Mosswood Meltdown, “one of the premiere underground rock festivals in the country” (CBS Bay Area), returns to Oakland’s Mosswood Park July 19th & 20th, 2025. Today, the fest announces a lineup teaser, with tickets on sale now with a special, limited holiday pricing while supplies last. The line-up thus far includes a one-of-a-kind performance by famed new wave band Devo, legendary psych-rock punks Osees, celebrated Oakland rapper Kreayshawn for her first appearance in a decade, The Exploding Hearts led fearlessly by guitarist Terry Six, and Belgian punk rock band The Kids. And as in years’ past, it wouldn’t be Mosswood Meltdown without its incomparable host, John Waters.
Stay tuned to more news from Mosswood Meltdown – many more artists will be announced in the coming months.
MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN 2025 LINEUP Devo Osees Kreayshawn The Exploding Hearts The Kids & more to be announced
Angel Olsen announces Cosmic Waves Volume 1, the second release on Olsen’s somethingscosmic, out December 6th. Cosmic Waves Volume 1 is a compilation project featuring new, original songs curated by Olsen from Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick, Sarah Grace White, Maxim Ludwig and Camp Saint Helene on Side A, and a collection of covers from the aforementioned artists performed and recorded by Olsen on Side B.
A few years ago, Olsen quietly formed somethingscosmic, a new imprint and a home for her to have “the flexibility to release when and how I want to with the help from my longtime partners at Jagjaguwar.” Cosmic Waves Volume 1 is a compilation reimagined as a dialogue. Each song, unsurprisingly, illuminates a new artist Olsen finds spectacular. Hearing Olsen refract these artists’ songs back to them reveals the depth of Olsen’s imagination and spotlights these new talents as well. These artists draw from a sprawling, myriad sounds, eras and inspirations. Poppy Jean Crawford’s magnetic growl and guitar-god heaviness; Coffin Prick’s reckless, psychedelic fuzz; Sarah Grace White’s hypnotic voice and melody; Maxim Ludwig’s expert minimalism; and Camp Saint Helene’s beautiful, big sky folk.
Today sees the release of Cosmic Waves Volume 1 opener “Glamorous” by Crawford, and Olsen’s cover of Crawford’s “The Takeover.” When discussing Crawford, Olsen says “I remember speaking with my good friend Angela Ricciardi about Poppy starring in the film The Giver Gives to Give, and was immediately transfixed by her overall vibe and ‘30s era beauty. But it wasn’t until later when Angela shared one of Poppy’s early demo grunge songs with me that I was blown away. Poppy gives me hope that guitar music will come back. She has such a powerful voice made for pop while also having this edge to her that, for me, communicates the kind of rage I can always relate to.”
“As someone that emerged into the music scene through a small tape label, I’ve wanted to continue the spirit of discovery and of my debut release, Strange Cacti, while supporting and collaborating with artists and friends whose music I have been moved by. I feel there is something unique and special about covering another artist’s song. We all make it our own, or we try to, but I personally always learn something new about the process when I’m engaging someone else’s words and melodies in such a close way. It’s fun to write and make my own stuff, but listening to and putting myself into various different styles of songs can lead to new ways of thinking and creating.”
— Angel Olsen
On December 6th, somethingscosmic will present the Cosmic Waves Volume 1 release show at In The Meantime in Los Angeles. The bill will include Sarah Grace White, Maxim Ludwig, Camp Saint Helene, Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick (DJ), and special guests.
English electronic musician and producer Jon Hopkins presents a new single/video, “Forever Held,” in collaboration with NASA. A full orchestral piece with string arrangements by Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds, “Forever Held” is an emotive and deeply peaceful piece of cinematic music which touches on themes of our Earth and its context within space. “Forever Held” was created in collaboration with NASA & Erica Bernhard.
NASA JPL collaborated with Hopkins to compose “Forever Held” for Space for Earth,which isNASA’s first immersive experience open to the public, commissioned by NASA and located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The song was inspired by letters written by NASA Creative Director and artist Erica Bernhard during the creation of the installation. These letters, love letters from Earth to Space, ended with the phrase “Forever enveloped in your gravity.” From this, “Forever Held” was born. It has continued to evolve, grow, and live outside of the installation. The song, stills from its music video, the original letters and pieces of the Space for Earth installation, have been engraved and encoded onto a NanoFiche disk which will be sent to the moon as part of the Lunar Codex via NASA CLPS.
