Treat your taste buds to these mouthwatering leftovers!
We spotlight as much greatness as we can, but a few gems inevitably slip past. That’s why The Leftovers exists: every Friday, we dish out five releases we couldn’t ignore in quick, tasty bites. This week brings new finds from KAU, Cocanha, Blademasters, and more. Dig in and savour the finds.
A lot of remixes are bland interpretations of songs that add little extra value. That’s not the case with Unknown Waveforms Restrung, by Brussels-based trio KAU. The new EP revisits material from their latest album through an acoustic, collaborative lens. Recorded live with Cologne’s blu/quartet, it reimagines cr_eye, isle_of_man, and dive_deep with newly developed arrangements that go far beyond simple adaptation, offering deeper, more exploratory reinterpretations of the originals. In the case of ‘isle_of_man’, I think this new version is better than the original. Listen below.
After lighting things up with ‘Feed the Fireflies’ last month, Northern Ireland composer and producer Hannah Peel and Londonโbased Chinese percussionist Beibei Wang drop a second teaser from The Endless Dance, their new album arriving May 22nd via Real World Records. The new track ‘Awaken The Insects’ places Wang’s voice as a key percussive element, rapping in a rhythmic duet with bamboo clappers called Kuai Ban (ๅฟซๆฟ). She sounds angry and defiant, but she’s actually reciting a tongue-twister she learnt as a child. The interplay between Peel and Wang feels like a conversation spoken in two dialects of the same language. This is absolute genius – take a listen below!
Cocanha have been around for a while, but this is our first time hearing their deeply hypnotic and powerful music. The duo of Caroline Dufau and Lila Fraysse sing in Occitan, a language rooted in Southern France and stretching into parts of Italy and Spain, yet one that has endured decades of state-supported marginalisation. As they prepare the release of their new album, Flame Folclรฒre, the duo shares the first single, Clam. This piece features a lively, springy rhythm that ebbs and flows, paired with powerful lyrics that boldly condemn the French state’s active suppression of the Occitan language. It captures both the struggle and the spirit of cultural resilience. Click play below, you won’t regret it!
Blademasters, aka Lachlan Stuckey (Surprise Chef) and Patrick Ryan (Cantrips), channel David Axelrod’s cinematic jazz – delicate interlocking acoustic guitars meet dramatic rhythm section, recorded live in Melbourne. Released on Ryan’s Melbourne-based Dune Castle Records, the debut double-sider King’s Knight / Live By The Blade was recorded live, with a rhythm section featuring members of Karate Boogaloo, Surprise Chef and Let Your Hair Down. Get involved below.
Anthony Joseph recently returned with a killer new track, Blue Susan. The T.S. Eliot Prize laureate poet’s new single, produced by Dave Okumu, is a deep dub atmosphere, smouldering soul and fractured electronic funk moving with a slow, sensual, off-centre pulse. One for the mind, body and soul.
