ListenNOW 43/26

What’s Got You Down – The Fictionals ‘What’s Got You Down’ is a meticulously crafted, guitar-driven track that combines the frustrations of everyday city life with a poignant exploration of relationships. A laid-back, stomping guitar rhythm underpins the understated verses, in which the partner is urged to put minor issues aside and live in the…

Echoes of Three Worlds: Arpraxis Shapes Atmosphere Through Contrast

In these three tracks, Arpraxis works less with traditional narrative arcs than with atmospheres that feel like different climatic zones. ‘Delta 9 Imports’ opens the cycle with an almost meditative calm: a piece that feels like a diffuse morning mist – soft, unobtrusive, contemplative. It is music that does not lead, but leaves space –…

ListenNOW 42/26

Higher Groove Rating – jcSubterfuge ‘Higher Groove Rating’ unfolds like a space that remains dark at first and then slowly begins to pulsate. jcSubterfuge lays a warm, creeping bassline beneath the track, whilst the drums sound as dry and precise as concrete. Over it all lie veils of synth that do not shine but rather…

Blue Skies – The Coral Line

‘Blue Skies’ by The Coral Line doesn’t feel like a song that pushes itself to the fore, but rather one that – almost imperceptibly – settles into the space, whilst that delicate glimmer of hope only reveals itself when you’re ready to notice it. Coralie Ward, cellist and songwriter, weaves her ethereal vocals with delicately…