Guitarist Masatomo Yoshizawa teams up withbassist/composer/producer Hiroki Chiba and drummer Wataru Mitsunaga to form the new band blah bruh. Their debut album BLUE EVENING “captures the deepening gradient of blue that stretches from dusk into night-quiet, intimate, and gently glowing.” The trio’s interplay unfolds like an animated musical conversation, with each musician responding to and reshaping the others in real time. Their spontaneous exchanges are enveloped in ethereal textures and spacious, atmospheric sound design, creating a cinematic sense of openness that evokes an “ambient Americana” sensibility, music that suggests wide landscapes, quiet roads, and expansive skies. Head to their contemplative instrumental cover of Madonna’s classic ‘Like a Virgin’, then go from there. I’ve already got that track tapped for a future Monday Mix! Hit play and drift into the warm, radiant sounds of blah bruh – pure, glowing audio goodness.

Finnish composer and sonic tinkerer Aki Yli-Salomäki teams up with string sorceress Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä for Viriää, a record that floats somewhere between contemporary classical and ambient dreamscape. Imagine layers of strings weaving in and out of gentle electronic textures, everything moving at its own unhurried pace. The music stretches out, lets resonances hang in the air, and finds magic in the tiniest changes of colour. Over 10 tracks, the duo creates a spacious sound world where acoustic warmth snuggles up with subtle electronic undercurrents. This is an album that rewards patience and close attention.

Since Kikagaku Moyo went on hiatus in 2022, Tomo Katsurada has been carving out a more personal, interdisciplinary space. Having relocated to Amsterdam, he co-founded Future Days Shop, a concept store and workshop with his partner, Eloïse Ptito, that combines music, clothing, and art. He released his debut solo project, Dream of the Egg, in 2024, and earlier this year, Katsurada shared a brilliant collaborative album (see here) with Estonian composer and multi-instrumentalist Misha Panfilov, titled Eternal Almost. He returns with a second collaborative record this time with the master of patient, spacious minimalism Jonny Nash. The pair began collaborating closely first on Dream of the Egg and now on At the Emerald Pool. Their blend of gentle folk, ambient guitar, soft vocals, and improvisation across 10 tracks is quietly addicting. A really, really beautiful piece of music. 

We always have time for new music from Cantrips here at Twistedsoul. The project of Melbourne artist, DJ, and label head Patrick Ryan has been a fave of ours for a few years, and he continues to pique our interest with his new track, The King Slumbers.  The track combines cinematic soul, library music, and 1970s-inspired composition, with a looping synth motif evolving into guitar, bass, and drums. A dazzling stop‑gap that’ll keep us more than satisfied while we wait to see where Cantrips wander next.

The Myth We Choose is Nduduzo Makhathini opening a new, deeper chapter in his music. As a fan, what floored me is how he turns this idea of “the myths we choose” into something you can actually hear: songs that move between prayer, reflection and full, glowing ensemble passages, all pieced together by his unmistakable piano voice. Having his son Thingo co-produce adds beautiful emotional layer, and you can feel that sense of lineage in the way the album brings in his wife Omagugu along with musical friends Dalisu Ndlazi, Lukmil Perez, Black Coffee, Shabaka, Thando Zide, Muneyi and more without ever diluting his core sound; instead, the record becomes this expansive ritual where jazz, African spiritual tradition and contemporary textures sit side by side, making it his most vibrant and beautifully alive Blue Note release so far.