Lavinia Blackwall’s “The Making” is her most fully-formed conception yet — frank, dynamic songwriting turbo-charged by Marco Rea’s production. Former Trembling Bells bandmate Alex Neilson travels to her home in the hills of Molise to interview his oldest friend about melody-first writing, escaping mediocre situations, and finding a sense of freedom in Italy and at her off-grid cabin in Carbeth.

Ed Askew’s posthumous single “Tough Guys” is out today — a slow-burn chamber-pop piece about gay relationships observed and lived, with Fulvio Sigurta’s trumpet and lyrics of crushing intimacy. Also announced: “Boy with a Hat,” an exhibition of Askew’s paintings from 2014–2024, opens at Chicago’s Soccer Club Club on July 31st, the same day The Final Painting arrives on Drag City.

Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children share “My Mother’s Name”, the first single from a new album due in October on Glitterhouse Records — their first in a decade. Born in Nuuk and raised in an Inuit community in Greenland, Nielsen explores the themes of identity, socialisation, and strength of female lineage.

Sourdure has shared “Le Pebre”, the first single from their new album “Outredore”, out September 18th via Pagans and Murailles Music. Ernest Bergez roots these new songs in the traditional music of the Massif Central while reaching toward Eastern vocabularies, his voice more stripped-back than ever. A slow-burning heatwave anthem…

A new playlist to start the week, featuring a few new artists (to KLOF). Plus, a small bundle of new music recommendations for you, including music inspired by Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, and music featuring a honeyed voice and wry, down-to-earth lyricism.

A new KLOF Mixtape featuring a mid-way breakout featuring Martyn Bennett, a live set from Tabla Beat Science, the group founded by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell in 1999, which fused Hindustani music with Asian underground and drum and bass, and an Asian Dub Foundation remix of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. There’s also new music from Leah Senior, Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders, Styrofoam Winos, Alex Dupree and more.

Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders’ “Liquid Donnon” is a record that gives every track the space and time it needs to reach its destination. It draws together dusty folk, cosmic jazz, deep psych, and free improvisation. For those who follow Alexander, the concert tapers included, this is essential.

D.C Cross’s “Open Guitar (Volume Two)” documents thirteen acoustic guitar improvisations across 3.5 hours, using locations across Australia — and their ambient sounds — to add subtle texture. The constant rush of water on Rainforest Maleny, the bird calls that punctuate This Sound at Dusk (Hobbit Tree): these details allow Cross to ease up and let the natural world share the space. Complex, experienced playing; take some time and explore.

On “Just A Day”, The Hanging Stars strip their sound back to its essence with the help of producer Gerard Love. Richard Olson continues to demonstrate his facility for tapping into the most memorable tunes while bringing to bear the wisdom and empathy that only life experience brings. The album proves the opposite of its title — they’re in it for the long haul.

case/lang/veirs have announced a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of their self-titled 2016 album, due 4 September via Anti- Records. Alongside comes “Accidental Tattoo”, a previously-unreleased track written by all three. The expanded edition adds the new song and 12 live recordings from the original tour to the album’s 14 tracks.

Cinder Well’s “Beyond The Pale” is the second preview of “A Blooming Body”, due July 17th via Hen House Studios. Amelia Baker describes it as “a hangover, a break-up, a migraine, a confessional.” The video, directed by Chelsea “Cheech” Moosekian, came to Baker in a dream. Greg Cohen — bassist for Tom Waits and John Zorn — plays on the track, alongside Phillip Rogers and David Ralicke on clarinet.

MorganEve Swain’s “Babylon”, the second album from The Huntress and Holder of Hands, is a vivid, heavily weighted folk-rock album that traces how grief changes shape over time. Over a decade on from losing her husband Dave Lamb, Swain channels that long private reckoning into something communal and forward-looking — moving and epic, with a rough-hewn buoyancy that ultimately nudges toward light.