You need to listen to this album, you need Goodness in your life! – WBS
Petter Eldh – Projekt Drums vol. 2
Eldh’s bassline philosophy becomes a breakbeat sรฉanceโsummoning ghosts of Madlib and Pete Rock through rhythmic sรฉances and low-end sorcery. Four years in gestation means this sequel doesn’t replicate; it excavates deeper, turning drum kits into archaeological sites where free jazz fossils collide with krautrock sediment. Richard Spaven, James Maddren, and Savannah Harris return like familiar accomplices, staging a heist on genre boundaries, stuffing melodic fragments and jagged horn arrangements into pulse-driven getaway vehicles. Each track feels crate-dug despite being freshly mintedโvintage future hip-hop that J Rocc would swear existed on some impossible to find ’73 pressing. Characteristic Eldh fashion: making “no rules” sound like the only law worth following. – CFS
Eje Eje – Primordial Soup
Itamar Kluger, founder and multi-instrumentalist of the Turkish psychedelic rock band ลatellites, is back on the solo tip. With Eje Eje, Kluger explores a more intimate, experimental approach to his craft. The project finds him blending traditional Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music with psychedelic rock, funk, dub, and modern beat production techniques. Released via Batov Records, ‘Primordial Soup’ takes its name from the scientific theory about the origins of life. Kluger explains the conceptual depth: “‘Primordial Soup’ is a scientific theory about how life began – thick mixtures of organic matter that, with the sun’s energy, formed self-replicating systems. I still feel sometimes we are just some kind of walking soup bound by a skin balloon”. Album opener ‘Oyun รorbasฤฑ’ is a masterwork of playful fusion. The title cleverly plays on “Oyun Havalarฤฑ” (traditional Turkish dance tunes) and “รงorba” (soup), reflecting the track’s mix of influences. The tight grooves from drummer Raz Man mingle effortlessly with phased baglama riffs and swirling keys. The Bride’ is a vibrant collaboration inspired by Lebanese weddings, blending traditional Middle Eastern elements with dancefloor energy. Multi-instrumentalist Elad Kimhi lends his synth work to the track. The album’s darkest moment, ‘Horrorizon’, is a cinematic, immersive piece featuring relentless drums, hypnotic basslines, and harsh bouzouki textures. Kluger envisions it as a “riding song for an old carriage wobbling its way down a muddy road into the unknown night,” reflecting concerns about humanity’s direction. Kluger is an artist who captivates the ears with deeply resonant music. – IA