In discussing the music, Hopkins says:“I took this opportunity to create a full orchestral piece. I wanted to make something timeless that would transmit the feeling of being ‘held’ by the Earth. I was thinking about the fragility and power of our planet, and of the human race’s role in its own destiny.”
The music video for “Forever Held”, created and directed by Erica Bernhard, displays the range of her art-science studio COVALENT Collaboratory. It is a visual evolution of the love letters between Space and Earth – humans being an inextricable part of these interconnected systems. It poetically envelops NASA imagery and data onto two motion-captured dancers: the ‘Space’ character comprised of NASA James Webb Space Telescope while the ‘Earth’ character is wrapped in NASA satellite imagery of the Earth at night, as they perform their eternal dance.
Bernhard adds: “Space is not merely the backdrop to human existence, but a living, breathing dimension. There are invisible communications happening between Earth and the NASA satellites that observe our planet. The view from space offers a profound shift in perspective – astronauts call this the overview effect. Hopkins’ compositions capture that shift – infusing sound with the expansiveness of space while grounding us in the essence and rhythms of life on Earth. His soundscapes act as a bridge between these realms, translating the awe and wonder of space and Earth into a sonic and immersive journey that asks us to consider our place in the universe and our responsibility to the planet.”
Ahead of today’s single release, Coldplay used“Forever Held” to open their new album Moon Music and their Pyramid-headlining slot at this year’s Glastonbury. Hopkins also featured on the latest iteration of Charli XCX’s Brat, contributing to “I might say something stupid” with The 1975 on Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
Jon Hopkins recently released his latest studio album RITUAL,a 41-minute ceremonial epic built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay. Having premiered the album at collective immersive audio listening experiences around the globe ahead of its release, Hopkins is pleased to present the first large-scale event at London’s EartH Theatre next month which has already sold out. There will be a live piano performance and a Q&A with Hopkins and his collaborator 7RAYS.
Additionally, Hopkins will perform at London’s Southbank Centre with Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National on December 6thas part of the London premiere of All of This Unreal Time featuring actor Cillian Murphy. They will also perform at Manchester’s Aviva Studios on December 7th. Hopkins and The Dessners composed the soundtrack for All of This Unreal Time, which was written by Max Porter and directed by Aoife McArdle.
RITUAL is available to buy on DomMart-exclusive double clear vinyl (with artwork print and etching on one side of the vinyl), standard double vinyl, CD and digitally.
About NASA’s Space for Earth installation: The interactive physical exhibit is located in the east lobby of NASA Headquarters in Washington DC, where visitors are invited to see Earth as NASA astronauts see it from space. Open M-F, 8:30AM – 5:30PM. https://earth.gov/
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory announce their self-titled debut album, out February 7th via Jagjaguwar, and release the lead single/video, “Afterlife.” Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory presents an exhilarating new dimension of Van Etten’s sound and songwriting. For the first time, it was written and recorded in total collaboration with her band — Jorge Balbi (drums, machines), Devra Hoff (bass, vocals), and Teeny Lieberson (synth, piano, guitar, vocals) — allowing Van Etten the freedom that comes by letting go. The themes are timeless, classic Sharon, but the sounds are new, wholly realized and sharp as glass.
This new approach began while rehearsing in the desert for an upcoming tour when Van Etten invited her band into the creative process: “For the first time in my life I asked the band if we could just jam. Words that have never come out of my mouth – ever! But I loved all the sounds we were getting. I was curious – what would happen?” Magic, apparently. “In an hour we wrote two songs that ended up becoming ‘I Can’t Imagine’ and ‘Southern Life.’”
The album was recorded at Eurythmics’ former studio, The Church, a perfect match for the band’s mystical mix of electronics and analog textures. Producer Marta Salogni (Bjork, Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Mica Levi) was vital as both a connector and a producer for “her love of synths and sense of adventure” and adeptness in “embracing the darkness and the unique sounds we had honed in the writing process,” comments Van Etten.
