As the title suggests, this duality of mood is a key feature of Lori Goldston’s new album, High and Low, out via SofaBurn. Though the diversity of her experience certainly informs the release, the sound is pared back to two key elements. What the label describes as “eulogic solo improvised cello pieces” (the “High”) as well as “cantankerous improvised duo performances” (which comprise the “Low”). This “Low” half of the album was conceived and performed with drummer Dan Sasaki and was inspired by images of subterranean exploration and destruction. The pair found, without even discussing it, they were both envisioning the same scene, what Goldston describes as “dirt, mud, rocks, fossils, artifacts, saltwater, giant machines, all grinding around together.” The suitably titled ‘Moving Soil’ is perhaps the best example, Goldston’s cello transformed into a motorised rattle as it coughs dust and dirt.

The album’s “High” side was captured on the ‘The Waves and What’s Under’, just one of the pieces on the record written for and toward the late Geneviève Elverum, where an ethereal weightlessness looks to suspend a loved one—both to relieve them of the burden of suffering and to maintain their presence in the world. This endeavour is one held across the solo pieces, a kind of amalgamation of healing, remembrance, and mourning, looking to preserve what needs preserving, while also being willing to let go. The culmination of this endeavour is the intensely moving closer ‘We Miss You and Wish You Well’, a track which not only reflects on Elverum’s passing but guides her skyward, as captured by Clyde Petersen’s video accompaniment.

High and Low is out on the 7th October via SofaBurn and you can get it from the Lori Goldston Bandcamp page.

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Back in August we wrote about ‘Sarehole Mill‘, the debut single from EP Wandering Worlds by Birmingham-based artist, composer, producer and singer-songwriter AGAAMA. It was a song, we described, “rooted in physical place but also the psyche of the individuals and collectives with pass through it, carrying with it all those people’s energies and anxieties.” Now out via The state51 Conspiracy, the EP continues this examination of spaces, gradually moving from a place of uncertainty to one of love. With its patient intimacy, closer ‘In This Life’ completes this journey, drawing a line between healing and empowerment, championing the healing of wounds as the path to more fully becoming oneself.

Alexia Avina – Let This Die

Fresh off the back of recent album A Little Older on Lost Map Records, Alexia Avina returns this month with a brand new EP, Crush. Focused on vulnerability and smallness, the previous record probed at tender spots we might usually ignore or protect, choosing to sit and contemplate pain instead. But Crush emerges from the aftermath of this period. A fresh start where new feelings germinate and sprout through the ground. Composed entirely of synths, the result is something freer, more fun, ready to give itself over to joy and desire, even while understanding such emotions might only stay for a fleeting moment. Check out the video for lead single ‘Let This Die’ below, shot, directed and edited by Sara Laufer.

Crush releases on 14th October and is available to pre-order from the Alexia Avina Bandcamp page.

Alicia Clara – I Let My Plant Die

Following last year’s EP Outsider/Unusual, Montreal-based dream pop artist Alicia Clara returns this month with a new four song release. Titled Velveteen, the EP is something of a message to her teenage self, and finds Clara at her most assured, combing confident musicianship with impressionistic and introspective lyrics that display an admirable vulnerability. Latest single ‘I Let My Plant Die’ was written on the pandemic’s one year anniversary and is full of both yearning for “normal” life and gentle self-admonishment for living passively and taking small things for granted. “The inspiration behind the title came from three baby plants I inadvertently let die when I left my apartment to go stay with family outside of Montreal in March 2020, thinking I’d be back in the city come April,” Clara explains. “I recognized a parallel between this and a tendency I have to put off tackling tasks or situations that scare me, thinking time will do the work on its own.” Check out the video directed and shot on the Swiss-French border by Alix Bortoli below:

Velveteen is out on the 28th October via Hot Tramp and you can pre-order it now.

Brody Price – It Was You

Later this month, Dallas artist Brody Price will release his latest album Win a Trip to Palm Springs! On Niles City Records. Price refers to his style (only semi sarcastically) as “doom country,” a tag which goes some way to capturing the record’s blend of folk, country, noise and sludge. The album’s second single, ‘It Was You’ exists on the gentler end of the spectrum but still captures the wider tension and stormy atmosphere which mirrors the lyrics’ exploration of the turbulence of life. Price is joined by Robert Ellis (piano) and Andy Baxter (vocal harmonies), who together create a folk song that, despite its twang and gentle melodies, actual explores the difficulties we all face and sometimes try to hide. “This song is about being aware of my own internal turmoil and realizing that everyone has the same thing in some form or fashion,” Price explains. “Even if someone may appear to have it all together, you still can’t tell what’s racing through their mind when they lay awake at night.”

