Review: So what happens when a European post-punk outfit meets an American 'ambient country ensemble'? The answer: A Nanocluster. In fact, three. This being the third. Immersion first met SUSS in September 2021, and the results were mesmerising. Three years on and the impact was no less staggering. Originally landing in September 2024, part tres takes us into the kind of musical places we're used to finding Spiritualized or Mogwai, and even then the references are misleading. For as many times as Nanocluster Vol. 3 sucks us into a thick soup of ambient and atmosphere, inviting us to get lost in opiate cloud formations, it also asks us to jump on board a stream train of rolling and driving rhythms, juggernauts gathering depth and complexity as they forge ahead. A stunning collection of highly evocative and incredible musical instrumentals.
Review: American indie folk artist Joan Shelley returns with Mood Ring, an emo-chromic new record. Celebrated for her soft and folky sound, Shelley's latest follows 2020's The Spur, which did develop one of her many MOs: to orchestrally augment Americana music. Yet it lacked much of the stylistic variation on display here on Mood Ring, which flaunts the breadth of her talent through chambered, variably galvanic songs. A curious formal exercise, too, the record is an LP but contains nothing on the B-side, sparing the listener the unseemly chore of having to flip it over. This is as much an "ahh"-inducing record as can be, then, with 'Fire Of The Morning' restoring the listener to health after, the lyrics attest, singeing our ears in an allegorical housefire; and 'I Look After You' concluding things on a blue, cushioned vocal ostinato.
Review: Alabaster DePlume's latest album is a meditation on self-worth and healing, drawing from his poetry book Looking for My Value: Prologue to a Blade, he crafts 11 tracks that feel deeply personal yet universal. His saxophone, sometimes fluid, sometimes jagged, acts as both voice and emphasis on the likes of opener 'Oh My Actual Days' swells with sax and Macie Stewart's ghostly strings, a slow march toward reckoning. 'Thank You My Pain' turns its mantra-like refrain into a rhythmic meditation on discomfort. 'Invincibility' lifts into choral release, a breath after holding under water. The instrumental 'Prayer for My Sovereign Dignity' is an anthem for self-possession, while 'Form a V' channels the discipline of jiu-jitsu, inviting confrontation. Unlike his past, more improvisation-led works, this is tightly composed, arranged and produced by DePlume himself - and the result is direct, unflinching and deeply felt.
Review: Japanese singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ichiko Aoba is a merchant of the most soothing emotions. Whack this on and you'll be reaching for your incense burner, dimming the lights and switching off your phone as you bask in its elegance. The lead single 'Luciferine' has a lackadaisical flow, with graceful piano and strings underpinning Aoba's pure voice, which introduces the album's central theme of bioluminescence to striking effect. Whilst some musicians wing it through "feel" Ichiko is classically trained and her hard work has paid off - she's had a few great earners along the way, collaborating with Nintendo on the Zelda soundtrack - and had the honour of working with Ryuichi Sakamoto. This new album of hers goes a long way in pushing her brand of Japanese folk-pop towards legendary status - you can envision this being one that will be reissued in 40 years' time.
Review: Japanese folk singer-songwriter Ichiko Aoaba has built up quite a catalogue of albums and singles since making her debut 15 years ago, subtly expanding on her sparse acoustic sound via the use of effects, strings and other instrumentation associated with the British folk revival of the 1960s. On Luminescent Creatures, her first studio album for five years, she continues this quiet expansion of her trademark style, underpinning her gorgeously sweet and emotive, intricately arranged lead vocals with a mix of acoustic guitar, strings, piano, field recordings and traditional Japanese instruments. The results are breathtakingly beautiful and deliciously dreamy, with highlights including 'Flag', the inspired 'Luciferine' and the haunting swell of 'SONAR'.
Review: Miami-born contemporary guitarist Bill Orcutt is known for his infatuating blend of blues, punk, trance and noise. With the release of Four Guitars Live on CD, he could've easily convinced us of this being a rare and long-forgotten artefact, of a proto-drone artist from the Deltaic 1960s. In reality, this was first incarnated in 2022 under the recorded name Music For Four Guitars, and Orcutt's establishing brand of doom-blues-trance-minimalism could invite artistic comparisons as far-fetched as Steve Reich or Rachika Nayar. But his sound is more nostalgic, seeming to predict emo and pysch both "before" and after the fact of the genre's establishment. Fittingly Reichean, Orcutt forms one part of a quartet here, performing the record in its entirety live at Le Guess Who? festival in Utrecht, 2023.
Review: Vashti Bunyan's latest piece offers a serene journey through delicate folk landscapes. The expanded edition takes these already beautiful tracks and enhances them, giving them a richer, fuller texture. Bunyan's soft vocals, laden with vulnerability, intertwine perfectly with the gentle instrumentation, creating an album that's both calming and emotionally stirring. It's easy to see why it became a cult classiciher ethereal storytelling and minimalistic approach resonate with anyone who's ever sought solace in music's simplicity. This edition elevates it further, making it an essential listen.
Review: If any album comes close to the beauty of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 2025 it's this. It's difficult to imagine anyone else nailing melodic, acoustic guitar-oriented music that treads in gospel, blues and pastoral psychedelia better than this supergroup. Could Bernard Butler be on his way to another Mercury Prize nomination with this? They've got a strong case for it. The band itself is something a little different and formed by popular demand. Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) Bernard Butler (Suede) and James Grant (Love and Money) originally got together for one occasion, at Saint Luke's in Glasgow in 2022 for Celtic Connections, but the power of them together was so great they've been talked into putting an album out. They've gone about it in quite a pragmatic way, with each member labelling which songs theirs, as opposed to all trying to write the same song at the same time. Makes sense really.
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