On “Afterlife,” the album’s sweetly cascading lead single, popcorn synths mesmerize as they dance around the words and melody: “Will you see me in the afterlife?/Will you tell me what you think it’s like/Come and tell me it’ll be alright?/Will I see you in the afterlife?” Despite the weighty subject matter, or maybe because of it, it’s lifted up by The Attachment Theory’s new, almost euphoric sound.
The song’s video, directed by Susu Laroche, collects footage of the band debuting many of the album songs in London’s intimate 100 Club in the midst of recording the album.
Reflecting on this new artistic frame of mind and the art of collectively writing together, Van Etten muses, “Sometimes it’s exciting, sometimes it’s scary, sometimes you feel stuck. It’s like every day feels a little different – just being at peace with whatever you’re feeling and whoever you are and how you relate to people in that moment. If I can just keep a sense of openness while knowing that my feelings change every day, that is all I can do right now. That and try to be the best person I can be while letting other people be who they are and not taking it personally and just being. I’m not there, but I’m trying to be there every day.” With Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Van Etten deepens the discourse that animates so much of her catalog, exploring what it is to be simply human. This is her genius – oblique, but also relevant and personal.
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory will tour Europe and the UK following the album’s release. Special guest Nabihah Iqbal will be support on the tour.
Portions of the above text are pulled from the album bio by Lol Tolhurst.
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory Tour Dates Fri. Feb. 28 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller * Sat. Mar. 1 – Stockholm, SE @ Fållan * Sun. Mar. 2 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega * Tue. Mar. 4 – Berlin, DE @ Astra Kulturhaus * Thu. Mar. 6 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon * Fri. Mar. 7 – Antwerp, BE @ De Roma * Sat. Mar. 8 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso * Mon. Mar. 10 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall * Tue. Mar. 11 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall * Wed. Mar. 12 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom *
Today, DITZ share new single ‘Taxi Man’ taken from their recently announced new album Never Exhale out 24th January 2025 via Republic Of Music and Domino Publishing. They also announce a string of intimate in-store performances at some of the UK’s best record stores.
Never Exhale is the sound of a band that hasn’t stopped for a breath. DITZ have toured relentlessly since the release of their first record The Great Regression and the songs that form their newest offering were written across Europe, often on off days and in borrowed rehearsal rooms just to break up the long drives – it’s album that reflects the sound of the road.
Formed in late 2015, DITZ came together after vocalist C.A. Francis, guitarist Anton Mocock, and bassist Caleb Remnant, went to watch METZ and Lightning Bolt at Concorde 2 in Brighton, turning to each other and saying “let’s do that”, with guitarist Jack Looker and drummer Sam Evans later joining.
Singer C.A. Francis said of the track, “We’ve been talking playing most of this new album live for a year now. Out of all the tracks, Taxi Man has been the most requested.
We wrote it across a couple of days in Cologne, in a disused air raid bunker. We properly fell out while we were writing it. There was nothing coming for so long until we stumbled into Taxi Man. The whole song came together pretty quickly and is now collectively our favourite track to play live. It’s one of those moments you hope to recreate again sometime but can’t really imagine the scenario.”
It could be said that the band treat recording and release of music as an afterthought. Often playing songs live years before their release, tweaking them as they go. Sonically the album has its roots in the usual DITZ influences, classic noise rock such as The Jesus Lizard or Shellac, or the obtuse post punk of the Fall, but also brings in fresh influences. It’s political, but ultimately personal, and the album themes reveal themselves more on further listens.
Never Exhale was largely recorded at Holy Mountain studios in London during a freezing cold January. The process was fraught with obstacles, as the original plan to record in Rhode Island was abandoned when DITZ were offered a support tour with IDLES. Although the album was still mixed by the originally intended engineer, Seth Manchester (Model/Actriz, Lingua Ignota, Big Brave). The result is a record hardened by the pressure of its own making. Laboured but not loved.
Overall the album is a clear development from their first effort. A sign of things to come.
