Category Archives: Blog

James Weir unveils new Blue Earth Sound project; debut album Cicero Nights out in September

13 May 2025

Based in Chicago, James Weir is a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and composer best known for his work in NE-HI and Spun Out. He has unearthed his new project, Blue Earth Sound, marking a shift from the post-punk and synth-driven energy of his earlier bands toward something more reflective and expansive. The project came out of a period of soul-searching, as Weir sought a musical outlet that reflected where he is in life today, while also pushing his songwriting skills forward. Rather than drawing from the music that inspired him in his teens, he was compelled to create something that reflected his experiences in his 20s and 30s.

He shares:

“My earlier bands were inspired by what I fell in love with between 16–21. Subconsciously, a lot of the writing was about energy, angst, and partying. I wanted to make music inspired by life experiences and the music I fell in love with in my late 20s and early 30s—70s Chicago jazz and soul, Talk Talk, Japanese jazz, and Italian soundtrack composers like Stefano Torossi.”

The result is Cicero Nights, the debut album from Blue Earth Sound, out on September 12th through Root Records. Cicero Nights began when Weir bought a piano and started writing in his basement in Humboldt Park. “After I bought a piano and put it in my basement in Humboldt Park, it turned out my neighbour Patch Romanowski was a drummer,” he explains. “We developed this chemistry and would play in the basement together. That gave me a big step forward with my relationship to writing on the piano.”

Recorded at the International Anthem studio space in Chicago, with in-house engineer Dave Vettraino, Cicero Nights features a group of collaborators including drummer Patch Romanowski, Resavoir’s Will Miller on trumpet, flautist Eamonn Pritzy, and longtime collaborator Michael Wells.

Alongside the album announcement, Blue Earth Sound has shared the opening track ‘Mariposa’, which serves as a sublime introduction to the album. Speaking about the track, Weir says:

“The song was inspired by my hometown in Minnesota and dedicated to my wife, Morgan. I pictured a colorful butterfly floating over a beige cornfield—like how the flute and trumpet float over the arrangement. The moment Will came in and improvised trumpet over it, I knew we had a beautiful, melancholic track that felt like the most important on the album to me.”

Listen to ‘Mariposa’ now.

Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer set to release new album, Different Rooms

10 May 2025

Photo: Colin Patrick Smith

Modular synthesist Jeremiah Chiu and violist Marta Sofia Honer return with Different Rooms, a follow-up to their 2022 duo debut Recordings from the Åland Islands. The album was pieced together between late 2024 and early 2025, with material developed onstage during their Autumn EU tour and later shaped in their neighboring home studios in LA. The title is both literal and figurative as most of the pieces were composed in parallel, each artist working in their own space, and a few others came from live sessions with Josh Johnson and Jeff Parker. Speaking about it, Chiu and Honer say:

“This record marks an evolution in our approach to studio production. Our studios are side-by-side. When we were writing this album, you might have found us tracking viola stacks in one studio while, in the other, we were writing through-composed themes and rearranging the material. Granular synthesis and tape manipulation are key tools we use to create variation and movement in a composition. This process often yields surprising results, capturing the emotion but expressing it in unexpected ways. It feels essential that we embrace a bit of chance.”

Unlike the dreamlike landscapes of their previous album, which was captured in an archipelago in the Baltic Sea, the upcoming Different Rooms stays grounded. “We want this music to meet you where you are”, they explained. Described as an “urban album”, on the record field recordings are still present, but they come from train platforms, city streets, and everyday domestic scenes.

The full album lands on June 20th through International Anthem and ahead of it they have shared the enveloping and hazy ‘Mean Solar Time’ as the first single. Take a listen now.

