New releases last four weeks: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: James Ford is one of the most important unsung heroes of contemporary pop and rock. As a studio producer, he's helped craft and hone incredible work from Fontaines DC, Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Blur and more. As an artist in his own right, he's perhaps more incredible. So, his impact on the latest and long-awaited new addition to Black Country New Road's catalogue should not be underestimated. Nor should the result of splitting the songwriting and vocal duties between members Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery and May Kershaw. "It's definitely very different" said one of the trio about how this compares to preceding long form outings. We'd say it's definitely very different to most music you'll hear this week. It's folk, soft rock, experimental garage something, and none of the above, with tracks that almost seem at odds with themselves, chopping and changing, evolving and progressing, until you hear them as a whole.

Review: BC, NR are now onto their third album. The Ninja Tune-signees gained attention for not posing as if they're in a band, but looking like an ordinary group of students, or twentysomethings house-sharing. Their bold look, where they're smiling in the press pics, as opposed to donning a moody pout, has thankfully been backed up with some terrific music. Their debut, For The First Time, earned them favourable comparisons to post-rock trailblazers Slint and their second album Ants From Up There is the Gen-z equivalent of Arcade Fire's Funeral, thanks to its grandiose anthemics. Famously, singer and lyricist Isaac Wood left the band on the even of the release of their second album, which sparked outcry and paranoia from their ever-growing army of fans about what that might mean for their future. But the band have kept at it and the remaining six members have chosen to share frontperson duties, thus relieving the added pressure that comes with being a designated frontperson. This third album - and first post Isaac Wood - is proving to be a striking new chapter, with the lead single, 'Besties', an immediately likeable way of introducing it to the world. Georgia Ellery, also of Jockstrap, takes lead vocals here and offers an unforgettable off-kilter indie pop cut reminiscent of Aldous Harding. Zutons-y sax stabs scattered in make for a beautiful touch and leave us feeling that this is the album that's going to send BC, NR onto a stratospheric level, where they're spoken about in the same breath as Radiohead as one of Britain's finest bands.

Review: Every once in a while, you get a band emerge from the vibrant London music scene that you notice aren't like all the other bands. You sense they have something a bit special. BC, NR are like that - they offer something so rich musically that it appears immune to any potential threat that could come from changing trends. This third studio album of theirs comes under what looked like difficult circumstances from the outside. Their lead singer and songwriter Isaac Wood left the band shortly before the release of their second album. But they've withstood the pressure incredibly and are on top form here. There's more emphasis than ever on sharing the role of frontperson so the album is like a smorgasbord where you sample different voices and songwriting styles that exist within the group. Lead single 'Besties' is violinist Georgia Ellery's. It thrives off of its dynamism with explosive Phil Spector-esque wall of sound moments set in alongside elegant indie folk. A truly massive chapter awaits.

Review: With 2021's Infinite Granite taking a sharp left turn into the realms of hazy, luscious dream-pop, eyes have been pointedly fixed on San Francisco blackgaze heroes Deafheaven ever since, with many of their fanbase pondering where to next? The answer is their highly anticipated sixth full-length, Lonely People With Power, which finally showcases the band freed from all creative restraint and audience expectation, marrying their equal and effortless understanding of black metal malevolence and shoegaze ethereality, even allowing frontman George Clarke to make full use of his recently discovered vocal range. Howling shrieks and delicate crooning weave around one another on the euphoric heft of 'Heathen', whereas 'Magnolia' offers up one of their most succinctly black metal cuts to date, radiating with the caustic aura of Emperor's more proggy latter-day output. Forgoing their usual post-rock penchant for a small number of tracks all clocking in at approximately ten minutes, the numerous cuts (12 in all, marking the most of any Deafheaven album to date) prioritise instantaneous delivery on their most sprawling and musically diverse collection yet, fusing their harshest and most accessible sonics into one monumental victory lap touching upon everything from black metal to shoegaze, dream-pop, thrash, post-rock, emo, screamo and post-punk.

