This week’s guide is by CF Smith and contributors Arifur Rahman, Neil G, and Gavin Senaratne.
Hey all, It’s Friday, the day we share a new Between The Cracks. As usual we’re spotlighting six releases that deserve your ears. This week brings a beautifully varied batch: deep‑listening meditations, groove‑driven explorations, cosmic jams, and two standout EPs. Hanakiv returns with her second album. Jnbo delivers a family affair, plus Amir Bresler continues to blur the lines between jazz, beat‑making, and global rhythmic grooves. Wet Tuna stretch out once again with their signature cosmic looseness. Black Flower return with a short set that hits with their usual blend of Ethio‑jazz, groove, and hypnotic horn lines. Lastly, newcomers Blair / Huber combine virtuosic musicianship with a fresh, modern approach to jazz. We hope you’ll find some music you love and feel excited to hit the buy button. Check out our latest picks below.
Albums
Hanakiv – Interlude
Hanakiv, the Estonian-born, London-based painist, composer and now singer known for her deeply beautiful neoclassical sound, returns with her second album, Interlude. This eleven-track exploration moves through prepared piano, murmuring strings, soft electronics and a newly central voice with the poise of someone who knows exactly how little is needed to devastate. There is grief here, and memory, and the strange suspended feeling of life briefly pausing; but there is also warmth, and hope, in the spaces between the notes. What’s most striking is Hanakiv’s refusal to overstate. Tracks such as ‘Sunbeams’, ‘Numb’ and ‘Ma Langen’ drift with an almost spectral grace, while the prepared piano gives everything a worn, tactile intimacy, as if the songs were being played inside the grain of the wood itself. Her expanded range is also hinted at in the lineup, most notably Vega Trails’ Milo Fitzpatrick, who not only anchors the record with his double bass but also co-writes the newly reworked ‘Intro’ and ‘Stillness’, giving both tracks a deeper, more deliberate feel. If Goodbyes introduced Hanakiv as a compelling minimalist, Interlude sounds like the work of a fully formed artist with a deeper, darker, more distinctive voice. – CFS
Jnbo – & Friends
Melbourne/Naarm is full of talent, but you already knew that. One of my favourite duos of the last ten years, the now-defunct CS+Kreme, put me onto a whole new world of music. From their slow, atmospheric, and often “hallucinatory” sound, I discovered acts like Troth, Dregs, a.s.o, HTRK, M. Quake, Jonnine and Carla dal Forno. These acts leaned towards more trip-hop adjacent, electronic and alternative sounds. Of course, the always-on-it Gilles Peterson got wise to Melbourne’s vibrant jazz and soul underground and in 2019, he released a compilation, Sunny Side Up. This project, supported by a documentary, showcased the city’s close-knit, experimental scene blending jazz, hip-hop, and house, Phil Stroud, Dufresne, Kuzich, Audrey Powne, the Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Laneous, Horatio Luna, and Alysha Joy. Like we said at the start, the Melbourne/Naarm talent pool runs deep, and I’m not quite sure when I got hip to the likes of Karate Boogaloo, The Pro Teens, Cantrips, Surprise Chef and that whole universe that orbits around labels like College of Knowledge and artists like Hudson Whitlock, Patrick Ryan and Henry Jenkins. These artists sit in the same broad universe of instrumental soul, funk, and cinematic groove, but each has its own flavour. Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef are Melbourne’s deep‑funk minimalists; The Pro‑Teens are their weirdo, DOOM‑obsessed cousin; Cantrips is the outlier, rooted in folk as much as funk. Across & Friends, composer, producer/engineer and bass player Henry Jenkins aka Jnbo brings together his community of Hudson Whitlock, Darvid Thor and Callum Riley (Karate Boogaloo), Lachlan Stuckey and Jethro Curtin (Surprise Chef), Lewis Coleman and Lena Douglas (The Cactus Channel) to realise unconventional arrangements across three guitars, piano, string synthesizer, Hammond organ, drums and bass, with Jenkins himself assuming bass guitar and production duties. ‘Dogs’ and ‘Missing’ are undeniable singles, but if you’re looking for more left-of-centre moments, head to ‘False Cut’, ‘Blood Nose’ and ‘Close’. Some albums demand attention; this one just goes about its business quietly, earning it. You really need to give this wonderful album a listen. – CFS
Wet Tuna – Vast