Herbert & Momoko share second single, ‘Need To Run’, from forthcoming album Clay

10 May 2025

Photo: Manuel Vazquez

Following the gorgeous lead single ‘Babystar‘ released last month, artist, producer, composer and experimentalist Matthew Herbert and drummer, composer and vocalist Momoko Gill have shared a new glimpse into their forthcoming debut album Clay with a second single, ‘Need To Run’. A beautifully restrained piece, ‘Need To Run’ blends soulful textures and a haunting sense of introspection. In describing the track, Herbert shares:

“We often think of states as binary—awake/asleep etc—but much of life is spent in a state of not knowing quite where you are or where you fit. Need To Run takes place somewhere within one of those moments.”

Listen to ‘Need To Run’ below and grab Clay when it drops on June 27th through Strut / Accidental.

Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke release final single ‘The Spirit’ as Tall Tales album and film arrive

09 May 2025

Coinciding with the release of their debut collaborative album Tall Tales, out today through Warp, Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke shared yesterday a final single titled ‘The Spirit’. The track arrives with a surreal new video from longtime visual collaborator Jonathan Zawada, marking the fourth video glimpse into the cinematic world of Tall Tales, following ‘Back In The Game’, ‘This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice’, and ‘Gangsters’.

Tall Tales is accompanied by a full-length feature film, also out today, screening in select cinemas globally. Developed over several years alongside the music, the film blends dystopian imagery with natural beauty, questioning our collective ideas of progress. Some screenings include a limited-edition zine, designed by Zawada, that expands on the film’s themes and visual language.

Now check out the video for ‘The Spirit’.

Listen to corto.alto’s new single ’32.Dip (108)’

09 May 2025

corto.alto has just shared a new track, ’32.Dip (108)’, a final gem from his ambitious 30/108 project, which saw him release 30 tracks in 30 days. It arrives after a huge year with wins for UK Jazz Act of the Year and The Innovation Award at the Jazz FM Awards, and follows the release of his Mercury Prize-shortlisted debut Bad With Names, which was one of our Album Picks of 2023. Built from the last of the 108 demos he made for 30/108, ’32.Dip (108)’ almost didn’t see the light of day, until the Glaswegian prodigious multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer found the missing link in a sample from his own track ‘Bye’, the closing piece on Bad With Names. As he puts it:

“This track was the last of the 108 demos I made for this project before beginning the long, tiring but ultimately rewarding process of working on the 30 tracks. It wasn’t included in the 30 singles because I never could figure out how to finish it. I ended up adding a sample of my own track ‘Bye,’ the last track on my Mercury Prize shortlisted album Bad With Names, and that felt like the missing piece. To me, ‘32.Dip (108)’ signifies the end of a sonic chapter for me as an artist, and the beginning of something new.”

’32.Dip (108)’ is offered with a visualizer and you can watch it below.


’32.Dip (108)’ is out now through New Soil

GoGo Penguin premiere video for new single ‘What We Are and What We Are Meant to Be’

09 May 2025

Photo: Mark Gregson

With their much-anticipated seventh album Necessary Fictions arriving next month, and following the mesmerizing lead single ‘Fallowfield Loops’, GoGo Penguin have unveiled a second single, ‘What We Are and What We Are Meant to Be’. The previous single introduced us to the album’s expanded textures and modular synth explorations, and their new offering pushes even further into the band’s present mindset. Stripped of improvisation and driven by a steady, dance-influenced bass synth, it’s perhaps their most direct and unadorned piece to date. As bassist Nick Blacka puts it, “It’s really simple, really melodic”, continuing:

“It’s not showboating, like ‘Hey, look at all the chops we’ve got, and how great we are!’ There’s not even any improvisation in it. Bass-wise, it’s just got a bass synth like a dance track. There’s still a part of me that’s like, ‘What are people going to think?’ Then there’s another part that just thinks, ‘Fuck it, they can think what they want! This is what we want to make right now, and it feels authentic.’”

Alongside the new single, the Manchester trio shared an accompanying video directed by longtime collaborator Rich Williams. Watch the video below and get ready for Necessary Fictions, out on June 20th through XXIM/Sony.