Bex Burch unveils new collaborative project, notes 001

Bex Burch has become a vital presence in the contemporary UK scene over the past decade, first turning heads with Vula Viel before going on to collaborate widely and refine her singular approach to rhythm and form and what she describes as “messy minimalism”. The gifted composer, percussionist, producer and instrument maker stepped fully into her own name with her solo debut There Is Only Love And Fear, a record shaped by time spent with International Anthem Recording Company, and one that landed among our Album Picks of 2023.

She is back with a wonderful new project, notes 001, sprouted from an invitation from KORG’s Berlin-based team. Written in four parts and performed solo in a single live take, the piece sees Burch working with phase8, an eight-voice acoustic synthesiser developed by Korg. notes 001 was recorded in May 2025, and continues her exploration of repetition, texture and environment, while also laying the groundwork for a much longer arc, part of a durational work she will develop over the next 43 years. “phase8 was a voice and a duo partner with creative input that informed the music,” Burch explained. “This piece is about listening – to nature, to machine, to my own creativity.” That sense of dialogue, between artist and instrument and also environment and structure, runs through the entire work.

notes 001 will see the light of day on May 10th and ahead of it Burch has unveiled its celestial and gentle opening track, ‘Hello again’. Serving as a beautiful introduction to notes 001, ‘Hello Again’ weaves together  kalimba, voice and phase8 in a delicate and shifting polyrhythmic flow. Take a listen below.

Listen to Poppy Ackroyd’s second single ‘For Those Who Wait’

Last month, Poppy Ackroyd announced the release of her new album Liminal. An eagerly anticipated release, it sees her bringing piano and violin together again, with every sound on the record being drawn from these two instruments. The tremendously talented multi-instrumentalist and composer shared then the beautiful and wholly enveloping ‘The Unknown’ and she has now unleashed a sublime new single, ‘For Those Who Wait’. Beginning in a calm and reflective way, the track gradually builds with new sounds into a more open, powerful, and freeing second half. ‘For Those Who Wait’ comes with an accompanying video directed by Tom Elliott and you can watch it below.

Liminal is out on June 5th through One Little Independent Records

 

How to See Know and Fall drop third single off upcoming debut album Ecologies

Photo: Angela Washko

How to See Know and Fall is the new project of Jesse Stiles and Brian Shankar Adler, and it feels like a perfect musical pairing. Adler’s background in percussion and composition and Stiles’ work in electronic music and sound design complete each other, each bringing out something stronger in the other. They have a debut album on the way, Ecologies, releasing on April 3rd through Adhyâropa Records. Originally created as a remote collaboration during lockdown and later expanded through live performances, Ecologies moves freely between rhythm-driven sections, melodic fragments, and more abstract passages, with a strong focus on texture and the interaction between acoustic and electronic sound. Across nine instrumental tracks, the interplay between acoustic percussion and electronics stays at the centre throughout, shifting in intensity and shape from track to track.

Preceding the album’s release next week, How to See Know and Fall have recently shared the bewitching third single, ‘Rynchops albicollis’. Novelist, poet, and friend of the band Jesse Ball titled all the tracks on Ecologies and wrote an accompanying manifesto, featuring a section dedicated to each song. About ‘Rynchops albicollis’, he wrote:

“Refuse the hegemony of pitch. When that goes, all manner of sound can be heard.”

‘Rynchops albicollis’ comes paired with a video and you can watch it below.

Anenon shares new single,‘When The Light Appears, Boy’, from forthcoming new album Dream Temperature

Photo: Valeria Chaika

A longtime favourite of ours here at CTD, Anenon, the moniker of Los Angeles-based saxophonist, producer and composer Brian Allen Simon, has announced details of a new album. Entitled Dream Temperature, the record is set to arrive on April 24th through Tonal Union. Written and recorded over the past year in his home studio, it sees Anenon moving back towards a more electronic-leaning sound, this time built around a wind synthesiser, alongside piano and tenor sax, with breath and body at the centre of the process. As the press release describes, “the entirety of the album’s electronics are triggered by Brian’s lungs, generating otherworldly synths modulated by expressive breath control”. As with previous efforts, he continues to blur the lines between jazz, ambient and electronic forms, here with a slightly heavier and more textured feel that still retains a sense of intimacy.

The ethereal and moving ‘When The Light Appears, Boy’ is the latest track to be lifted from the album and you can stream it below.

Maryam Saleh’s first new album in eight years, Syrr سِرّ, arrives this Friday

We’re finally approaching the release of Syrr سِرّ, the long-awaited new album from Maryam Saleh, landing this Friday through Simsara Records. Her first album in nearly a decade, the record brings Saleh back at the centre of Egypt’s alternative scene with a record shaped over three years of songwriting, composition, and collaboration. Co-produced with Maurice Louca and Kamilya Jubran, who also served as mentor throughout the process, Syrr سِرّ draws on a range of Egyptian and Arabic song forms, from mawwal and lullaby to muwashshah and taqtuqa, reimagining these traditions through a contemporary lens.

In the lead-up to its release, and following the introspective, powerful and poignant ‘El Fetra الفطرة’, Saleh has shared two other tantalizing singles, ‘Wanas’ and ‘Nedaa’. Take a listen to both below and grab Syrr when it drops on Friday.

Juli Deák announces debut album, Brisk

Polish-Hungarian flutist and saxophonist Juli Deák has announced the release of her debut album, Brisk, arriving on April 24th through Thanatosis Produktion. Moving fluidly between classical, contemporary, and jazz tradition, she also embraces experimentation, improvisation and folk influences. Drawing on years of experience across ensembles, festivals, and collaborative projects, her work has long circled around breath and its limits, textures, and the physicality of sound itself. Recorded in a church in Budapest, Brisk grew out of unfinished ideas that only revealed themselves fully in performance. Over time, those ideas settled into a cohesive body of work, influenced as much by listener response as by Deák’s own evolving instincts. The album also leans into the physical limits of the instrument and the body, with breathing at the core of it, both as technique and as sound.

Deák had already unveiled two magnificent singles from the record, the title track and ‘Tamed’. Both offer a glimpse into Brisk from different angles, tracing the contours of an album that invites close listening. Here they are.