Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Different Rooms (International Anthem)
Modular synth player Jeremiah Chiu and violist Marta Sofia Honer deliver an enviably accomplished collaboration on Different Rooms, their latest for International Anthem. Named after their novel recording process, which uses adjacent studios, the album is a highly visual, playful fusion of free jazz, 20th-century minimalism, and contemporary ambience.
The duo excels at surreal juxtapositions, such as the dappled pointillism of Mean Solar Time and the fraught, urban tension of the centrepiece Before and After Signs, where Honer’s viola enters like a police siren. They are joined by label-mates, with Josh Johnson’s soft sax on the title track and Jeff Parker’s loose, bubbling guitar on Side By Side. Different Rooms possesses an intense joie de vivre that defies the reputation of academic density, proving that intelligent experimental music can be quick, luminous, and fun.
Rose City Band – Sol Y Sombra (Thrill Jockey)
Ripley Johnson’s latest effort with Rose City Band, Sol Y Sombra (Sun and Shade), explores the necessary darkness that complements light, contrasting the pure summer celebration of their previous work. Aided by Barry Walker’s mournful pedal steel and Paul Hasenberg’s crying organ, the psych-country outfit leans into themes of sadness and mental obstacles.
The album finds palpable despair on the closing track, The Walls, yet offers rays of hope, as on Seeds of Light, where the drums dissolve into sunlight-plotting guitars. Tracks like Lights on the Way channel the hopeful vibe of the Grateful Dead‘s Touch of Grey. With hints of new directions, including Sanae Yamada‘s synth on La Mesa, Sol Y Sombra charts an honest course through both the shadows and the sun.
Lonnie Holley – Tonky (Jagjaguwar)
Lonnie Holley’s fifth album, Tonky, is a work of multitudes—expansive, collaborative, and defying genre boundaries. It balances twin strands of righteous anger and spiritual exaltation, navigating Holley’s personal history of hardship alongside broader sociopolitical struggles.
The guest list is stellar and expertly judged. Mary Lattimore lends her harp to the cosmic beauty of Life, while Angel Bat Dawid, Open Mike Eagle, and Billy Woods push the sound toward free jazz and experimental hip-hop. Whether channelling a manic ringmaster energy alongside Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock or pleading for empathy on the soulful closer A Change Is Gonna Come, Holley remains a singular force. Tonky is an eloquent, fiery battle cry from an artist who recognises music as the frontline of the fight for civil rights.
Jim Ghedi – Wasteland (Basin Rock)
Jim Ghedi returns with Wasteland, a stormy and focused follow-up to In the Furrows of the Commonplace. Recorded in Sheffield, the album serves as a prophetic commentary on England’s troubled present, blending experimental songwriting with traditional folk to explore themes of social and environmental collapse.
The sound is undeniably immense. From the “metallic squall” of opener Old Stones to the drone-heavy warning of What Will Become of England, Ghedi adopts a maximalist aesthetic that borders on rock and prog. Yet, amidst the “crunching folk-rock” and foreboding intensity, moments of pastoral beauty and humanity shine through. Wasteland is a timely, unflinching work—a potent reminder of art’s power in ugly times and potentially Ghedi’s masterpiece.
James Yorkston & Friends – Songs for Nina and Johanna (Domino Records)
James Yorkston expands his collaborative horizons on Songs for Nina and Johanna, reuniting with The Cardigans’ Nina Persson and recruiting First Aid Kit’s Johanna Söderberg. Backed by The Second Hand Orchestra, the album is a masterstroke of casting, blending Yorkston’s signature melancholy and dry humour with the vocal grace of two of Sweden’s finest singers.
