This week’s guide is by CF Smith and contributors Words By Shoaib, Neil G, and Irfan Ayaan.
We’re back with a new edition of Between The Cracks. As ever we thrive in the underground, and cherish those adventurous artist who relish creating something truly distinctive. From DakhaBrakha to Robohands we have six releases that live in the spaces unoccupied by the mainstream and refuse to be neatly pigeonholed into any one box. Dive into our latest selection, and if something tickles your eardrums, follow the buy link to make it yours! Enjoy the music, and have a great weekend!
Albums
DakhaBrakha – Ptakh
‘Ptakh’, or “The Bird”, is the first full studio album of the Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha in five years. Released on Christmas Day 2025, the band’s signature “ethno-chaos” sonic beauty effortlessly blends with flavours of traditional Eastern European folk, ominous vocal chants, and riveting techno beats. All 14 tracks on the album effortlessly transition from ritual intensity to joyful energy. Songs like Trypilske Techno, You Lie, and Plyve Choven capture the very essence of the album. And that is to show themes of longing for freedom and a raw connection to one’s motherland. Recorded in Kyiv, Ptakh explores different emotional zones, shifting from immense grief to ecstatic celebration. The album is, without a doubt, a powerful cultural statement and a groundbreaking force in modern music. The album is a brilliant comeback for DakhaBrakha, and it showcases the enduring resilience of Ukrainian music and the quartet’s excellent mastery of transforming tradition into something universal and passionate. – NG
U.e. (Ulla) – Other Girl
As a companion to Hometown Girl, Other Girl operates in dustier, more intimate registers, shape-shifting through ten economical compositions that prioritise space over statement. Back of Head introduces surreal, slightly off-kilter atmospherics, establishing the album’s deliberately fragmented aesthetic. Weird Door and Hole in the Water develop hypnagogic soundscapes in which vocals interact with processed instrumentation in a deliberate state of ambiguity. Baggy and Scribble showcase whimsical, almost childlike compositional sensibilities paired with sophisticated production choices. Elf marks a tonal shift toward pastoral reverie, while Low Melody functions as a stark interlude. Slow Duck and Note conclude with meditative grace. Ulla’s approach privileges texture over virtuosity, creating an album that inhabits the listener rather than impressing them. This is intimate, shape-shifting music that rewards patient attention, essential for those seeking genuine compositional idiosyncrasy. – IA
YĪN YĪN – Yatta
YĪN YĪN’s Yatta! feels like a band entirely comfortable inside its own orbit. Not chasing novelty, not stuck in nostalgia either. This is groove music with patience, confidence, and a real sense of play. The quartet keeps pulling from disco, funk, surf, psychedelia, and Southeast Asian motifs. Still, the blend feels tighter and more intentional than before. Everything locks into motion. Nothing rushes. The album’s strength lies in its physicality. Basslines stretch and loop, guitars shimmer without showing off, and the drums stay hypnotic rather than explosive. It’s danceable, sure, but also deeply cinematic, like background music for an imaginary road trip that keeps drifting east. Two early standouts say a lot about the record’s range. ‘Spirit Adapter’ glides forward on a rubbery bass groove and warm synth pulses, quietly addictive and endlessly replayable. ‘Yata Yata’ leans harder into disco propulsion, all forward momentum and sunlit swagger, the kind of track that lifts a room without demanding attention. What this really means is simple: Yatta! sounds like a band that knows exactly who it is, and is having fun proving it. – WBS
Imarhan – Essam
On January 16th, Colin’s birthday was really full of musical gifts. Istanbul Sessions, plus this one and the next two picks, all dropped that fine day! Imarhan’s Essam, released via City Slang, is the sound of a band choosing movement over comfort. The familiar Tuareg guitar lines are still here, but they’re no longer carrying everything on their backs. Instead, they’re woven into modular electronics, loops, and subtle processing that open the music rather than sand it down. The shift feels deliberate, not cosmetic. Essam breathes. Recording at their own Aboogi Studio in Tamanrasset matters. You can hear the space, the patience, the confidence of a band working on its own terms. The electronics never dominate. They hover, pulse, and blur the edges, giving the album a hypnotic forward pull that feels modern without losing its desert-rooted soul. Two tracks make that evolution clear. ‘Derhan N’Oulhine’ is quietly gripping, built on cyclical guitar phrases and a low, electronic undercurrent that locks you into its rhythm. ‘Azaman Amoutay’ stretches time even further, layering percussion and processed textures into a meditative, weightless sound. What this really means is that ‘Essam’ isn’t a break from Imarhan’s identity. It’s an expansion of it. – WBS
Jana Horn – Jana Horn
Birthday treat number two! Jana Horn’s self-titled album feels like a quiet room you step into by accident and end up staying far longer than planned. It’s sparse, but never empty. Every pause feels intentional, every line weighed before being let go. The album leans into restraint, drawing strength from what’s left unsaid, and that’s where its emotional pull lives. There are echoes of Young Marble Giants in the minimalism, Syd Barrett in the gentle oddness, and Broadcast in the hazy melodic touch, but Horn’s voice keeps it grounded and unmistakably hers. Her songwriting moves like prose, observant, slightly detached, yet deeply felt. Two early standouts set the tone. ‘All in bet’ drifts patiently, carried by a looping guitar figure that feels suspended in thought, as if the song is circling an idea it’s not ready to name. ‘Come on’ is warmer and more direct, with a subtly insistent rhythm, pairing emotional vulnerability with an almost conversational ease. What this album ultimately rewards is attention. Sit with it, and it slowly opens up, revealing depth through stillness rather than force. – WBS
Robohands – Oranj
Birthday treat number three! Another earwormy early 2026 release that dropped on my birthday. I missed it (busy celebrating, i guess), but I’m having fun catching up with this and the two above. ‘Oranj’ is a wondrous analogue daydream recorded between Chicago’s Rax Trax and London’s Dock Street Studios, where Andy Baxter, aka Robohands, does his one‑man band thing with Francesca Uberti dropping by with Rhodes lines. Revelling in vintage gear from valve‑soaked outboard, thumping ’60s Fender Jazz bass, Twin Reverb shimmer, and a Hammond/Leslie combo that whirls like a time machine. Baxter channels’ 60s/’70s jazz‑fusion and late-’70s/’80s film soundtracks, retro in its bones but with a modern flair. Tracks like ‘Leonid The Athlete’ and Regular Exercise’ are spacious and restrained. While ‘New Era’ and ‘Object’ head towards more experimental territory. One thing I know for sure is that the additive-heavy/soft drum-solo ‘Recreation’ is going to be on rotation for some time. Comprising 14 tracks totalling 34 minutes, the album is short but very enticing. – CFS
