This week’s guide is by CF Smith and contributors Words By Shoaib, Neil G, Imran Mirza, and Irfan Ayaan.
Welcome to our latest edition of Between the Cracks, where the strange and beautiful tend to gather. So, another week wraps up, and with it comes six fresh discoveries that have slipped onto our radar. This time we’re spotlighting new releases from Eva Novoa, Shy One, Finn Streuper, Henriette Eilertsen Trio, among others. Settle in, enjoy the music, and keep showing love to the artists and labels who make it all possible.
Albums
Eva Novoa – Solo (I)
All About Jazz noted in their review that Eva Novoa can be “a difficult listen,” and that tension and unease are part of the appeal of her new album. Solo (I) finds Novoa stripping her music to its essentials without losing any intensity. Across six solo pieces, she uses piano, Rhodes, gongs, voice, and whistling to turn improvisation into something intimate, raw, and cinematic rather than merely virtuosic. What stands out is the balance of tension and grace; the jagged, percussive passages of ‘Left Behind’ give way to the warmth and stillness of ‘Stilte Cabine’. Instead of treating solo piano as a showcase, Novoa makes it feel like a live inner monologue – restless, searching, and deeply expressive. – NG
Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere – Theta Seven
With Theta Seven, the final chapter in a journey that began back in 2012, Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere closes their long-running “proposal” series with something immersive and unapologetically cosmic. Released via Discus Music, the album unfolds as a seamless continuum, best experienced in one sitting. The core idea hasn’t changed: krautrock pulse, free jazz volatility, psychedelic drift. But here it feels distilled. Live studio improvisations are carved and reassembled into a fluid arc that moves from luminous calm to shadowed density and back again. Nothing feels random. Even the chaos sounds intentional. The opening track offers a perfect entry point. ‘Aether Rises’, a beautiful duet for guzheng and double bass, is the perfect introduction to the album’s thematic essence, with lush sound layers. ‘A Blessing In Azure’ carries a celebratory lift, layering rhythm and melody into a bright, forward glide. In contrast, ‘Under The Azure’ stretches outward, darker and more expansive, letting texture and repetition do the heavy lifting. The stunning ‘Moonride’ is a celebration of colour and sound, combining joyous instrumentation with expressive vocals. ‘Unbound’ invites a sense of mystery through its warped, twisted, jazzy experimental exploration. Their joyous cover of Sun Ra’s ‘That’s How I Feel’ is an undeniable highlight. The exquisite closer, ‘Aithre Rests’, a gorgeous piece for guzheng and violin, mirrors the album’s opening. As a closing statement, Theta Seven doesn’t simplify the band’s vision. It deepens it, then lets it drift into the upper atmosphere one last time. – WBS
Omar Ríos Meléndez and Alex Wilson – The Art of Deep Connection
The late, great vibraphonist and bandleader Roy Ayers once said, “The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.” It’s an inspired – and somewhat humble – assessment of music and of the artist’s own place within the delivery of that message, but fascinatingly, the latest release from Alex Wilson and Omar Ríos Meléndez offers up the idea that in some cases the message itself may not be the most prevalent aspect of the project. Sometimes the conversation – the real-time musical negotiation of thoughts and ideas – can serve as the basis for a project’s over-arching meaning. Incredibly, ‘The Art of Deep Connection’ marks the first full-length release from pianist Alex Wilson and guitarist Omar Ríos Meléndez. Having only first played together in 2021, the kinship they discovered for each other as performers was instant and thankfully embraced, leading to the release of their first, hopefully of many, collaborative efforts. ‘The Art of Deep Connection’ proves not only a scintillating exchange between Ríos Meléndez’s guitar and Wilson’s piano but also a project indicative of each’s values and extensive musical make-up. Featuring a mix of covers and newly-composed pieces, the album proves a definitively joyous experience: a suitably enlightened take on ‘La Mora Limpia’ kicks the album off in vibrant fashion, followed by arguably the album’s brightest moment in the deeply infectious perspective on Luis Enrique’s salsa gem, ‘Yo No Sé Mañana’. There’s something of an added treat in that each artist affords themselves the luxury of a solo offering on the album – ‘Bésame Mucho’ for Wilson and ‘Water Reflections’ for Ríos Meléndez – both sublimely performed, highlighting the proficiency of each artist in elegant fashion. If we further consider Ayers’ opening perspective that the musicians are merely conduits in delivering the message, then ‘The Art of Deep Connection’ boldly proposes that perhaps the message can be born of the interaction itself. While having something to say is undoubtedly a gift, having someone to say it with can be all the more meaningful. – IM
