Dubai creative powerhouse Sarah R Jay returns to her pristine and euphoric instrumental roots this season, with a highly-anticipated full-length album, celebrating the divine escapism of techno and house music – and the conceptual blurring of lines between human emotion and cybernetic progress.
Albums
Featuring modest electronic grooves that feel colourful but calming amidst the softness and self-reflection of Annika’s voice, Emerald Spy is an eclectic but well-grounded project, for which the riff-led ethereal warmth of Hell No makes an alluring introduction.
Grammy Award-winner Mojo Morgan cuts through the noise with substance and style this month – Jamaica Love is a bold and brilliant new album, loaded with quirky riffs, colourful grooves, and provocative, intentional sentiments.
From the atmospheric to the outright gritty and groovy, this album encapsulates an artistic dedication to music’s history, celebrating the unforgettable blues influence of legends like Otis Redding and Robert Johnson, while delivering a timeless and characterful lead from Will Foulke himself.
Rising Memphis songwriter Mary Hatley gifts her uniquely expressive and sultry vocals to a full-length album of original songs this season, with the reflective stories and blues-country grooves of The Poison I Choose.
Unconfined by genre is the songwriter who writes because there is no real alternative. The songs are the answers to our inner conflicts and concerns – they provide solace, an outlet, and some kind of clarity, and you can feel that as an observer of Paper Crown. The authenticity is impossible to fake, and the emotion woven into each performance, each original song, reinforces that throughout.
An enchanting organic arrangement akin to a live performance – modern jazz-fusion with a certain ethereal, ambient softness to the capture. The Skylark Quartet excel themselves this season, with the autumn vibes, alluring melodies, and imaginative grooves, of Luna Rossa Al Belvedere.
Delicate, organic keys, playful synths and unique but thoughtful grooves. Belgian guitarist, composer and artist Life Minder has carved out an engaging and memorable new project, with the striking originality and timeless imagination of Omnitus.
Soft-rock Americana and folk anthems with a fine blend of heartfelt images, catchy hooks, and acoustic to rock and roll arrangements – Brendan McMahon highlights the very best of his dynamic songwriting abilities, with the addictive and aptly-titled new album Turn Up The Radio.
Why this title? What connects these ideas and feelings? There’s so much to unpack, and yet at the same time, the cinematic presence and performative charm of the project lets the music simply engage with and entertain its listener. In short, Pertinax is stunning, and impressively free in its artistic and playful creativity.
From the dawn of the Bad Bubble audio experience – the first mention of Underscore, the historical poignancy of Future 9 – all of this has been with devout purpose; an artist intent on creating a legacy and lasting memory of a story and of his daughter. There are many heart-breaking and beautiful moments throughout the vast collection of albums, EPs and singles, but more relevantly, there are many, and perhaps some of the most impactful of all, to be found throughout a conclusion.
Cascading voices, changes in tempo, stories that intrigue and bleed truth into the space – alongside moments that simply make you want to dance your troubles away. It’s a fascinating, enjoyable and rewarding album, from a band who consistently keep listeners on their toes, and whom prove both surprising and entertaining, through the talent, versatility, and depth of this album.