We’re thrilled to hear that Chip Wickham is back with a new album, The Eternal Now, arriving on September 5th through Gondwana Records. Led by the rich, expressive voice of his flute and co-produced by Matthew Halsall, this is Wickham’s most rhythm-forward record yet. To bring the album to life, the immensely talented British flautist, saxophonist, and composer also enlisted the help of Manchester heavyweights Luke Flowers (The Cinematic Orchestra) on drums and Sneaky (Mr Scruff) on bass. Taking inspiration from Lonnie Liston Smith, David Axelrod, Sven Wunder, and library music, the upcoming The Eternal Now explores new rhythms and sounds, while still carrying all the soulful grooves and melodic warmth that have long defined his sound. “Writing this album has been a deliberate journey of exploration and drive into the furthest reaches of creativity,” Chip explains, “an attempt to push myself artistically into new spaces using new colours and new energy.”
Alongside the album news, Wickham has let loose its opener ‘Drifting’, a gorgeous, cinematic and seductive track. “Sometimes in life you just need to let go and drift”, as Wickam describes. “Let the wind move you around, be free, and see where you end up.”
Irish composer and double bassist Caimin Gilmore is widely recognized for his work with ground breaking new music group Crash Ensemble and collaborations across a strikingly diverse musical landscape. An interdisciplinary and versatile modern musician, he has shared the stage with internationally renowned artists like Lisa Hannigan, Dermot Kennedy, Aaron Dessner, Jessy Buckley, Dirty Projectors, Sam Amidon, Greg Saunier, to name a few, and features on over 40 recordings, including releases from Damon Albarn, Boygenius, and on Leonard Cohen’s posthumous album ‘Thanks for the Dance’ with European ensemble s t a r g a z e, among many others. Gilmore is stepping forward with BlackGate, his highly anticipated debut album, arriving on August 1st through New Amsterdam Records in collaboration with Dublin’s Ten Spot Records.
“There has been a long lineage of non classical artists working primarily in ‘commercial’ music who dig from the contemporary classical music well & also write it,” Gilmore explains. He traces his own path to genre fluidity back to a 2019 panel at Cork’s Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival:
“The first time the idea that this cross pollination was rigorously happening was listening to NewAm Artistic Director William Brittelle at Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival… That interaction cemented, and made sense of, how ‘classical’ composers and musicians were also working in genre-fluid ways internationally and this gave assurance to the idea that my musical ideas, amassed performing across genres, had credibility as a notated work also.”
Commissioned by Galway’s BlackGate Cultural Centre with support from the Arts Council of Ireland, and developed during a year-long residency with Dublin City Council, BlackGate is a beautifully textured suite for harp, cello, double bass and Yamaha DX7, featuring Kate Ellis (cello) and Lavinia Meijer (harp). The music draws on minimalist structures and extended techniques to build what Gilmore calls a “spectral sound world”, shaped by his life as a performer across contemporary classical, indie, traditional and orchestral music. He comments:
”I was interested in writing a piece that lived somewhere—harmonically and structurally—between indie and minimalist music; using extended string techniques to create a spectral sound world. At the time I was playing and jumping across a broad range of styles—contemporary music, folk/Irish traditional music, playing in indie groups, and symphonic repertoire with orchestras. I felt that the playing techniques I was using across these genres were transferable, and the diffuse sonic worlds were conducive with each other–they could live together if it was a reflection of how I approached them, or maybe how I understood them. It felt most natural to me to write something with this cross pollination of genres in mind. BlackGate as such became a natural reflection of the different types of music and people I was performing and collaborating with at the time of writing it.”
Following on from ‘MVE III’, Gilmore has shared a second track from the album, the gorgeous and heavenly ‘MVE I’. The single arrives with a visual accompaniment by Steve O’Connor. Watch it below and listen to ‘MVE III’ straight after.