DITZ are:
C.A. Francis (Vocals) – they/them Anton Mocock (Guitar) – he/him Sam Evans (Drums) – he/him Jack Looker (Guitar) – he/him Caleb Remnant (Bass) – he/him
30th Nov 24 – Nos Reves Font Du Bruit – Troyes, France 7th Dec 24 – Zeitgeist Festival – Nijmegen, Netherlands
13th Dec 24 – Post Punk Strikes Back Again – Porto, Portugal
24th Jan 25 – Resident – Brighton, UK 25th Jan 25 – Banquet – Kingston, UK
26th Jan 24 – Vinilo – Southampton, UK (Matinee) 26th Jan 25 – Rough Trade East – London, UK (Evening) 27th Jan 25 – Rough Trade – Bristol, UK 28th Jan 25 – Jacaranda – Liverpool, UK 29th Jan 25 – Vinyl Whistle – Leeds, UK
20th Jan 25 – Staggeringly Good Brewery – Southsea, UK
5th Feb 25 – Music Box – Lisbon, Portugal 6th Feb 25 – Sala El Sol – Madrid, Spain 7th Feb 25 – Sala Upload – Barcelona, Spain 10th Feb 25 – Lido – Berlin, Germany 12th Feb – Hus – Stockholm, Sweden 13th Feb 25 – Huset-KBH – Copenhagen, Denmark 14th Feb 25 – Kent Club – Hamburg, Germany 15th Feb 25 – UT Connewitz – Leipzig, Germany 17th Feb 25 – Chumury – Warsaw, Poland 18th Feb 25 – Cafe V Lese – Prague, Czech 19th Feb 25 – Rhiz – Vienna, Austria 20th Feb 25 – Kranhalle – Munich, Germany 22nd Feb 25 – Bogen F – Zurich, Switzerland 23rd Feb 25 – Arci Belleza – Milan, Italy 25th Feb 25 – Club Transbo – Lyon, France 26th Feb 25 – Astrolabe – Orleans, France 27th Feb 25 – Antipode – Rennes, France 1st Mar 25 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, France 2nd Mar 25 – Witloof – Brussels, Belgium 3rd Mar 25 – Rowtown – Rotterdam, Netherlands 4th Mar 25 – Gebaude 9 – Cologne, Germany 5th Mar 25 – Rockhal – Esch-zur-Alzette, Luxembourg 6th Mar 25 – Paradiso THT – Amsterdam, Netherlands 7th Mar 25 – Vera – Gronigen, Netherlands 8th Mar 25 – L’Aeronef – Lille, France
25th Mar 25 – Hug & Pint – Glasgow, UK 26th Mar 25 – Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK 27th Mar 25 – Bodega – Nottingham, UK 28th Mar 25 – Yellow Arch – Sheffield, UK 29th Mar 25 – Voodoo Daddy’s, Norwich, UK 1st Apr 25 – YES Pink Room – Manchester, UK 2nd Apr 25 – Hare & Hounds – Birmingham, UK 3rd Apr 25 – The Garage – London, UK 4th Apr 25 – Chalk – Brighton, UK 7th Apr 25 – Control Club – Bucharest, Romania 8th Apr 25 – Pave Club – Sofia, Bulgaria 9th Apr 25 – Rover Bar – Thessaloniki, Greece 10th Apr 25 – Arch Club – Athens, Greece 11th Apr 25 – Zō Centro Culture Contemporanee – Catania, Italy 12th Apr 25 – Wishlist, Roma, Italy
Lambrini Girls, the Brighton-based duo of Phoebe Lunny (vocals/guitar) and Lilly Macieira (bass), have spent the last few years on a tear in more ways than one, and now share news of their debut album Who Let The Dogs Out released 10th January 2025 via City Slang alongside single ‘Big D*** Energy’ (censored spelling).
Speaking on the new single, Lambrini Girls explain, “Man comes in many forms, from world leaders to tech CEOs and humble softboys. But what unites them? Society has celebrated their supposed massive figurative and literal dicks, which they constantly flaunt. Why? Toxic masculinity.”
