Brandishing triumph out of the dying embers of romance, this week Molly Nilsson figures the fallen city of Pompeii as the gleaming and heartfelt coda to her tenth studio album. Penelope Trappes embarks on an epic reworking of Penelope Three, tearing down the architecture and traversing the interior for a wordless, flowing, and womb-like suite of dark ambient music. And with Laura Cannell on the pipe organ and Kate Ellis on her trusty cello, the duo take a deep dive into winter as they conjure the sonorous drone of the Arctic.
The diminutive Geordie troubadour Richard Dawson clasps hands with the New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal in the form of the genre-straddling Circle. The Belgian composer Oliver Doerell and Iranian percussionist Jawad Salkhordeh blend Persian traditions with minimal electronic soundscapes and the tremulous echoes of jazz and dub. From Tokyo the sound artist Iu Takahashi shares swaddling home comforts as a catch towards mindfulness. And Laila Sakini dons a foulard marinière and the smudged garb of royalty as she goes under the guise of Princess Diana of Wales for the Melbourne record label A Colourful Storm.
There are more collaborations as Frankie Rose and Matthew Hord become Fine Place, the Chicago rapper Defcee builds his latest project over beats from the Backwoodz Studioz affiliate Messiah Musik, and The Bug buddies up with Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods. SKY H1 readies her debut album while paying ode to the Access Virus synthesizer, the digicore producer dltzk shares a Kodak moment, and the Stockholm trio of VERO turn towards scuzzy grunge-pop. L I M explores dream sequences and narratives of self-discovery with direction from Giada Bossi, and ML Buch, VTSS, and The Humble Bee complete the roundup of tracks.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
* * *
* * *
* * *
The Bug – ‘Stoat’ (feat. Jason Williamson)
* * *
Princess Diana of Wales – ‘Still Beach’
* * *
Oliver Doerell & Jawad Salkhordeh – ‘Sāje / Schatten’
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
L I M – ‘BUBU’
* * *
* * *
* * *
Defcee & Messiah Musik – ‘Muscle’
* * *
Richard Dawson & Circle – ‘Lily’
* * *
Fine Place – ‘Tending To Twenty’
* * *
Laura Cannell & Kate Ellis – ‘Arctic Drone’
* * *
Penelope Trappes – ‘Lucky Eleven (Mother’s Blood Version)’
* * *
