Esmerine releases surprise album Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More

10 May 2022

Photo: Osha Cawdron

There’s marvelous news from acclaimed Montréal chamber rock ensemble Esmerine, who released a surprise album last Friday. Entitled Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, it marks their first album in five years, following Mechanics Of Dominion, which was one of our Albums Picks of 2017. Out now digitally, Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More will have its physical release on August 26th through Constellation.

The record came to life in the Laurentian mountains and Gatineau Hills of Quebec, and as the band puts it, it “carries with it that sense of being ‘snowed-in’ and the joy of being ‘all-in-it together’, coupled with the unease and melancholy of having found an oasis while the storm continues to rage outside.” They continue, “All of this is wrapped up in these songs : odes and elegies, hymns and jubilees.”

Esmerine have also shared a fitting video to accompany the utterly beautiful ‘Fractals For Any Tonality’, which serves as the first single. Watch it now.

Condor Gruppe set to release new album, Gulliver, in September

06 May 2022

Spawned from two friends in 2012, Michiel Van Cleuvenbergen and Jan Wygers, Condor Gruppe are a Antwerp based nine-piece ensemble bonded over a shared love of Italian 70s film soundtracks, krautrock and psychedelic grooves. Using various instruments, including the handpan, Jew’s harp, darbouka and tanpura, Condor Gruppe “fuse the melancholy of Pink Floyd, the heroism of Ennio Morricone and the world grooves of GOAT”, as the press release describes.

The outfit has announced the release of a new album titled Gulliver, which will see the light of day on September 23rd through Sdban Ultra. Along with the news, Condor Gruppe have shared the first fascinating single, ‘What Could Have Been’, and you can listen to it below.

Sam Gendel announces new album, SUPERSTORE, and shares three new tracks

05 May 2022

A mainstay in the Los Angeles’ contemporary jazz scene, it’d be easy to forget about all the releases and collaborations multi-instrumentalist and producer Sam Gendel is involved in. Just last year, Gendel added to his bountiful catalog AE-30, a film and audio album, a collaborative album with Sam Wilkes and another with Ethan Braun, a two-track digital single released through Nonesuch records, and a plethora of other musical offerings. Last year Gendel has also released a 52-track solo album, Fresh Bread, and he’s ready to follow it up with SUPERSTORE, a 34-song all genre record featuring unreleased music from personal archives of solo recordings and collaborations with players like Blake Mills, Gabe Noel, Kevin Yokota, and Philippe Melanson.

SUPERSTORE is set for release on June 10th through Leaving Records amd Gendel has let loose three cuts from it, ‘Blueblackred’, ‘La Guerra di Pierro’, and ‘Gu Shi’ ft. Blake Mills. Take a listen below.



Nancy Mounir shares new single ‘Ana Bas Saktalak’ featuring Fatma Serry

04 May 2022

Photo: Eslam Abd El Salam

Last month we heard and loved the otherworldly and entrancing ‘Khafif Khafif’, the first single taken from Nancy Mounir‘s debut album Nozhet El Nofous (“Promenade of the Souls”). Ahead of the album’s release on June 3rd through Simsara Records, the talented and versatile multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and composer has shared a new poignant and eerie cut called ‘Ana Bas Saktalak’ featuring Fatma Serry. Take a listen below.

GoGo Penguin release new single from upcoming EP, Between Two Waves

02 May 2022

Recently signed to XXIM Records, Manchester’s unique and quirky jazz trio GoGo Penguin are back with a new EP, following their 2020’s eponymous album. Entitled Between Two Waves, it is their first album with new drummer, Jon Scott, and was recorded at Real World Studios at the tail end of 2021. To get us enticed, Gogo Penguin have shared a magnificent new single called ‘Badeep’. “With this track we were inspired by the idea of taking the listener on a journey”, the band explains. “‘Badeep’ starts and ends with the same simple synth pattern but through the journey you finally arrive somewhere which feels both familiar and alien at the same time.” Take a listen below.

Nailah Hunter unveils new single ‘Forest Dark’

28 April 2022

Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist and composer Nailah Hunter is releasing a full-length album later this year and earlier this month she has shared a taste from it in the shape of new single ‘Forest Dark’. In Hunter’s own words, “Forest Dark is about lost love and quiet longing, calling forth the feeling of a full moon shining through the tallest trees in an ancient wood.”

The track was produced by Brogan Bentley and speaking about it, Hunter commented:

“It was a new and exhilarating process working closely with producer Brogan Bentley on this track. He sampled and resynthesized the harp parts I wrote for the piece to create a new sound world, and the addition of Max Kaplan’s tenor sax added another layer of richness and soul.”

Bentley also had this to say about their collaboration:

“Forest Dark: The last kiss of light from the golden hour as it descends below the treeline, exposing fleeting tones of deepest emerald green and crimson red woods. The ensuing cloak of nightfall worn by the many spirits of the forest as they sing and dance in rapture, playing strings of shadow and imagination, exciting mystery and reverence for lesser known paths as they reveal themselves with every new step taken through the dark.”

Listen to ‘Forest Dark’ below.