They add, “Fuelling their sense of entitlement and insecurities leads to harmful behaviours. Which when left unchecked, means we have to deal with the fallout. The definition of ‘Big Dick Energy’ is a confidence that doesn’t need proving. Which begs the question, how big is that dick in reality? If you haven’t figured this out by now, it’s not that big.”
Who Let The Dogs Out was recorded with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox with mixing by Seth Manchester (Mdou Moctar / Battles / Model/Actriz), and the record bottles everything wrong with the modern world and shakes it up. If peppering political songs with humour is like sticking a sparkler in some bread, then Who Let The Dogs Out is like a fireworks display in the factory itself: strange, dangerous, exciting.
The album rips through a laundry list of social ills. Sirens blare over a heavy distorted bass and a live drum breakbeat, dancing between upbeat pop punk, dirty grunge tones and discordant post-punk. There’s even some noise-pop cheer for putting yourself first, whether it’s having an autistic meltdown or doing a poo at your mate’s house.
With instrumentals that inhale you like a Level 5 tornado and sentiments that make you want to kick the nearest door through, it’s a take-no-prisoners debut from one of the UK’s most fun and fearless bands.
“You know how Fleetwood Mac almost dedicated Rumours to their cocaine dealer? I think we should dedicate this album to all the booze we bought at Tesco.”
Since releasing debut EP You’re Welcome in 2023, there’s also been a slew of accolades along the way, including a nomination for the Rising Star at the Rolling Stone UK Awards, a Kerrang! cover feature with Sleater-Kinney, and a score of international festival appearances from Glastonbury to Iceland Airwaves. Making a reputation for themselves as one of the best live bands to come out of the UK this side of Idles, their combination of blunt-force punk, scathing social commentary and barbed humour has garnered comparisons to Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear, and seen them share bills with Gilla Band, Shame, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Iggy Pop and more.
Tomo Katsurada is a Japanese artist currently based in Amsterdam, best known as the founder and lead singer of the acclaimed psychedelic band Kikagaku Moyo. Having recently launched Future Days concept store and workshop in Amsterdam, today he announces the first Future Days release and first chapter in his journey as a solo artist.
‘Dream of The Egg’ is set for release on November 15th and sees Katsurada collaborate with Japanese visual artist Shoko Otake, marking the beginning of an ambitious project—a long-held dream of creating soundtracks for picture books. This record is the first in a series of five, each dedicated to a unique picture book, where Tomo aims to push the boundaries of physical media by merging music with visual storytelling.
Inspired by the Japanese 1920s children’s book “Yume No Tamago (Dream of the Egg)”, it reveals a deeply personal journey, reflecting Tomo’s dreams and the numerous rebirths experienced in 2024—a year marked by profound new beginnings in every facet of his life.
The creation of this EP was driven by a passion for raw and immediate expression. Every song was crafted and recorded with only the materials available to him at the time, embracing an organic and handmade atmosphere. By eschewing rhythm clicks and standard instrumental tunings, a spontaneous sound emerged, capturing the essence of both uncertainty and immediacy. Adding to this distinctive sonic landscape, guest musician Jonny Nash (UK) contributed ethereal guitar sounds on the first and final tracks, enriching the record’s dream-like quality.
Today he shares a first track from the release, “Zen Bungalow” a cover of Gabriel Yared‘s “Bungalow Zen” from the soundtrack of the film “Betty Blue 37°2 Le Matin”. This particular track is his partner’s favourite song to listen to every morning and left a profound impression on him. One day, he heard a song in his dream that combined both of these tracks and loved how they blended together. This experience inspired him to create a new arrangement, “Zen Bungalow,” which has become a central piece of the ‘Dream of the Egg’ release.
Throughout the record’s 20 minute narrative a variety of instruments come into play, drifting between notes and embracing the beauty of imperfection. By incorporating free-form sounds in a highly technological age, the record aims to reconnect listeners with the tangible, human-made quality of sound.
Future Days Shop: ‘Dream of the Egg’ is the first musical release from Future Days Shop, a concept store and workshop space founded in 2024 by textile artist Eloïse Ptito and musician Tomo Katsurada. Located in Amsterdam, Future Days Shop is dedicated to clothing, art, and music, with a mission to unite people through the power of color, craft, and sound. The store curates unique items that embody a sense of future-forward creativity.
