Joe Harvey-Whyte & Geir Sundstøl preview upcoming album, Langeleik, with new single ‘Tana’

09 January 2026

Photo: Roberto Johnson

January 30th will see the release of Langeleik, the collaborative album from London-based pedal-steel player Joe Harvey-Whyte and multi-instrumentalist Geir Sundstøl, who’s one of Norway’s most esteemed and beloved guitarists. Set for release on January 30 through Hubro, the record brings together two musicians who share a fascination with the pedal steel, but approach it from different places and working habits. Harvey-Whyte and Sundstøl met years ago through a shared curiosity for each other’s work and eventually in August 2024 Harvey-Whyte travelled to Oslo. What was supposed to be “five days to do something with two pedal-steel guitars”, turned into a full-length record. “We decided almost nothing in advance,” Harvey-Whyte says. “We just started playing.”

This open-ended approach became central to the sound of the album. Most of the music was written in the studio, built from improvisation, close listening, and a shared interest in texture and movement. For Sundstøl, the speed of the process was a contrast to his usual way of working. “Joe works spontaneously. I usually tinker with tiny detail for days,” he says. “The two different work forms are equally good, I guess. You gain some, and you loose some by spending months on a song.”

Across Langeleik, the pedal steel is joined by synths, field recordings, drum machines and other analogue instruments, with many of the pieces named after rivers and places. “When I listen to the album I hear the ocean and rivers,” Harvey-Whyte says. “It’s not an album of instant gratification — it’s an album to do nothing with. A companion for reverie.”

Today, the pair have released the new single ‘Tana’, a serene and slow-unfolding piece named after one of Norway’s northernmost rivers. Speaking about it, Sundstøl comments:

“Joe and I are both inspired by North Indian classical music. Tana is our take on the raga: It starts out with the alap, a form of improvisation that introduces the melodic framework, and then develops into a raga inspired track. A raga would normally stay in one key, grounded by a drone. Here, we are instead moving between two chords: D and E minor. Both instruments are treated with the vocoder, usually associated with electronic music, creating an unusual soundscape, all grounded by Dalen’s and Engen’s delicate drumming.”

‘Tana’ follows their earlier single ‘The Tyburn’, which if you haven’t yet, it’s also worth spending time with. Here’s both.

Asher Gamedze offers new glimpse into A Semblance: Of Return with ‘War’

08 January 2026

At the tail end of 2025, Asher Gamedze announced the release of his forthcoming album A Semblance: Of Return, sharing then the staggering and sublime first single ‘Following Up’ as an introduction to the project’s collective vision and his ongoing “practices of assembly”. This week, the visionary and virtuosic drummer, composer and activist unveiled a second offering from the album with the astounding and compelling ‘War’. Of the track, Gamedze says:

“War (of maneuver): The national question’s irresolution and the misapplication of position’s analytic.”

Listen to ‘War’ below and grab the album when it drops on February 27th through Northern Spy Records.

Pullman release third and final single ‘Bray’ from upcoming new album III

07 January 2026

With Pullman’s long-awaited new album, III, now just a couple of days away, we’re down to the last preview before its release. Over the past few months, the Chicago-based acoustic supergroup have already given us two strong introductions to III, first with the dazzling and dreamy ‘Weightless’ and then the intricate and hypnotic ‘Kabul’, both of which marked their first new material in over twenty years. Today, ahead of the album’s release this Friday, Pullman have shared a final preview from III. The new track, ‘Bray’, shifts the mood once again, leaning into a denser and more tactile atmosphere. “Across two warm minutes, distorted timbres create a serrated, yet woolly atmosphere”, describes the press release. “It is equally indebted to ambient and noise, harkening back to ’90s Midwest experimentation.”

‘Bray’ highlights another side of a record shaped by long-standing collaboration, patience, and persistence. The album is out this Friday, January 9th, through Western Vinyl, and you can check out the new single below, offered alongside a visualizer.