Yorkston mostly steps back to let his partners shine. Persson elevates the soft-focus folk-pop of I Can Change, while Söderberg brings a country-tinged energy to the fiddle-swathed Oh Light, Oh Light. Yorkston’s songwriting remains poignant and clever, particularly on the witty duet I Spooked the Neighbours. Invigorated by these collaborations, Yorkston delivers a collection that is funny, sad, and full of rewarding melodic choices.
claire rousay – a little death (Thrill Jockey)
LA-based sound artist claire rousay explores the liminal space of dusk on a little death. Recorded as day turned to night, the album weaves ambient sounds from her own life into a suite of eight linked tracks that marry musique concrète with neoclassical composition. rousay moves freely from clatter to calm, enlisting collaborators M. Sage, Alex Cunningham, and Andrew Weathers to add violin, clarinet, and lap steel to her glitchy, jittery soundscapes.
Whether on the folksy American primitive guitar of night one or the unsettled transcendence of doubt, the record thrives on the tension between comfort and disquiet. Far from passive background music, a little death is an emotionally candid work demanding engaged listening—a haunting soundtrack for troubled times.
Clara Mann – Rift (The state51 Conspiracy)
Clara Mann’s debut album, Rift, fulfils the promise of her early EPs, delivering a set of stripped-back, intimate songs that chronicle separation and independence. Moving beyond her “quietly confident folk” beginnings, Mann presents a world where every breath and guitar squeak is captured with painful precision. Tracks like Stadiums rely on minimal piano to highlight her vocal nuance, while Oranges uses death-knell percussion to explore a relationship’s end.
Influenced by the lyricism of Jacques Brel and the clarity of Anne Briggs, Mann explores themes of travel and rupture without succumbing to clichéd confessionals. Whether on the jazz-tinged ‘Til I Come Around or the sombre closer The Dream, Rift proves Mann has graduated from “one to watch” to one of the country’s finest songwriters.
Annie A – The Wind That Had Not Touched Land (A Colourful Storm)
Annie A—a collaborative project featuring Félicia Atkinson, Christina Petrie, Time is Away (Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney), and Maxine Funke—creates a fleeting, miraculous intimacy on The Wind That Had Not Touched Land. Inspired by Bauhaus artist Anni Albers, the album weaves a tapestry of spoken word, minimalism, and DIY folk-electronics, suffused with a “Joanna Brouk-like serenity.”
The record focuses on the small and the transient. From the mantra-like First the Crocus to the weaving metaphors of Like a Sail or a Bed, the music blurs the boundaries between song, sound art, and poetry. Maxine Funke closes the album with Nasturtium Runners (Read by the Rain), a track of “greyscale dreaminess” that typifies this quietly mesmerising collection—a fragile, enveloping world built on fragments and profound connectedness.
Ben LaMar Gay – Yowzers (International Anthem)
Chicago cornetist and bandleader Ben LaMar Gay treats music like a chef treats a meal: taking age-old recipes and infusing them with love, attention, and fresh ingredients. On Yowzers, released via International Anthem, Gay and his quartet construct an album that honours internal logic while allowing for boundless creativity.
The record is a masterclass in balance. The title track blends bluesy gospel with a “seam of black history,” while John, John Henry reconfigures traditional song into a critique of the racist-capitalist machine. Whether offering a heartbreaking elegy to Jaimie Branch on For Breezy or fusing wobbly electronica with lyrical brass on Damn You Cute, Gay avoids cold deconstruction in favour of warmth and ambiguity. Eclectic, graceful, and full of heart, Yowzers is a spiritual jazz journey that demands repeated listening.
Cameron Knowler – CRK (Worried Songs)
Cameron Knowler embraces an unfussy, lo-fi aesthetic on CRK, a record that feels both timeless and deeply personal. Following 2021’s Places of Consequence, this collection reflects on his Yuma, Arizona roots, balancing “sepia-toned” nostalgia with a pervasive, pensive melancholy. Whether evoking the open-road anxiety of William Tyler on Felicity or stripping things back for the romantic sadness of Mohave Runs the Colorado, Knowler’s playing is assured and evocative.
Though centred on his guitar, the album thrives on subtle collaboration. Jay Bellerose’s wooden percussion and Rayna Gellert’s haunting fiddle add rich textures to highlights like Secret Water and the cinematic Last House on Walpi. Mature and adventurous, CRK is a pivotal record that finds beauty in hesitation and the quiet spaces between notes.