New releases last two weeks: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz

Review: We'll jump at the chance to talk about anyone affiliated with the mysterious SAULT collective. One of their most prominent voices, Cleo Sol, has here teamed up with her longtime producer friend Inflo for her second album, 'Mother'. This 12-track LP spans neo-soul, jazz and folk, and chronicles Sol's turbulent transition into motherhood. Across solitary ballads like 'Sunshine' and radiant folk dirges like 'Know That You Are Loved' and 'Promises', this album sounds purer in contrast to her debut 'Rose In The Dark'. Watch out for the hidden tracks on this vinyl edition.

Review: This third collaborative album between Scream & P. Rock takes inspiration from a trip to Brazil, where they collected samples in Rio. As such the sounds blend Brazilian grooves, bass synths, live percussion, funky drums, guitar solos and vintage breaks with raw, experimental touches into an album full of life. The duo's signature sound is a fusion of their own DJing and music production and is ever more refined, having been crafted over the course of a year. Cinematic arrangements and a fresh approach to sampling make this another great chapter in this duo's musical story.

Review: Steve Spacek makes a welcome return with 'Blue Room' i a smooth, slow-burning blend of broken beat, minimal soul, and futuristic electronics. Known for his work with the influential group Spacek and collaborations with the likes of Mark Pritchard and SA-RA - aside from beign brother of Exit Records mogul dBridge - Spacek has long operated at the outer edges of UK soul and electronic music. This release continues that tradition i understated, groove-led and rich in atmosphere. The title track is quietly hypnotic, built on a loose, off-grid rhythm and his signature airy vocals. Subtle and spacious, 'Blue Room' doesn't demand attention, but rewards close listening.

Review: James Donadio returns to Diagonal with Tinge Of Ascension, his first LP under the StabUdown banner in over a year. Written during a period of immersion in Krishna Consciousness and Dharma Yoga, the record filters Donadio's longstanding fascination with rhythm and repetition through a newly inward, psi attuned lens. Gone is the body music of his earlier output; these nine drift in and out of tempo, suspended in an unhindered, devotional murk. Lo-fi drum machinations ground various loop dissolutions and smear-structures, where things might otherwise lose themselves in an unfound pool of texture, this being true especially of the latter-record Charanjit Singh echo 'Singular Cobra' to the zooid drumming of 'Golden Firmament'.

Review: Greg Surmacz's latest LP finds him joined by a full live band and serving up jazz-inspired instrumentation with electronic styles like footwork, IDM and ambient, all enriched by deep, resonant bass that melds genres. It's a record that elevates both his musicianship and ambition and it flows with dynamic terrain, balancing tension and release while integrating both organic and electronic textures. Lead single 'Loft Music' captures this spirit with scattered percussion, urgent synths and bold horns and the whole thing is inspired by New York's 1970s loft jazz scene. Surmacz channels its freeform energy and builds something raw, direct and powerful where intensity only climbs as the album progresses.

Review: Nicola Conte and Nico Lahs, both Bari-born producers pushing the boundaries of underground Afro-Latin and jazzdance, hear the warmest of intros through their friends over at Schema Italy, their sound pivoting a careful Newtonian balance between presence and nostalgia. The roomy but distant highs of 'Macumba De Oxala' contrast strongly yet subtly to the hifi plinks and percs of 'La Danse De L'Esprit', on the latter of which we hear visiting production fellow Oaklandian Lalin St Juste add an ancestral vocal magic. This first EP is only a start, with a second 12" and a resultant double LP planned.

Review: More than two decades away informed on this latest Totally Wired compilation: A New Collection From Acid Jazz, a fresh chapter in one of the label's most defining projects. Originally launched in 1988 by Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson, the series captured the sound of the emerging acid jazz scene, then a tight-knit movement centred on forward-thinking club culture and rediscovered rarities. This latest instalment reflects a label in confident form, with new signings like Earth-O-Naut and Quiet Fire laying beside exclusive material from Matt Berry, Chris Bangs, and a rare Soul Revivers 45 featuring Kokoroko's Shiela Maurice-Grey and Anoushka Nanguy. Vintage highlights include the Acid Jazz Orchestra reinterpreting Corduroy and a floor-shaking take on 'Rock Steady' by The Brand New Heavies.

Review: Marking 2025's May 4th celebrations, Walt Disney Records drop a laid-back surprise for Star Wars fans: a full lo-fi reinterpretation of music from a galaxy far, far away. No trade embargoes sparking rebel insurgencies on this one: just seamless lo-fi clonings of Star Wars YouTube series theme pieces. Longtime Lucasfilm composer Kevin Kiner contributes three pieces to the collection, and he's joined by producers and songwriters Chantry Johnson, Lucky West, and Nick Pingree. Well suited for industrious superfans whose psyches elude The Force, and yet still require an audio aid for work or study.

Review: Reissued here in timely fashion through Gilles Peterson's Brownswood seven odd years on from its original release, We Out Here captured a charged, celebratory cross-section of London's resurgent jazz movement, where over nine ensembles and 35 musicians laid down a quick but quality throng of recordings over just three days, all under the subtle guidance of saxophonist and clarinetist Shabaka Hutchings. The compilation brings spiritual jazz, abstract improvisation, Afrobeat energy, and flourishes of grime, hip-hop and funk. Most of the featured players were in their 20s or younger, yet the performances are confident, restless, and steeped in a deep musical and political awareness. As Teju Adeleye notes in the liner notes, this is "a celebration of survival and innovation," asserting jazz as both protest and communal ritual.