Review: Based out of Melbourne, Australia, Takiaya Reed (better known as Divide & Dissolve) is a one-woman monolithic force of industrial-tinged, neo-classical leaning instrumental doom metal. Originally a duo, 2023's fourth full-length Systemic marked the first effort from the project following the departure of percussionist Sylvie Nehill (of M?ori and White-Australian heritage), with guitarist/saxophonist Reed (of Tsalagi and African-American heritage) embarking on a solo venture from there on out. Her second singular display of overtly political, droning sonic dread comes in the form of Insatiable, which coalesces mercurial beauty with bombastic abrasion, almost as if sonically illustrating the warring of mindsets active in our collective conscious. From drawing ire back in 2018 for their controversial music video for 'Resistance' which featured spitting and spraying urine-coloured water on monuments of colonial figures such as Captain James Cook and John Batman, Reed has made it clear ever since that their punishing instrumentals are designed with the artful intention of "decolonising, decentralising, disestablishing, and destroying white supremacy", which she makes overwhelming ends to accomplish without a single word uttered.

Review: The Fun Years is a group formed by multi-instrumentalists Ben Recht and Isaac Sparks and they have crafted a fine blend of ambient, drone, post-rock and turntablism since the early 2000s. Baby It's Cold Inside was originally released in 2008 and still stands as their pinnacle with evocative turntable loops creating textures that bring to mind Philip Jeck and Jan Jelinek while baritone guitar drones and subtle processing add depth. Tracks like 'My Lowville' offer slow post-rock motifs while 'Auto Show of the Dead' explores piano and guitar intricacies. This reissue has been remastered by LUPO and is right up there with any 2000s ambient masterpiece.

Review: Michael Grigoni and Pan•American's latest collaboration is a series of contemplative reflections on the isolation, fractures and uncertainties that define today's world. The album delves into the emotional landscape shaped by political divisions, personal solitude, and the lingering aftereffects of the pandemic. Through its fusion of folk, country, bluegrass, and blues elements, paired with a modern, ambient atmosphere, the sound is both rooted in tradition and forward-looking. Tracks like 'Sun Morning Sun' and 'Silver Streams' carry a sense of quiet introspection, while 'Black River Song' and 'Mirage/Afternoon' showcase the duo's ability to merge organic instrumentation with spacious, textured soundscapes. The album's exploration of personal and collective experience creates a reflective space, asking listeners to pause and engage with the complexities of modern life. A musical journey that speaks to the heart of the American experience, offering an emotional response to an uncertain future.

Review: The difficult second. Apparently not for composer and producer David Jospeh. Once again delving into the latter work of Mark Hollis with and without Talk Talk for jumping off points and inspiration, this time the lead artist drafts the muse's son, Charlie Hollis, to play piano on no less than four tracks, alongside band veterans Robbie Macintosh, Laurence Pendrous, Andy Panayi, Martin Ditcham and Simon Edwards. Listing all the other musicians who have contributed here would be a long task, so let's cut to the chase. This is lush stuff, which incorporates but never obsesses over elements of jazz, post rock, ambient and soundscape. It's vast and also notably intimate, like finding the perfect spot of seclusion and shade under a beautiful tree while gazing out over endless horizons.

Review: On the fringes of Paris, Helen Island's latest LP invites listeners into a world of intrigue and contradiction, where tropical wave, ethereal shoegaze, and abstract pop collide in unexpected ways. It's a journey through shadowy streets and late-night hums, where every track feels like an exploration of the space between clarity and chaos. The record opens with 'Me Who,' a track that sets the tone with its distant, pulsating rhythms and layered vocals, creating a sense of detached introspection. The city's quiet hum is always just under the surface, occasionally breaking through with an almost manic urgency, like the pull of something just out of reach. On 'Hot Zone Regular Day' and 'Fame Gang,' Helen Island leans further into experimental territory, blending tropical textures with subtle shoegaze, constructing a sound that's both familiar and strange. Tracks like 'Invincibl' and 'Ghost Guns' offer a glimpse of a more polished side, with melodies that gently float above the murky depths of the record's darker moments. As the album progresses, you can hear echoes of artists like James Ferraro and Dean Blunt, but Helen Island still manages to chart their own course, never quite conforming to what you expect. It's an album that thrives in paradox the sound of a world half-lit, full of tension, but also a certain kind of quiet. One to get lost in, if you let it.

