After almost six years, the complete seven-member formation BTS returns with “ARIRANG”, their fifth studio album, named after a centuries-old Korean folk song about longing and resilience. All fourteen tracks are co-written by producers including Diplo, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, Flume, JPEGMAFIA, and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. The album opens with “Body to Body” and builds through the energetic “Hooligan”, “Aliens” and “FYA” ... read more

The Norwegian band Motorpsycho releases their new album, “The Gaia ll Space Corps,” which is stylistically best described as vintage hard rock. The songs are highly riff-oriented and feature numerous guitar solos. Fortunately, there is also sufficient room for vocals and keyboards. The length of the songs is striking. Motorpsycho is known for its long, extended songs and its improvisation-rich live performances. The seven tracks on “The Gaia ll Space Corps” clock in at ... read more

On their eighth studio album “Paradises”, the Liverpool trio Ladytron clearly opts for the dance floor, for the first time written entirely as a conceptual whole rather than as separate tracks. Produced by band member Daniel Hunt and mixed by Jim Abbiss, this is their most dance-oriented record since “Light & Magic” from 2002. Opener “I Believe in You” immediately makes it clear that Ladytron is not interested in revisiting the past: a pounding rhythm is ... read more

Electronic. Steven Ellison, alias Flying Lotus, has contributed to other people’s records for thirty years, but his own Brainfeeder label had never featured his name on the cover until now. With the EP “BIG MAMA”, that changes, and how. In thirteen minutes, across seven tracks, he unleashes a cacophony he describes as ‘a computer losing its mind.’ No loop repeats, every fragment is unique. “CAPTAIN KERNEL” splashes neon chords over jazzy keyboard runs; ... read more

The Uruguayan Oscar winner for “Al Otro Lado del Río” from The Motorcycle Diaries makes his most relaxed record in years. Taracá, named after a river in the Amazon region, is a Mediterranean journey through folk, flamenco and something resembling quiet wonder. Drexler writes lyrics that sound like haikus in Spanish: few words, great weight. The production is restrained and serves the songs. No show, no fuss. Anyone who loved “Todo Se Transforma” will find a ... read more

Belfast sends its regards. CHALK, that is four young Irishmen with too much energy and seemingly too little sleep, debut here with a record that sounds as if the legendary Joy Division and a techno basement decided to have a child and then forgot to raise it. Pounding bass, post-punk guitars screaming for attention, and a broken world as a backdrop. Crystalpunk is raw, sometimes impatient, but always honest. The influence of PiL is unmistakable. Anyone who loves the early eighties, or anyone ... read more

Blake returns as a man who has finally become his own boss. “Trying Times”, his seventh studio album and first without a major label, sounds like a relieved exhale after years of contractual suffocation. The familiar ingredients are still there: that hallucinatory falsetto voice, the almost painfully quiet production, the electronic textures that feel like wet concrete. But there is a new calmness. Anyone who thought this would be the album of existential crisis is mistaken. This is ... read more

Soulless, calculated and polished. The Berlin duo Dhanya Langer and Max Scholl does not hide its opinion about much contemporary music. As Modha, the pair wants to surprise its audience with raw energy packaged in experimental compositions. The songs deal with relevant matters such as mental health, but also the challenge of the artist amid the emotional and economic realities of everyday life. Hello. Such marketing rarely promises anything good. Thank heavens the marketing completely misses ... read more

Anjimile makes music like someone breathing after holding their breath underwater for a long time. “You’re Free To Go” is intimate, vulnerable and at certain moments devastatingly beautiful. Lyrics about freedom, identity and letting go are carried by a voice that lands straight in your chest. Where the debut by Anjimile was more rooted in folk, this album deliberately chooses openness, more space, more silence, more light. Listen to the title track as the starting point: if ... read more

Metheny is the gentlest tornado in jazz. “Side Eye III+” is the third instalment in his Side Eye series, in which he invites young talents for a musical conversation, and it is the most varied and most energetic of the three. The chemistry between the group members lies in the subtleties: small rhythmic shifts, unexpected harmonic turns, silences that say more than notes. Anyone starting with jazz and looking for an anchor point should first listen to his legendary “Bright ... read more

