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Review: US-based, South Africa-born Brendon Moeller has been hugely prolific over the years under sever different aliases. Pathways is his newest album and is another signature blend of deep techno, dub, and ambient sounds that explore fresh ground. This one comes on cassette - a fitting medium for his always hazy, lo-fi sounds, and opens with a gorgeous stargazer loosely tethered to a dreamy groove. 'Movement' is just much of a cosmic floater, 'Accident' has static electricity fizzing about an underwater chamber and 'Through' is a slow-motion dubscape. 'Exodus' and 'Calm' close out this beautifully unhurried exploration of the deep.

Review: Russian titan Monokle is back to once again traverse many different sound worlds with his new album Ultraflowers. It is one of a number of superb albums landing on Constellation Tatsu this summer and one defined again by its warmth. The title track is a lo-fi, scruffy and deep opener with persuasive breakbeats, while 'Glassy Eyed' is an ambient jungle trip that drips with watery melody. 'Night Objects' offers some introspection and 'Moths' is a glitchy future techno cut with smeared synth soul. '1000Work' layer sup more breaks with elegant ambient melodies and 'Predteche' casts you admit in the deepest corners of space.

Review: The self-titled comeback LP from Reading based shoegaze pioneers Slowdive proved one of the most mercurial and delicate dream-pop projects of 2017, while owing testament to their singular, highly influential vision. While a follow up has been teased since 2020, lockdown delays as well as personal loss has hindered the work to the point of monolithic proportions. Promising a more introspective, minimal electronic based backdrop in order to process the passing of both vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell's mother and drummer Simon Scott's father, Everything Is Alive serves as a muted, nuanced return to form, from a collective of artists still driven by their passion, ability and endlessly attentive focus to their ethereal craft.

Review: Kilometre Club lands on the Indianapolis label Healing Sound Propagandist with a collection of sounds made using only one piece of gear, the Squier Bass VI, with the assistance of guitar pedals. Each one is a pure and cathartic meditation on minimalist drones that are deft and wispy. The compositions are smartly layered up and slowly ascend to the heavens with subtle spaces between notes and long tails making their mark on your heat. Says the artist, "this is an album for floating away while calling out vowels in reverse alphabetical order" - and we love it.

Review: Laufey's Bewitched: The Goddess Edition continues her commitment to blending jazz and classical music with impeccable style. From the Chordettes-style harmonies of 'Dreamer' to the stripped-back intimacy of 'Second Best,' the album is a showcase of lush strings and swooning tales of love. While tracks like 'From The Start' and "Promise" offer playful bossa nova vibes and nods to Debussy and St Vincent, respectively, the album maintains a cohesive sound throughout. Laufey's crystalline voice and effortless charisma shine on every track, elevating the album into a gorgeous display of her unique talent. While some may yearn for more of the inventiveness seen on her debut, Bewitched remains an, erm, bewitching journey through Laufey's musical world, inviting listeners to bask in its beauty and elegance.

Review: With the combination of band name and album title this one's always going to be a bit of a tearjerker, packed with self-reflection and self-loathing. No regrets, though, as Greg Gonzalez muses on sensuality, the loss of those we care about, the loss of self to another and the endless yearning of the human heart. Shades of Lord Huron and a wealth of gloomy shoegazers can be felt, but even though "Cry" represents a next step for Cigarettes After Sex - edging into more minimalistic territories - it's still immediately identifiable as this band, and so won't fail to instantly resonate with avid fans. Packed with an exquisite, opiate balladry at once heartfelt and heartbroken, it's hard to tell whether this is exactly what you need to hear when living through your blue period or precisely what you shouldn't listen to. Either way, it's quiet impact is immense.

Review: Alex Israel's new 'Uncertainty Manipulated' release on Somnambulant Drift features generative music he has crafted by "building elements of arbitrary length that work together melodically but do not correspond in time. As the individual components replay, they overlap coincidentally, resulting in music that makes itself." The result is four tracks of sublime and escapist ambient with no beginning and no end but plenty of heart-aching piano chords, harp strums, hazy drones, mindful synth smears and meditative moods that offer comfort but also encourage inward reflections. It's a perfect coming together of man, machine and absorbing minimalism.

Review: Sheffield metalheads Black Spiders deliver a riveting debut with Can't Die, Won't Die, squarely laying down the un-f*ck-withable ethic that is 'all killer, no filler'. Known for their hooking slogans such as "eat thunder, shit lightning!" and now "alright, alright, alright", the Yorkshire rippers take after Matthew McConaughey across twelve sonic napalm-drops, burning brightly for a second time after a surprise reunion following a breakup before the pandemic. Upping the usual pace of blues rock to breakneck, rubber-biting tempi, tracks such as 'Driving My Rooster' and 'Destroyer' elicit Red Wally recollections of Motorhead, with a surfeit of restless energy and unmoved movement, as they aim to reclaim the unriddled joy of bird-flipping the audience.

Review: Following up a powerful inaugural release by the legendary Mick Harris (and follow up by ASC), Madrid-based Trauma Collective return with their sophomore release by the enigmatic Makunaimadama. The production process on Katavai was said to be an immensely cathartic experience for the artist, one which saw him work through personal issues, while at the same time paying tribute to his ancestry. Katavai is a disciplined body of work, featuring five expressions of haunting and desolate electronics: from the austere trance induction of 'Konsera', to reduced and contorted techno derivatives explored on 'Waku' or 'Dekaton' and the malevolent sound architecture of 'Wakupemeton'.