Review: Some 37 haiku poems are given an avant-garde, 64-minute musical backing with translations from poet Harry Gilonis, on this unique project by composer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow) and vocalist Atsuko Kamura. We hear a vignetting lingual interplay, with lines in English by Hodgkinson sung in Japanese by Kamura, as a wide instrumental span covers percussions, violin, viola, harp, clarinets, guitars and electronics result. Recorded between Tokyo and London, the album offers a startlingly satisfying sonic renga (a Japanese poetic form encompassing a succession of haikus), lending the brevity of classic haiku an expansive, stretched-out prosthesis. From the 17th through to the 20th-century, this is a subduing but still irregular experience, as it formally demonstrates the laconic and aphoristic essence of the haiku.

Review: As they mark over two decades of collaboration, HTRK continue to thread past and present with a new, upcoming reissue of Rhinestones. First self-released in 2021, the album marked a stylistic turn for Standish and Yang, embracing a sparse and haunted approach to songwriting inspired by gothic country and Western folk minimalism, contrasting their earlier dub-punk dramatics. More emotionally forthright as their records go, it drifts over echoic acoustic textures, hushed vocals, and a characteristic metronomic pulse, conjuring a shadowy, intimate atmosphere. A landmark release epitomising their noted progression out from minimal-wave origins to "gentler, more inviting" territory, Rhinestones motivated a quiet resurgence for the band. This reissue follows the 2024 repress of their debut Marry Me Tonight and the collaborative 'String Of Hearts' EP, with reinterpretations from peers like Loraine James and Liars, reaffirming HTRK's strong creative orbit.

Review: Rhode Island post-metal avant-garde duo The Body have made a name for themselves due to their caustic maelstrom of harsh, brutalist experimentalism as well as their prolific output and collaborative nature, releasing collab albums with the likes of Full Of Hell, Thou, Uniform, and most recently, Dis Fig. Their latest endeavour sees the pair link up with another duo of musical extremity, Toronto, Canada's recently reformed industrial two-piece Intensive Care. Was I Good Enough? has been on the cards since the artists first began making plans as far back as 2018, trading, warping and ruining mutual sessions with layers of loops, distortion, samples and even dubs, constantly striving to find the ideal haunting balance between both of their sonically hideous, oppressive worlds. For all of our ears' sakes, they just might have succeeded.

Review: Icelandic experiment Low Roar heard Ryan Karazija, Leifur Bjornsson and Logi Gudmundsson indulge a transoceanic collaboration, extending many a riotous yet sensual sludgeoff between indie pop and post-rock until Karazija's death in 2022. Since this sad event, subsequent records have heard the band reuse loose elements recorded by Karazija in a posthumous fashion, and House In The Woods is a brilliant new example. Pressed to vinyl quickly after an initial digital release, the album blends typical Icelandic ambient-string work with sensuous background vocals and harmonium layers, and deals in a range of subjects from decrepitude to endless love, marked by a sense of sublimity throughout.

Review: US art rockers The Mars Volta's latest project reveals an ambitious dual-disc journey, encompassing their sprawling range of experimentation. Early tracks like 'Fin' and 'Reina tormenta' establish a dense atmosphere, full of the band's signature unpredictability, with fluid transitions between moments of stark aggression and delicate, jazz-inflected interludes. The album's progression is marked by tracks such as 'Mictlan' and 'Nefilbata', where intricate rhythms are paired with surreal, often dissonant melodies, evoking the mysticism and chaos of their thematic inspirations. As the second disc kicks off, 'Celaje' and 'Vocifero' provide a cinematic depth, layering intricate percussion with droning, otherworldly synths, shifting the mood into darker territories before 'Mito de los trece cielos' bursts through with frenzied energy. The reprise of 'Cue the Sun' and the closing track, 'Lucro sucio', bring the journey to a close, suggesting a moment of reflection within the album's labyrinthine structure. While the album's tracklist is as labyrinthine as their sound, what stands out is the way The Mars Volta remain resolutely themselvesieffortlessly blending their psychedelic rock heritage with new, complex influences, creating something fresh, while never losing the raw intensity that made their earlier work so iconic. This album feels less like a return and more like a rediscovery of what makes them so vital.

