Dumama unveils video for new single ‘Eating The Other’

18 March 2026

Photo: Jessica Garfield

Last month, Dumama announced the release of her new album Towards an Expanse, sharing then the stunning and haunting first single ‘What Did The Rain Say’. Now, the Berlin-based South African composer and sonic artist is offering another gripping glimpse into the record in the form of her new single, ‘Eating The Other’. Built around a dense and slow-moving rhythm, ‘Eating The Other’ is imbued with a sense of tension and urgency. Sung in isiXhosa, the track engages with themes of drought, hunger, illness, and wider social and environmental struggles. Speaking about the single, Dumama says:

“Inspired by “Eating The Other: Desire and Resistance” by bell hooks, this track reflects on a society that remains ill despite having the resources to heal. The heart of the song is a chant my grandmother sang to me over the phone before she transitioned, a private moment that became an intergenerational meditation on being consumed. Sonically, I wanted to create a warped and punked-out space for the uhadi. By pairing the lineage of Princess Magogo with the left-field influence of Picchio dal Pozzo, I am pushing the bow into post-punk and experimental electronics. I refuse to let this instrument be reduced to an ethnographic subject or “world music” trope. This is a study of spiritual harm and the sonic will to resist being devoured.”

‘Eating The Other’ comes with an accompanying video by Jessica Garfield. Watch it below.

Towards an Expanse is out on May 8th through Soundway Records.

Horse Lords return with new album, Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!

17 March 2026

Photo: Kasia Zacharko

The best news of 2026 are here: Horse Lords are back with a brand new album. Wonderfully titled Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive!, it follows their masterpiece Comradely Objects, which was one of our Album Picks of 2022 and remains an absolute favourite. Formed in 2010 in Baltimore, the quartet of Andrew Bernstein, Max Eilbacher, Owen Gardner and Sam Haberman are one of the most exciting bands out there, with a wildly imaginative and rigorous approach to music.

Releasing on June 12th through RVNG Intl, Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! saw Horse Lords expand their line up to include bass clarinetist Madison Greenstone, trombonist Weston Olencki, and for the first time vocals contributions from guests Nina Guo and Evelyn Saylor.
On the album, the music changes itself as different parts interact with each other over time, creating a self-influencing whole. As Horse Lords say, “we like the idea of art as a tool for changing your perspective, being able to rotate ideas and see/hear/feel them from a different vantage point”. Art always carries political meaning, and Horse Lords approach it with hope and a strong focus on community. As they explain, “we try to make music that challenges the status quo and offers a path toward liberation for the listener. The study and exploration of sound and music has a spiritual and ecstatic dimension, and we have a great reverence for its impact on the individual and the world.”

June is a long while away but lucky for us, Horse Lords have today shared ‘Eureka 378-B’ and ‘Brain of the Firm’, two insanely brilliant and infectious pieces that clearly show a band constantly soaring to new heights. ‘Eureka 378-B’ is an arrangement of 19th century sacred harp music, and on ‘Brain of the Firm’, as the press release describes “polyphonic and wordless voices dance around pulsing bass, slinky guitar phrases, keyboard bloops and fleet kitwork”. Both tracks are offered with an accompanying video by visual artist Scott Kiernan and you can watch it below.

Vimbs Mavimbs shares new single, ‘Family Gathering’, from forthcoming debut album Late Bloomer

17 March 2026

Photo: Aubrey Moloto

Last month, Vimbs Mavimbs introduced his forthcoming debut album Late Bloomer with the disarmingly beautiful, spacious and heartfelt ‘Love Drive’. Now the incredibly talented composer, bandleader, producer, musical director and bassist is following it up with ‘Family Gathering’, a second offering that leans even further into the personal and the communal. Rooted in memory and connection, ‘Family Gathering’ reflects on the families we’re born into and the ones we build along the way. Drawing from his upbringing in a large and supportive household, Mavimbs channels a sense of togetherness into a warm, open-hearted and absolutely gorgeous track. Vimbs comments:

“This song is more than just music; it’s a reflection of the spirit of unity. Growing up in a large family defined by love and support shaped exactly who I am today, and I wanted to capture that magic for the future.”

We can’t wait for Late Bloomer to arrive on June 12th. Now take a listen to ‘Family Gathering’ below.