Swedish collective Pink Butter are set to release their debut EP Can We Go Back on August 1st through DeepMatter Records. Known for their live, improvisational approach, the outfit of Oskar Bettinsoli (guitar), Björn Lehnert (keys), Malte Bergman (bass), and John Bjurström (drums) blends jazz, hip-hop, and soul into a sound that feels both fluid and groove-focused. Featuring guest appearances from T3 of Slum Village and Jermaine Holmes (D’Angelo), Can We Go Back explores both personal and collective themes. The band comments:
“We made our songs by simply playing together live in the studio, giving as much of ourselves as possible to the music. In an age where digital perfection is easy to achieve, we chose to embrace the human side of music. It’s about capturing the raw energy of the moment—just like the jazz records we love—but infused with the modern collaboration and vibe of today’s hip-hop and soul. It’s a balance between the timelessness of improvisation and the innovation of contemporary music.”
Final single ‘U’ closes the upcoming EP on a high. Featuring Venus Anon and Jermaine Holmes, the track is a lush, bass-heavy slice of neo-soul, full of warmth, groove, and emotion. Here it is.
Last month, Mansur Brown announced the release of a new album, Rihla, and enticed us then with the first single, ‘Alone‘. Now the Brixton-born guitarist, producer, and composer has shared a second cut, ‘Faded’, and it hits with a different kind of energy. Drawing heavily from jungle and drum and bass, ‘Faded’ is driven by tightly chopped percussion and warped, pitched vocals, layered with his unmistakable melodic guitar lines. Fast-moving and intricately textured, it reveals another side to an eagerly awaited record. The single comes with an accompanying video by Greg Barnes and you can watch it below.
Chicago Underground Duo, the long-standing project of composer and multi-instrumentalist Rob Mazurek and composer and percussionist Chad Taylor, have announced their return with a new album. Titled Hyperglyph, the record lands on August 15th through International Anthem and marks their first release in over a decade. Active in various formations since the late 1990s, Chicago Underground Duo emerged out of a fertile Chicago scene, and have been instrumental carving paths into the intersections of jazz, electronics, post-rock and improvised music. Across various configurations — duo, trio, quartet, orchestra — and a wide web of collaborations, Mazurek and Taylor have continued to return to this project as a site of focused, often elemental exploration. “Rob is my longest collaborator and also one of my best friends,” says Taylor, referring to their first performance together at a club in Chicago in 1988, when he was 15. “We have worked together and have been friends for a long time”, Mazurek adds. “This creates a kind of continuity not only in the music, but in our lives.”
Recorded over three days at International Anthem Studios in May 2024, the album distills decades of shared language into something intricate yet immediate. The pair’s music has long drawn on a broad and deep array of influences and on the upcoming Hyperglyph they cite rhythmic traditions from Nigeria, Mali, Zimbabwe and Ghana, alongside a lineage of sound that reaches from Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell’s Mu, to Miles Davis and Teo Macero’s studio work, and into the textural worlds of Xenakis, Éliane Radigue, King Tubby, Mouse on Mars, and Autechre, amongst others. As Taylor puts it, “There has always been a lot of African influence in the rhythms we play,” and in this setting, they serve as a through-line across shifting terrain.
Alongside the announcement comes the lead track ‘Click Song’, an ecstatic and buoyant track offering a first glimpse into the world of Hyperglyph. Take a listen now.
Last month, KAU hinted at their next album with ‘dive_deep‘. Now the Brussels-based trio of Andre Breidlid (drums), Matteo Genovese (bass) and Jan Janzen (keys) has officially announced Unknown Waveforms, due on October 10th through Sdban Ultra. Drawing from jazz, hip hop, and electronic influences, Unknown Waveforms came to life out of extended jams with minimal overdubs, embracing analog warmth and chance. The album is described as “a statement of intent: a celebration of imperfection, creative honesty and an insight in the process.”
Alongside the album news, they’ve slipped in a second preview with ‘4U’, a slower and more intimate track, and even more pared-down than its predecessor. “Anchored by a looping, pitch-shifted vocal from bassist Matteo Genovese whispering ‘I’m here for you'”, as the press release describes, “the track resonates like a mantra — soft, steady, and reassuring”. It’s “wrapped in atmospheric synths, grounded in earthy grooves, and carried by KAU’s signature moog bass,” crafting space for stillness and connection. ‘4U’ speaks volumes in its simplicity. Take a listen below.