Win a Trip to Palm Springs comes out on 28th October and you can order a copy now from the Brody Price website.

Doctor Delia – Whoa

Based in Portland, Oregon, Doctor Delia is a self-described “entity specializing in tinctures, alchemical transubstantiation, and old-time new-time music.” We first featured their work last summer, when we reviewed Parlor Songs, a collaborative album with Mother Juniper that we described as possessing “an intangible sense of homespun communal spirit.” Their latest release is Sunroom Vloop // Whoa, a double single which again takes a traditional instrument (here the violin) and creates something that feels both fresh and somehow timeless. ‘Sunroom Vloop’ is a bright and playful expression of the titular sunroom, all clear warm air and vivid reflections, while ‘Whoa’ is a violin loop altogether more mystical. “If you listen closely you can hear a great Spirit moving through the bones of the violin,” Doctor Delia describes. “It is my spirit; it is more than what I can put into words. So I play.”

Sunroom Vloop // Whoa is out now and available via the Doctor Delia Bandcamp page.

ghost orchard – rest

This November sees the release of rainbow music, the new album from ghost orchard on Winspear. The project of Grand Rapids, Michigan’s Sam Hall, ghost orchard has made its name with a distinctively sincere blend of folk and electronic styles, and their latest record develops this aesthetic further. A picture of calm and patience amid loss, where the quiet stillness holds the latent warmth of things now gone. New single ‘rest’ is the perfect introduction, its palpable, physical details holding something less tangible too. As though the world itself mourns that which is lost, and the correct arrangement of objects might summon it back once more. Watch the video by Nik Arthur below:

rust on its bearings
links in the chain
scars intermingled
the feeling wanes

and like the moon still crests as its’ hue ruminates
like thick smoke fills the room
and brings you back again

rainbow music is out on the 4th November via Winspear and you can pre-order it now.

Greta O’Leary – Body, Now

Written during an autumnal drive through the mountains of the South Island, ‘Body, Now’ is the latest single from Aotearoa folk artist Greta O’Leary. It’s a delicate, careful track which places the body into this context of the environment, charting its subtle changes in the face of grief in the manner one might watch the seasons pass across a landscape. But for all its isolation and heartbreak, the song emerges as a balm against outside forces. A return to the self as not only a mode of protection, but a way in which to reconnect with the most fundamental of things.

‘Body, now’ is available from the Greta O’Leary Bandcamp page.

Hang Linton x LeBron Aggressive – SALE

The work of Leeds-based interdisciplinary artist Hang Linton has been described as “a rebellion against clean aesthetics,” his work across music, performance, video and installation inspired by time spent amid countercultural collectives in Berlin. Debut single ‘SALE’ sees Linton enlist the talents of LeBron Aggressive for a synth-based meditation on consumerist culture, the catchy and playful sound simmering underneath sardonic lyrics. Essentially repurposing the strategy of advertisements to send the attack in the opposite direction. A crystal clear message dressed up with shiny adornments. “Discounts on discounts but don’t discount the fact,” as Linton sings. “We bought it all for cheap, with the sweat off someone else’s back.”

Kierst – Phone Call

South Carolina raised, Brooklyn-based songwriter Kierst has a new EP, Thud, coming next month on Sad Club Records, and latest single ‘Phone Call’ sets the tone for the release. A reflection on longing and self-worth which owes as much to Grouper and Mazzy Star as it does contemporary bedroom pop, the intimate vocals and pressing rhythm lifted by an ethereal soundscape, resulting in a mood which transcends the immediate pain for heartbreak. “I think it’s important to know how to sit with yourself, and not depend so much on romantic fulfilment, Kierst explains of the track. “You can only be as good to someone else as you can be to yourself, and the song’s about knowing when to respect that.”

Platonic Sex – Exhausted Competing For You

Meanjin/Brisbane outfit Platonic Sex are gearing up to release a brand new EP this November, and latest single ‘Exhausted Competing For You’ gives further indication of what to expect from the four-piece. The single is a track based around the tensions of a mismatched relationship, where the initial rush of excitement has dissipated and issues of compatibility are brought into relief. The temptation to persevere in the face of such doubts is clear, but struggling to make things work comes at a cost. “It’s exhausting to keep something alive for the sake of fighting for it,” says lead Bridget Brandolini, a realisation which becomes apparent across the song, its energy picking up into an affirming catharsis. Check out the video directed by Bridget Webb below:

‘Exhausted Competing For You’ is out now on all your favourite streaming services.