Fumitake Tamura shares new single, ‘Ostinato’, from upcoming new album Mijin

16 March 2026

Japanese beatmaker, producer and composer Fumitake Tamura is gearing up to release his new album Mijin. Arriving on April 10th through Leaving Records, Mijin is a collection of mesmerizing environmental music and beats, that takes inspiration from the natural world and humanism. Tamura shared some insight into the record:

“The title Mijin comes from a Japanese word meaning very fine particles. The album gathers particle-like sounds and lets them resonate in space. As I watch the movements that arise between them a balance gradually takes shape. Within those relationships and the quiet tension between them I explored how silence can resonate with sound.

The album begins with the most minimal piano chords then develops by reconstructing fragments of voice and percussion, Rhodes and synths along with traces of jazz and soul. Each sound exists like a particle drifting in air gently resonating with the others to form the structure.

I hope that the spaces and silences created by this placement will appear with a presence equal to the sounds themselves.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Tamura has shared the beautiful and alluring ‘Ostinato’, featuring multi-instrumentalist and producer Sam Gendel. Take a listen below.

Tara Clerkin Trio announce new album, Somewhere Good, and share title track

14 March 2026

Photo: Peter Eason Daniels

There’s wonderful news from Bristol-based trio Tara Clerkin Trio who have announced the release of their long-awaited new album. Entitled Somewhere Good, the record marks their first new music since 2023’s widely acclaimed On The Turning Ground mini-album. Somewhere Good is described as the band’s most expansive work so far, stretching across more than 40 minutes of immersive compositions that see the trio continue to explore their idiosyncratic and magnetic musical world. Musician Ryan Davis (of Ryan Davis and the Roundhouse Band) was inspired to write about the album and its effect on him:

“If – in some parallel universe (or perhaps a not-so-distant-future version of the one we’re already sentenced to living in) – the evil overloads of artificial intelligence were actually successful in their attempts to create convincingly enjoyable “original music,” more specifically tasked with wholly encapsulating my own personal tastes by data-chugging some cocktail of – oh, I don’t know – the posters on my wall, the records in my “most listened to” pile, the mixtapes I made for others, intensive physical scans of my auditory cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, heart strings, whatever else they have splayed out on their autopsy table with the intention of generating one all-encompassing “perfect band” based on the fruitful sum of their findings – that band, for me, would be (or would at least sound exactly like) the Tara Clerkin Trio. It is, quite simply, without exception, the music I wish to hear.”

Somewhere Good will see the light of day on June 5th through World of Echo. Ahead of it, Tara Clerkin Trio have shared the whimsical, gentle and mesmerizing title track. Here it is.

Ogoya Nengo & Odd Okoddo team up for collaborative album Palagoma

11 March 2026

 

Kenyan folk icon Ogoya Nengo has joined forces with experimental duo Odd Okoddo for a new collaborative album titled Palagoma. The record arrives on June 5th through From Cool Waters, bringing together artists from different generations and musical backgrounds in one striking project. Now 83, Nengo is one of the most distinctive voices in Kenyan folk music, and Odd Okoddo is the project of drummer and producer Sven Kacirek and singer, songwriter and instrument builder Olith Ratego. Palagoma is the first time all three artists come together for a full project but they are no strangers to one another. Nengo first met Kacirek in 2009 whilst recording The Kenya Sessions, and credits him as influential getting her career started. “That is why I like Sven, because Sven lift me up. I took him like my son, and Sven took me like his mother,” she says. Kacirek had also previously worked with Nengo on her 2014 debut Rang’ala, and he and Ratego launched Odd Okoddo in 2018 and have performed internationally since then, including at Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Festival.

Palagoma blends folk traditions, rhythm experiments, and minimal electronic production. On the album, Kacirek builds atmospheric foundations with percussion, modular synths and marimba textures, and the vocals draw from the Luo community’s dodo singing tradition. Singing in Dholuo, Ratego describes his style as “dodo blues,” a personal interpretation of the tradition he learned from his mother. Alongside him, Nengo’s powerful vocals bring decades of experience and emotional weight. Across the record, the trio explore themes of love, struggle, identity and resilience.

Ahead of the album’s release, Ogoya Nengo & Odd Okoddo have shared the first single from the album, ‘Bara’, an energetic and rhythmic track, driven by call-and-response vocals inspired by dodo music. The single is offered with a live video, offering a first glimpse at the trio performing the new material together. Watch it below.