Review: Beginning life in the late 70s as a Leeds based art collective, The Mekons have gone on to become one of the longest-running, most prolific and sonically diverse acts to be considered part of the first wave of British punk. Spanning numerous decades, projects and literal continents, the sprawling array of visionary contributors return with the succinctly titled Horror; a work written towards the end of 2022 that showcases their expansive yet solely unique approach, drawing on elements of dub, country, harsh noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and even waltz. Myriad vocalists lead differing sonic journeys such as the Jon Langford-led 'Mudcrawlers' telling the story of the Irish famine and subsequent refugees traversing to Wales, whereas Rico Bell leads the charge on the harrowing folk-horror climate change breakdown 'Fallen Leaves', with swelling violins painting an aural tapestry akin to Rolling Thunder era Dylan sitting on a dimly lit rolling green hill accompanied by The Pogues. Ranking somewhere between the collective's 23rd to 25th album (depending on which member of the fanbase or artists themselves you ask), Horror marks their first work for Fire Records.

Review: A second joining of forces from two celebrated Chicago acts, blending deep, organic rhythms with a minimalistic electronic pulse. With the novel but logical addition of Jason Stein on bass clarinet, the collaboration stretches even further, pulling together the spiritual fluidity of Natural Information Society and the electronic minimalism of Bitchin Bajas. The first single, 'Clock no Clock,' is a deep dive into hypnotic rhythms, with guimbri grooves intertwining seamlessly with electronic bursts, flutes and organs. The other three tracks are equally compelling, the music unfolding like a living organism, constantly shifting but always grounded. Expansive, intricately woven sonic delights.

Review: This reissue of Janitor of Lunacy recaptures Nico in a stark, spellbinding 1983 live performance at Manchester's Library Theatre during a period when she called the city home. Spread across 20 tracks on double vinyl, the album distils her haunting presence and singular voice into raw, intimate recordings that draw from four of her solo records as well as Velvet Underground classics like 'Femme Fatale' and 'All Tomorrow's Parties.' The set also includes a brooding take on Bowie's 'Heroes' which is, like the rest of the pieces, minimalist and emotionally charged. This was Nico stripped down to her essence, namely bleak, beautiful and moving.

Review: Perila returns with a reflective spiritual successor to her 2022 album that comes on Vaagner's sister label A Sunken Mall. The album takes in eight tracks produced between 2021 and 2023 and they all do a fine job of conveying a serene vulnerability with its drifting, ethereal soundscapes smeared with echoing voices, droning guitars and resonant textures. It's like a whispered conversation during quiet moments and once again makes for a world that doesn't need to be understood, only felt. The Air Outside Feels Crazy Right Now reminds us that finding inner peace through music can counter the chaos of the external world and help turn fragility into strength.

Review: Quade's second album is steeped in the isolation and raw beauty of its birthplace: a crumbling Welsh barn surrounded by moors. The Bristol four-piece i Barney Matthews, Leo Fini, Matt Griffiths and Tom Connolly i channel this wild setting into a sound that's both fragile and immense, blurring ambient-dub textures with ghostly folk melodies and the drifting crescendos of post-rock. The Foel Tower feels like it was pulled from misty hillsides and long, firelit nights, an album of quiet intensity: tender one moment, potent the next, yet always emotionally direct. Tracks unfold patiently, as if shaped by the slow grind of weather over stone. There's a strong undercurrent of personal grief and resilience here too. The band's longtime friendship and collective hardships add a tangible intimacy, turning these atmospheric compositions into acts of quiet survival. The Foel Tower transcends as it is stark, gorgeous and deeply human. This is music for the in-between moments: dusk turning to night, silence folding into sound.

Review: A posthumous release that furthers Arthur Russell's now legendary status. Recorded in Downtown New York City on December 20, 1985, it's an intimate, unedited solo live performance recorded at Phill Niblock's loft space known as Experimental Intermedia Foundation. The takes are very raw and unpolished that it makes you feel like one of the very few in attendance. 'That's the Very Reason' is a beautiful, tender experimental folk piece showing he needed very few materials in order to send listeners on a journey of transcendence. 'Too Early To Tell' is highly idiosyncratic and produces a sound not normally associated with cello. And 'Sunlit Water' has an oriental feel and provides beautiful resolve to a resplendent set.