Puck – Best Friend

Having cut her teeth touring in the bands of SZA, dhruv and Maggie Rogers, Puck might have already announced themselves as keyboardist, but upcoming debut album Best Friend feels like a proper introduction. The record draws upon a childhood immersed in Seattle’s grunge and alt-rock scene but reaches out toward folk and jazz too. A highly personal blend used to conjure the experience of love but also violence, ultimately directing its energies into processing trauma and grief within a society seemingly arranged to reinforce such phenomena. “I wanted it to be catchy enough for the words to sneak under people’s skin,” Puck explains of the title track. “I didn’t really have much music to heal by, so I made some.”

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The solo project of Australia‘s Keeley Young, Claude offers a warm and reflective brand of folk, its gentle sound utilising restraint to map out the depth of its emotion. New single ‘Tamarind’ highlights the interplay between openness and caution inherent to the style, its earnest tone inviting the listener close while retaining a certain guarded nature. As though aware of both its power and fragility, and understanding what it is able to give away without betraying its own needs.

Too many days passed, without a word.
I think, you’ve liked fucking with me.
But I’m heading home to a house filled with warmth,
and I feel okay with holding your scorn;
and maybe someday you’ll see, how misinformed,
you were.

‘Tamarind’ is out now and is available from the Claude Bandcamp page.

Eldridge Rodriguez – Scars in the Vein (feat. Thalia Zedek)

We’ve covered the music of Boston‘s Eldridge Rodriguez several times, most recently with singles ‘Megalodon‘ and ‘Have I Gone Too Far‘. Both tracks are part of forthcoming album Atrophy, and although the release is still TBC, the outfit have unveiled another song to tide us over. Described as a “rant on the ineffectuality of performance activism,” ‘Scars in the Vein’ tears into the moribund politics of the perpetually online, mourning the energy expended grandstanding and fighting with bad faith commentators when it could be put towards more direct action. The song sees the Thalia Zedek (Come, Live Skull, E) lend her vocals, finding catharsis if not hope in its impassioned cynicism.

Atrophy will be released sometime in the future on Midriff Records, so keep an eye on the Eldridge Rodriguez Bandcamp page for more information.

Jake Tittle – Fair Warning

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jake Tittle has put out a number of releases on Anxiety Blanket Records, building a collection of  heartfelt tracks which push beyond acoustic folk into pop and soft rock. With James McAlister on drums and Lexi Vega (Mini Trees) on backing vocals, latest single ‘Fair Warning’ takes Tittle’s sound in a different direction, the backing beats adding a certain brooding attitude to a song caught amid the dark clouds of a storm. “I wrote ‘Fair Warning’ in the middle of a dying relationship,” he explains, “I was so scared of being alone that I refused to accept that it was dying and that hurt me even more.”

‘Fair Warning’ is out now via Anxiety Blanket Records and you can grab it now from Bandcamp.

Lori Goldston – The Waves And What’s Under

Composer and cellist Lori Goldston has had a wide ranging career. From scoring films, operas and dance productions to collaborating with the likes of David Byrne and The Wedding Present, not to mention touring with Nirvana in the early nineties. Stylistically her work is equally plastic, reaching across classical, folk and post-rock styles, and forthcoming album High and Low is no less ambitious. The ‘High’ portion of the record consists of solo cello pieces written for and toward the late Geneviève Elverum, and single ‘The Waves And What’s Under’ highlights the mournful beauty of the sound. During her illness, Elverum described feeling “herself floating in the air above a mountain.” Goldston explains. “I had a kind of vision about playing music that would help keep her floating easily there, and at the same time sustain the ripples of her presence in the world.”

High and Low is out on 7th October via SofaBurn and you can pre-order it now.

Mamalarky – Mythical Bonds

Mamalarky have announced brand new LP Pocket Fantasy, coming out on Fire Talk Records later this year, and lead single ‘Mythical Bonds’ shows off the new direction of their sound. After last year’s double single Meadow / Moss, Livvy Bennett, Michael Hunter and Noor Khan push into a brighter, more playful sound, its mischievous energy geared towards a sense of fondness. “I really needed to write something to accurately show Noor how much her friendship means to me, and our journey as musicians and friends,” Bennett explains. “We need more songs about friendship.” Check out the video directed by Ambar Navarro below:

Pocket Fantasy is out on 30th September via Fire Talk Records and you can pre-order it now.