David Moore unveils video for new single ‘Offering’

07 January 2026

David Moore is gearing up to release his new album Graze The Bell, on January 30th through RVNG Intl. The record marks his first widely released solo piano album, following two decades of work with Bing & Ruth and collaborations with artists like Steve Gunn and Cowboy Sadness. Stripped back to piano alone, Graze The Bell is Moore’s most personal release to date. The album finds him stepping away from ensemble arrangements to focus on quiet and meditative compositions that value space, restraint, and emotional presence. Some pieces were originally written for Bing & Ruth, but Moore ultimately felt they belonged elsewhere. “I want to keep growing,” he says, “and challenge dogmatic ways of thinking.” That desire made him rethink both his playing and his creative process, leading him toward a more intuitive and almost trance-like approach to playing, where structure and instinct meet.

The album’s title reflects a philosophy Moore has come to embrace over time. Questioning the idea of constant progress or arrival, he instead leans into being present. “There is no mountaintop – and no path to it,” he writes. “Only a hope that we may, if we’re lucky, occasionally graze the bell.”

The album’s intimacy is also mirrored in the cover, depicting his wife flying a kite on the North Carolina coast, which Moore cross-stitched over ten months while Graze The Bell was being mixed.

Ahead of the album’s release, Moore has shared the utterly stunning and stirring ‘Offering’, alongside a video directed by Nick Vranizan. The track captures the album’s spirit, unfolding slowly and patiently. “‘Offering’ is an extension of my never-ending quest to move through harmony like water using an instrument that is very much like stone,” Moore explains. “Spiritually, the song and title grew from a period of my life that saw intense challenge and wild transformation, both of which required a relinquishing of control – a time when the only way through was up”. Speaking about the video, he comments:

“The film, sparked from a thought we had to expand on the cross-stitched album art. We decided early on to shun any form of generative AI and focus on technique and impulse. It’s rare I see a visual for a song that so closely matches the feeling of playing it; what Nick’s created here is not just something beautiful in its own right, but also a passage to understanding the music on a deeper level.”

Vranizan also had this to say about it:

“I have to say that I think the music is responsible for bringing real magic to the film. It made images that could easily have looked like a screensaver feel mercurial and familiar, like navigating a memory.”

Watch the video for ‘Offering’ now.

Barananu’s debut album, Funghi, out now

30 December 2025

As we reach the tail end of 2025, we’re uncovering some hidden gems from earlier in the year that have slipped under our radar, and Funghi, the debut album from Porto’s Barananu, is one of them. Released through Jazzego Records in March, Funghi hit us like a breath of fresh air, with its infectious grooves and adventurous mix of jazz, disco, and progressive rock, blended in a way that is spontaneous and free-spirited as childhood play itself. Funghi is not bound by genre, but rather, it explores a variety of influences, from the hypnotic and atmospheric elements reminiscent of Boards of Canada and the improvisational spirit of BadBadNotGood to the adventurous edge of Kamasi Washington and the lush and experimental textures of Stereolab, blending cosmic synths with laid-back grooves. Comprising some of Porto’s most talented musicians – Eduardo Carneiro Dias (drums), Xavier Nunes (bass), João Pedro Dias (trumpet), Fábio Gil (saxophone), José Pedrosa (keyboards), and Fábio Mota (percussion) -, Barananu have crafted one of the most fun, daring and groove-heavy records we’ve heard all year. In the works for four years, including a period of intense collaboration during the pandemic, Funghi is the result of their creative experimentation, as the band explains:

“This album is the natural result of four years of musical growth, including the unique challenges that the pandemic brought us. During pre-production, we intensified our collaborative approach with almost daily rehearsals, where each member actively contributed to the composition, resulting in more sophisticated arrangements and a truly shared artistic vision.”

A ride from start to finish, Funghi is an album full of surprises, joy, and boundless creativity, exactly what we need as we close out 2025. For a taste of what’s on offer, take a listen to two exhilarating tracks from the album, ‘Tiny Steps’ and ‘Ode Metro’.