“Existence Is Bliss” is the second album by the English post-punk band Deadletter and is a successful follow-up to the already impressive debut album “Hysterical Strength”, which was released in 2024. “Existence Is Bliss” is even more experimental than “Hysterical Strength” and gives even more space to experiments with jazz, folk and art rock. The saxophone plays an even more prominent role on “Existence Is Bliss” than on ... read more

For years, gold in the London underground and finally a debut album, “SOUTH LDN LOVER GIRL”. Ms Banks settles scores with everyone who underestimated her and does so with a confidence that hits you like a sound clash in Brixton. The album is her love letter to her younger self: raw, unfiltered and occasionally genuinely touching. The production swings between drill, Afrobeats and pure R&B soul. If you know her track “Karma”, you know this woman goes straight for the ... read more

Gogol Bordello succeeds in keeping their DNA intact while exploring a completely new sonic landscape. The collaboration with Launay and Greenspan is not cosmetic but a fundamental recalibration of their sound – and it works. “We Mean It, Man!” proves that even after nine albums, you can still surprise, as long as you mean it. And if there is one thing Eugene Hütz has always meant, it is the music.

This is music for deep listening, for those willing to surrender to the conscious pace and carefully constructed atmospheres that penetrate the mind. In Meyer’s hands, the bass becomes not just an instrument but a meditation on space itself, the space between notes, between silence and sound, between what music is and what it could yet become.

On “The Romantic”, Bruno Mars returns to 1970s soul and funk without losing his pop sensibility. The singles “I Just Might” and “Risk It All” rely on tight horns and rhythms reminiscent of his work on “24K Magic”, but the tone is more reflective this time. Mars sings about devotion and doubt in relationships, with his falsetto and rhythmic phrasing at the centre. The production is warm and analogue, with much attention to live-played parts. Yet it ... read more

With “Nothing’s About to Happen to Me”, Mitski continues her exploration of stillness and disruption within compact indie-pop compositions. The album builds on the atmosphere of “Laurel Hell” but often opts for sparse arrangements where guitar, subtle electronics, and her characteristic voice are central. In tracks like “Where’s My Phone” and “If I Leave”, she explores alienation and self-observation without lapsing into melodrama. The ... read more

With Rob Turner (formerly of GoGo Penguin), British band Mammal Hands has new hands holding the drumsticks, and you can hear it. On no previous album have the drums been so prominent and defining for the sound. Founded in 2012, the group has grown, partly due to praise from Jamie Cullum, into a staple of contemporary jazz, with influences from folk, post-rock, and electronic music. The entirety of “Circadia” is more up-tempo than previous work, almost aggressive, biting: something ... read more

“Hen’s Teeth” is the tenth Iron & Wine album, recorded during the same sessions as 2024’s “Light Verse”. Sam Beam describes the album as an unexpected gift: an impossible thing that nevertheless became reality. The ten tracks are wrapped in warm indie folk with touches of Americana and gentle soul, performed by a regular band at Waystation Studio in Laurel Canyon. Folk trio I’m With Her, consisting of Sara Watkins, Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah ... read more

Ellas Kapell is a Swedish quartet consisting of singer Lovisa Jennervall, pianist Manne Skafvenstedt, bassist August Eriksson and drummer Edvin Glänte. On “Ember” they do what this foursome excels at, namely, delivering original interpretations of great jazz classics. The single “How Deep is the Ocean” already offered a fine preview: written in 1932 by Irving Berlin and best known through the rendition by Frank Sinatra. It takes courage to record a completely ... read more

“Autonomy” is the second album by this indie rock band from Liverpool. Stone has parted ways with record label Polydor Records, which released its debut album “Fear Life For A Lifetime” (2024). Stone seeks complete artistic freedom, and fortunately, this is reflected not only in the album title but also in the music and lyrics on this record. Themes include authenticity, personal struggle and resistance to commercial pressure. There are, therefore, no radio-friendly ... read more