Review: These archival recordings of two extraordinary live performances takes you back to when New York City was a bohemian magnet, with low rent and spaces where artists could thrive. Recorded in Downtown in December 1985 and June 1984, the late, great Arthur Russell is captured performing at an intimate loft space known as Experimental Intermedia Foundation, which was run by Phil Niblock. Since the recordings are unedited, it does a really great job of simulating the experience and so if you close your eyes, it's easy to imagine Russell in the room right there in front of you. Of the numbers played, Russell's gifted avant-garde approach to cello is brilliantly done on 'Too Early To Tell'. And the spine-tingling, raw and deeply emotional 'That's The Very Reason' is arthouse folk at its finest. It epitomises the raw, spell-binding talent that Russell had to captivate a room. Hats off to those who have immortalized these very special shows.

Review: Those with an intricate knowledge of the sadly cut-short career of the late, great New York experimentalist and leftfield disco specialist Arthur Russell will happily tell you that his most celebrated solo album, World of Echo, was not only developed over several years, but also utilised edited and chopped-up recordings of shows he performed in his home city in 1984 and '85. This release presents both of those performances in full, with Russell - performing songs to his own effects-laden cello motifs and little else - delivering sparse (but effortlessly emotive) early versions and 'sketches'. These are a mix of lesser-known songs and familiar favourites, including a haunting take on 'Let's Go Swimming', a medley of 'Hiding Your Present From You/School Bell', and the inspired 'Sunlit Water'.

Review: On her sixth full-length album, Tokyo's Satomimagae continues to refine her idiosyncratic fusion of folk, ambient and sound collage into something singular and quietly expansive. Hailing from Japan's acid-folk scene, Satomi's music often blurs the edges between the intimate and the cosmic, the rooted and the abstract. Taba floats beautifully in that liminal space. Rather than traditional song structures, she presents Taba as a series of open-ended vignettes, each radiating with a soft-focus clarity. The arrangements are centered around fingerpicked guitar, hushed vocals and ambient textures that are deceptively gentle. Closer listening reveals a rich interplay of glitchy electronics, subtle field recordings and haunted atmospheres. Tracks like 'Many' drift on echoing voices and vaporous folk melodies, while 'Tonbo' finds a summery sweetness in its fusion of pop and pastoral folk, complete with the sound of nature rustling at its back. 'Omajinai', perhaps the emotional core of the album, embraces traditional pop structure only to dissolve it into a haze of nostalgia and spectral warmth. Taba is not background music, it asks for deep listening, but rewards you with quiet truths and melancholic beauty.

Review: Deep Valley is a new collaborative work by Australian artists Seaworthy aka Cameron Webb and Matt Rosner and they came together for it during a week-long residency at Bundanon Art Museum in New South Wales. The property which was gifted to the Australian public by artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in the 1990s offers a unique landscape along the Shoalhaven River and is surrounded by sandstone cliffs and diverse wildlife. Drawing inspiration from Boyd's belief that "you can't own a landscape," Deep Valley combines the inspiration of that setting with environmental recordings, guitars, piano, and electronic processing all of which aim to highlight the transient nature of ecosystems and encourage you to reconnect with the sounds of nature.

Review: Nearly a decade since the Swedish trio's last full-length Casino (2014), brothers Andreas and Johan Berthling, along with Tomas Hallonsten, ease back into the fold with Preludes, a five-track collection that reaffirms their mastery of delicate, genre-blurring soundscapes. Following the promising 'Refrains' 10" in 2023, this new release is a comforting reminder that Tape's signature blend of acoustic instrumentation and electronic processing remains as singular and stirring as ever, as they continue to weave hypnotic textures that feel both ethereal and earthy. 'Opener Lights Out' is a tender folk threnody where repeating guitar patterns create a meditative haze. 'Naukluft Plateau' drifts with ruminative piano over cascading tones, while the brief 'Golden Gain' mixes huffing harmonium and subtle electronic scrums. 'Tangential Thoughts' is quintessential Tape, a dreamy two-chord motif, rustling organ and delicate percussion all evoking wistful reveries. The closing track, 'On The Accordion Bus', sways with glitch-like textures and gentle rhythms, blurring the line between transit and reflection. There's a unique warmth to their balance of melody and abstraction here, reminiscent of Aphex Twin's ambient pop or Susumu Yokota's textural elegance. Praise indeed, but sometimes the quietest returns make the deepest impact.