The Vermont-based psychedelic project Wet Tuna, led by Matt Valentine, continues to defy genre boundaries. Joining MV on their new album, ‘Vast,’ are Erika “EE” Elder and Jim Bliss, who, over 12 tracks, blend the signature Wet Tuna vibe of psychedelic rock, rural funk, dubbed-out electro, and twisted free folk. The album starts with the dreamy free folk of ‘Epic View’ that lays the foundation for a relaxed, immersive song. The instrumentals are joined by smooth, low vocals uttering simple lyrics. The song sets an easygoing vibe for the rest of the LP. The third track, ‘Being’, reflects the band’s experimental music style, starting with synths and harmonising with soft electric guitar strums, creating a breezy, relaxing ambience. The soft vocals over the cacophonous instrumentals create a surreal musical experience that immerses the listener. The track smoothly mixes Western instruments such as guitar, bass, and clarinet with classical instruments such as Indian drums, “tabla,” and synthesised sounds. Free Folk Humanoid is a warped free folk trip with spacey, experimental grooves. The LP closes with the pleasantly disorienting, beautifully titled ‘Phenomenal Bullshit’. This is an album to savour and revisit. Turn on, tune in, drop out. – AR
Amir Bresler – See What Happens
Over the past decade, Amir Bresler has quietly built a reputation as one of the most imaginative rhythmic minds to emerge from Tel Aviv’s fertile jazz scene. Described as a “nostalgic collection”, the album features a wide array of artists from the Tel Aviv scene, including Raw Tapes family members KerenDun, Rejoicer, Nitai Hershkovits, Jenny Penkin, Nomok and more. Bresler has always blurred the line between acoustic spontaneity and studio experimentation, and his latest album, ‘See What Happens’, truly brings that philosophy to life. a vibrant collection of miniature compositions recorded over 12 years, this album plays like a curated time capsule of creative impulses. What unifies these tracks and prevents them from sounding disjointed is Bresler’s touch: supple, polyrhythmic drumming and a production style that balances live instrumentation with programmed textures without sacrificing warmth. The title track, ‘See What Happens,’ featuring KerenDun, sets the tone with its tight, elastic groove that feels simultaneously laid-back and intricately detailed. Rather than staying in a fixed form, the tune unfolds organically, as though the musicians were discovering its structure in real time. Tracks like ‘Tri Tree’, ‘Who Will Hold Your Hand’ and ‘7am Dreams’ are powerful moments that demonstrate Bresler’s talent for crafting mood and atmosphere. See What Happens is best experienced as an adventurous sonic scrapbook. Longtime listeners will find familiar rhythmic ingenuity and creative breadth here, while newcomers can enjoy a genre-fluid entry point that’s both fun and stimulating. – GS
EP’s
Black Flower – Motions
A year after Kinetic, the Belgian quintet Black Flower return with Motions, a new three‑track EP. Born from the creative surplus of Kinetic and sharpened by a long run of European shows, these supposed leftovers are better than most people’s main course. Brief, intoxicating, and far more transportive than its modest running time suggests. ‘Diagonal Walk’ struts in first, all live-wire groove and side-eyed swagger; ‘Trip To The Store’ makes the title sound like a mundane errand undertaken on mescaline; and ‘Out Of One, Many’ blends polyrhythm and shimmering harmony. What’s most enjoyable is how little this quintet care for tidy genre borders. Black Flower is clearly creating the music they desire without compromise. – NG
Blair / Huber – IN A NEW ORDER
As a blog built on discovering and elevating new talent, we’re thrilled to introduce Blair / Huber. Formed by award-winning saxophonist Darius Blair and acclaimed guitarist Niko Huber, the duo combines virtuosic musicianship with a fresh, modern approach to jazz. Comprising four tracks, their debut EP serves as a captivating showcase of their enormous talent. Infectious sax melodies, rich musical compositions, and refined guitar work converge, giving the musical storytelling a textured, expressive backbone. From the stillness of ‘NO GROUND’ to the stripped‑back warmth of the title‑track closer, the project locks listeners into its magnetic ebb and flow. The duo’s interplay is effortless, and nowhere more vivid than on ‘ROOM TO ROOM’ where their chemistry blooms into a fulid, slow‑burning exchange. Welcome to the emergence of two new bold voices in today’s jazz landscape. – CFS