Shy One – Mali
Named after her given name, Shy One turns autobiography into atmosphere in Mali. Over ten tracks, house, broken beat, grime, jazz, and London memory dissolve into each other. Shy One frames Mali as an ode to personal growth and to Black British and diasporic sonic lineage, and you can hear that depth in the music. Even at its most club-facing, Mali never sounds eager to prove its eclecticism; it moves with the confidence of someone who has already lived inside these sounds long enough to bend them to her own emotional weather. Guests like George Riley, Private Joy, Steve Spacek, and James Massiah add texture rather than detour, and the best moments, particularly ‘I Can Tell’, ‘Moonlight’, and ‘Driving On Sand’ arrive with that rare double-charge of physical lift and emotional warmth. Seriously, this is top-drawer stuff. – IA
Finn Streuper – What It’s Like to Be a Bat
I first discovered this album via Alex Lester’s ever‑reliable Chaotic Good Jazz SubStack. Alex’s taste is impeccable, and if you’re not following him yet, you’re missing out. His recommendations are essential listening and a constant source of brilliant finds (see Henriette Eilertsen Trio below). With What It’s Like to Be a Bat, Finn Streuper delivers a debut that, for Alex and me, immediately echoes the celestial calm of Nala Sinephro’s Space 1.8. Like Sinephro, the harp is at the centre of his sound, and the song titles, like those of her first album, are also organised numerically. And beyond that, it’s not because he imitates her sound, but because he shares that ability to make space, and weightlessness feel like an instrument in itself. Streuper builds a sonic environment that’s airy yet grounded, full of soft pulses, drifting harmonics, and quiet wonder. I love the way Streuper lets the tones drift, collide, and dissolve into one another. The opening track, What It’s Like to Be a Bat 1, sets the tone beautifully, an exploratory ambient jazz journey packed into a brilliant 2 minutes and 42 seconds. The contemplative second and third pieces drift into a more experimental, meditative folk space, creating a gentle contrast before the album shifts again. Later on, tracks seven and eight push into more new age terrain, widening the palette. The sweeping cinematics of track nine build lovingly into track ten, creating one of the album’s most seamless transitions. And the deeper you travel, the more experimental Streuper becomes, pulling you further into the album’s curious, shape‑shifting and absorbing world. From tracks 13 to 18, it shines brightest. These pieces feel bolder, freer, and more exploratory, showcasing the Streuper at its most inventive. Press play and allow Finn Streuper to slide you away to a better place. – CFS
Henriette Eilertsen Trio – Moder
If it wasn’t for the writings on this trio by Alex Lester (yep, him again) over at Chaotic Good Jazz, I wouldn’t have discovered this wonderful album. Or, to put it another way, it’ve taken me a little longer to stumble across it. Anyway, I digress… Moder is steered by Norwegian flautist Henriette Eilertsen, joined by Joel Ring on cello and Øystein Aarnes Vik on drums, with Jon Balke stepping in on keys and percussion for several tracks. Actually, two of the tracks featuring Balke are highlights, ‘Medieval + Moren’ and ‘Kulturistisk inngang’. With Moder, you get a whole spectrum of intelligent, delightfully colourful musical thinking, from the groove‑soaked swagger of Meeting Joyce to the quietly spiritual calm of So Ro, and the utterly transfixing Darn den draumen (the flute playing is insane). Across six minutes, Eilertsen sends her flute sailing over a backdrop that keeps shifting shape, each new layer adding grit, distortion, and a little more beautiful chaos to the mix. This beautifully eccentric album hit me with a rush of feelings on first listen, and now, a few weeks down the line, I can only urge you to spend time with this strange and stunning creation. – CFS
