ECHT! announce second album Sink-Along, and share first single ‘Vault-A’

25 January 2023

We love Belgian instrumental quartet ECHT! and their thrilling and intoxicating amalgam of disparate influences. So we’re excited to know they are following up the outstanding 2019 Inwane with a second full-length album. Entitled Sink-Along, the album is set for release on May 5th through Sdban Ultra. It seems like a long way away but the outfit of Martin Méreau, Dorian Dumont, Florent Jeunieaux and Federico Pecoraro are already teasing it with the tight and hypnotic first single ‘Vault-A’, a track dedicated to Brussel’s music centre VOLTA, the “most precious place” in the city. ‘Vault-A’ is offered with a visualizer made by DR.ME. Here it is

Night Dreamer to release new Direct-To-Disc album from Islandman ft Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoğlu

25 January 2023

The newest instalment from Night Dreamer‘s Direct-To-Disc session series will come from the hands of Turkish electro-acoustic trio Islandman in collaboration with legendary percussionist and drummer Okay Temiz and contemporary saz player Muhlis Berberoğlu. Islandman’s vision for the upcoming album, as the press release explains, “seeks to reconnect cerebral downtempo beat-making with the folkloric and ritual bedrock that their music has always rested on.”

The album will be released on March 10th and ahead of it we can already hear the lead single ‘Fidayda’.

Listen to Caixa Cubo’s first single off forthcoming album Agôra

21 January 2023

A mainstay in the Brazilian jazz scene for over 15 years, Caixa Cubo have a new album on the way. Entitled Agôra, which means now, it marks their eighth full-length album and arrives on March 31st through Jazz & Milk. To bring Agôra to life, the trio of Henrique Gomide (keys), João Fideles (drums) and Noa Stroeter (bass) enlisted the help of singers Xenia França and Zé Leônidas, Jembaa Groove’s singer Eric Owusu and South African duo Bongani Givethanks & Mpho Nkuzo. As the press release describes,  Agôra “shines not for its virtuosity rather for its minimalism, it’s depth of space, and for the first time, it’s ability to figure outside the jazz fold, as the trio from São Paulo decided, for the first time, to bring in singers and add a new aesthetic to their sound.”

‘Sábado’, a homage song to the busy city of São Paulo where Caixa Cubo met, is the first exhilarating single to emerge from the album. The trio comments:

“Sabado reflects well the spontaneity that permeated the entire recording of the album. When we got to the studio, we had no idea what we were going to record. We started playing a groove, kind of inspired by Gilberto Gil’s 80s albums, and our drummer João started singing this funny song ‘Sábado Barrigudão’ (Big Belly Saturday) alongside the bass groove and that was that”.

Listen to ‘Sábado’ below.

Dishwasher_ announce self-titled debut album and share first single ‘Blue Bridge’

20 January 2023

Sdban Records has been on a roll in recent years with incredible releases and 2023 already looks to be no different. This week the Belgian label announced the debut album from Ghent trio Dishwasher_, made up of Arno Grootaers, Werend Van Den Bossche and Louise van den Heuvel. A self-titled effort, the album is due out in April and as the press release describes, it “promises to be a unique and diverse collection of groove-driven cuts, showcasing the band’s experimentation with various genres to create a contemporary sound that is truly their own.”

Coinciding with the album’s announcement, Dishwasher_ are previewing the album with first single ‘Blue Bridge’, a track inspired by New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’. Take a listen now.

Watch Nico Paulo’s video for new single ‘Time’

18 January 2023

Photo: Matt Horseman

At the tail end of 2022, Nico Paulo seduced our ears and hearts with ‘Now or Never’, the enchanting and bewildering first single taken from her upcoming self-titled debut album. The album’s release has been set for April 7th through Forward Music Group and ahead of it the St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador based Portuguese songwriter has shared a second gorgeous and bewitching single called ‘Time’. Speaking about the song, Nico comments:

“Time is a song about friendship, admiration and change. It’s a dialogue between two characters that investigates the discrepancies between them — one is more rigid and one is more free. This song is the coming together and the nuance and beauty created by two opposing perspectives. They unite in a dance that forces them to reckon with time. And in this moment of change, they realize that they’re maybe not so different after all.”

‘Time’ is offered with an animated video created by Sing Sing and you can watch it below.

La Tène set to release new album Ecorcha/Taillée next month

15 January 2023

There’s exciting news from La Tène, who have announced the release of a new album. Entitled Ecorcha/Taillée, the album sees the French-Swiss trio expand to a seven-piece, like in their previous record. Founding members Cyril Bondi, Alexis Degrenier and Laurent Peter are joined again by Jacques Puech, Louis Jacques, Guilhem Lacroux and Jérémie Sauvage to augment their entrancing and euphoric musical universe.

“La Tène’s long, hypnotic, wordless pieces are built from traditional folk instrumentation, wild percussion and blurred, subtle electronic embellishments”, as the press release describes, “and feel as ancient and earthy as those millennia-old artefacts – with all the metal, wood, dedication and craftsmanship they entailed.”

Arriving on February 3rd through Bongo Joe Records, Ecorcha/Taillée features two epic tracks recorded live in Le Gamounet near Clermont-Ferrand, in a barn converted into a ballroom and cultural centre.

Ahead of of the album’s release, La Tène have let loose the mesmeric and jubilant ‘La Taillée’. Listen to it and let yourself be carried away.