Review: British conspiracy thriller Utopia follows a group of young adults who, after discovering a mysterious comic book - The Utopia Experiments - embark on a manic quest for corporate restitution and prophetic fulfilment. As a shadowy government organisation detects their plans and resolves to track their every move, we watch an empathic but deadly game of cat-and-mouse; and Cristobal Tapia de Veer's acclaimed score only heightens the tension. This new 2xLP edition includes such instantly recognisable motifs as 'Brainwave Playground', 'Satan's Waltz' and 'The Monarch's Pyramid', capturing the series' eerie and intense atmosphere. The score continues to resonate to this day, following Tapia de Veer's success with The White Lotus and Babygirl.

Review: Brighton-based Australian vocalist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappes shares her fifth album, requiescing ten captive ambient soundscapes, all of which share the aim of integrating dreamsand nightmares, grief and personal empowerment. Through the use of carnal, transcendent cello drones, Trappes explores historical and generational traumas in a chilling piece of gothic experimentalism. In a residential prelude, Trappes trapped herself in Scotland, eking remote studio solitude as a cranny in which to unleash personal demons, exploring and transmuting familial chaos and history. Raw and spiritually charged, the album offers a powerful meditation on loss; its threat, its meaning, and the process of coming to terms with it.

Review: Brighton-based Australian vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Penelope Trappes drops her fifth full length album and invites us on a bare bones, spiritual journey. Making herself incredibly vulnerable in the process, these are the kind of tracks that induce meditative and psychedelic trains of thought, haunting and beautiful, blissful and tense. Cello drones, gothic aesthetics, a king of futurist folk, at least some of the inspiration for which has come from time spent in isolated corners of Scotland. You can almost feel the wind blowing through the room as A Requiem lures and entices, breaks and mends hearts. Ambient, neo-classical, trance inducing works of wonder. This is the kind of record that can help make you see the world for what it is, and realise just how lucky we are to be here at the same time.

Review: London-based Australian vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Penelope Trappe has always made immersive, enveloping and deeply atmospheric that sidesteps convention. It was that uniquely haunting and emotive approach to ambient and electronica that earned her deals with Optimo Music and Houndstooth, amongst others. Now signed to One Little Independent, Trappes has pushed the boat out further on Requiem, a mournful and bittersweet musical meditation in which her distinctively sweet-but-drowsy vocals rise above manipulated cello textures, hushed field recordings, ambient textures and intriguing electronic sounds aplenty. It's bold, beautiful and at times breathtakingly brilliant, once again marking Trappes out as an artist with a genuinely unique musical vision.

Review: Based in New York City, YHWH Nailgun (pronounced "Yahweh") are a newfound experimental noise-rock four-piece who have varied acceptance on what can be deemed "noise". Built around the ludicrous percussive ability of drummer Sam Pickard whose use of rototoms conjures an organic yet mechanistic pulse, warped and compressed guitars collide with an array of synths and electronic elements all infused with the suffocated, ranting, rambling, unhinged shrieking of vocalist Zack Borzone. Their debut full-length 45 Pounds bubbles with a similar art-noise sass-punk quality to very early HEALTH (before they rebooted as the industrial-metal trio they're known as today) yet attempting to still fit in with the likes of The Jesus Lizard or Chat Pile. They don't whatsoever, and they're all the better for it, as these unhinged 21 minutes condense saccharine, bubblegum machinery into some of the most frenetic compositions recorded all year. Just because it can only be described as "noise-rock" doesn't mean it necessarily sounds like noise-rock.

Review: Louisville post-hardcore/noise rock trio Young Widows release their first album in 11 years. This follow-up to 2014's Easy Pain has them land on such mesmerising pummeling form that all is forgiven and forgotten for the long wait for a new album. This dark, heavy, and powerful affair has an industrial, motorik intensity to it on single 'Call Bullshit' and the lyrics don't hold back: "I'm gonna call your bullshit/When it's close to me/I'm gonna call your bullshit/Even when it leaves." Elsewhere, 'The Holy Net' nails it in terms of the bleakest atmosphere you can imagine whilst subtly layering in a haunting vocal hook that stays with you long after you've pressed stop.