Mark Mulcahy – Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Back in January, Perpetual Doom released Stayed Tuned: Season One, a TV theme covers compilation which saw the likes of Macie Stewart, Karl Blau and Dawn Riding take on everything from the themes of Twin Peaks, Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse to those of Cheers and Fraiser. This month sees the beginning of a brand new season, with a new cover released every Thursday and acts like Accessory (AKA Dehd‘s Jason Balla), Bill MacKay, Wild Pink, Vetiver, Sarah La Puerta, Leon III and others promised. This week sees Mark Mulcahy take on Fred Rogers’s ‘Won’t You be My Neighbor,’ adding a shadowy strangeness while keeping the sentiment at song’s heart.

Stayed Tuned: Season 2 is up and running now on Perpetual Doom and you can follow it on Bandcamp.

nina gala – we looked like angels

After releasing a couple of EPs, Baltimore’s nina gala is set to released her debut full-length album swan heart this autumn, and lead single ‘we looked like angels’ gives a glimpse of what to expect. A sweet track where romance and melancholy marble together, the bright shimmer of the guitars evoking the celestial imagery as gala’s vocals hark back to some lost love. “One day I’ll call you again / you’re a memory till then,” she sings, “something I can reach out and touch / but can’t touch back.” Left for now to remember fondly, hoping the heavenly being might descend again.

Nothing Really – Backseat Driver

The time since Melbourne‘s Nothing Really released their debut EP Yuck has been anything but easy, various personal upheavals and losses compounding an already difficult period. New single ‘Backseat Driver’ emerges from this phase, a track shaded by discouragement as though turned cynical by recent times. But within the despondency lies something else. An attempt to recognise the value of persisting despite everything, and in doing so helping others too. Indeed, vocalist/guitarist Vic Austin describes the track as “a reflection on how to care for others while also giving them the space to make their own mistakes. These lyrics are really about learning how to be a better friend.”

‘Backseat Driver’ is out now and available from the Nothing Really Bandcamp page.

Oh Lonesome Ana – MEG/\DETH TEE

Sacramento’s Oh Lonesome Ana released their debut full-length MEG/\DETH TEE earlier this month. The collection is inspired by and built around the poetry and prose of friend Johnny Allen, adapted into music by the band’s Evan Bailey. The title track offers a glimpse of the kind of melancholic yet wryly humorous tone which results. A meditation on the passing of time which identifies what changes, what is lost and what remains behind. “Am I too old to wear this Megadeth tee?” asks one such verse. “How could anyone / After all these years / Still like me?” Like Allen before them, Oh Lonesome Ana might not have an answer for such questions, but in ensuring they are still asked, offer hope in the very process of searching. Of continuing on in spite of everything.

Pat Keen – Love & Drugs

Writing of album Cells Remain back in 2020, we described Pat Keen‘s music as a “complex web of arrangements […] experimentation devoid of pomposity or pretension,” which attempts to conjure the nuances of a person’s inner life. The Minneapolis-based artist returns this month with ‘Love & Drugs’, a new single which furthers this ideal, exploring how chemicals might alter the appearance and texture of life, and how care is required to get the balance right. All delivered with a bright yet understated confidence, Keen’s vocals barely more than a murmur. Like confessions told directly into your ear.

Precocious Neophyte – AIWA

Haling from Seoul and based in Chicago, Precocious Neophyte is a songwriting project that germinated from a period of demoralization. “I decided that I would never play the guitar in front of people,” explain the liner notes of new album Home In The Desert. “I shut myself in. Cocooning. Just read Korean novels, a little poetry.” But their thoughts eventually turned to past times, old friends, watching the dawn over Hongdae. And thinking about home led to the guitar again. Solo jams at first, eventually a band. An album with singles like ‘AIWA’, which offer the past like dreams to experience anew.

Titus Andronicus – (I’m) Screwed

This autumn sees the return of Titus Andronicus with brand new album The Will to Live on Merge Records, and latest single ‘(I’m) Screwed’ finds them as passionate and furious as ever. Patrick Stickles has carved out a place among the best songwriters in the country over the past decade and more, and the new album is no less ambitious. A meditation on the fragility and beauty of life, and a railing against all those things which refuse to grant it the respect and reverence it deserves. “Naturally, though, our long-suffering narrator can only arrive at this conclusion through a painful and arduous odyssey through Hell itself,” Stickles explained to Pitchfork. “This is a Titus Andronicus record, after all.” ‘(I’m) Screwed’ drops us into the deep end, the narrator trapped on all sides as his beliefs are tested. Check out the video by Ray Concepcion below:

The Will to Live will be released via Merge Records on 30th September and you can pre-order it now.

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