The Picture Book: Complementing the music is a beautifully-designed picture book illustrated by the acclaimed Japanese artist Shoko Otake. Printed by Amsterdam’s esteemed bookstore Terry Bleu, this 20-page book will feature captivating visual artwork and storytelling that enhances the musical experience.
• 500 copies • A 20-page picture book illustrated by Shoko Otake • 2 x 7-inch vinyl records • A manual-play flexidisc
Today Finom released a live version of their song “Hungry,” the first in a series of live recordings the band will put out ahead of a busy touring schedule stretching into 2025. This will include upcoming headline shows through the US with support from Moontype and Meg Elsier, and a hometown date at Metro in Chicago with Cabeza De Chivo and Mary Williamson.
You never know what is going to happen when you take a freshly cut album and bring it over to the live space. Almost as soon as Finom started performing their new album Not God—released this past May—“Hungry” emerged as the climax of their new show. “Every time we’ve played it it feels like we’re letting steam out from the chaotic blister of the last five years,” write Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham, founding members of Finom. Since the band has transformed into a quartet (with V.V. Lightbody holding down the bass) Stewart and Cunningham now have the ability to turn back towards each other and flex what was the original impulse for this project 10 years ago–fearlessly freaking out on electric guitar together. Spencer Tweedy’s drumming is driving and constant. He is the keeper of the ceiling, slowly raising them all up and letting it smash right at the perfect moment.
“Hungry (Live)” was recorded in May 2024 at the Sultan Room in Brooklyn and is limited to 150 white lathe-cut vinyls, lovingly handcrafted at Joyful Noise HQ. You can find it on the merch table at the “‘Not God’ tour ’24.”
Today, Colombian artist Ela Minus announces her new album, DIA, out January 17, 2025 via Domino, and presents its new single/video “BROKEN.” Following her charged 2020 debut, acts of rebellion, Ela’s second album is a rarified feat in electronic music, where cutting-edge production and space-shuddering sonics meet a burgeoning singer-songwriter’s real sense of self-reflection and private reckoning. Where acts of rebellion, a “breathtaking techno-pop debut” (Remezcla), felt intentionally small, as if pounding inside the club with late-night reverie, DIA is both introspective and expansive, the wide sweep of its songs revealing more of Ela as person and producer than ever before.
After three years of toting snippets of songs around her native Colombia, her briefly adopted Mexico, and her series of rented apartments and hotel rooms across North America and Europe, Ela thought DIA was finally complete. And then, she thought back to acts of rebellion and recognized her lyrics hadn’t been honest enough. They’d exposed her surface and not herself. This time, she wanted to go deeper.
She began by changing the setting—an outpost in California’s Mojave Desert, a month-long hotel and small studio stay in Los Angeles, forays back to New York, a Puget Sound-side vista near Seattle, Mexico City, and finally London, all places where time seemed to move at different speeds, not only inspiring the music to move with wide dynamic swings but also prompting her to consider what she had to play and say about her life so far. Late one night while working from a rented cabin in the mountains of Mexico, she stumbled upon a chord progression that she knew would launch the record. This is a long, luxuriant tone that rises above static snippets and squelchy sequences at the start of DIA opener “ABRIR MONTE.” Ela comments, “‘ABRIR MONTE’ is a phrase commonly used where I’m from, referring to the act of opening paths through dense foliage. I’ve always loved the poetry of it. That is what making this record felt like, opening new paths inward and outward, continuing to delve further through unexplored territory.
Just as it does on record, today’s new single, “BROKEN,” soon unspooled from that same tone. With luminous synthesizers and intersecting layers of restless detail, it eventually opens into a four-on-the-floor insistence belying an anthem about admitting to suffering and then enduring it. Ela comments, “I started writing this thinking I was perfectly fine and finished writing knowing I was not.” “BROKEN” follows the previously released single, “COMBAT,” DIA’s immersive and gorgeous closer about not giving up, of building it back, which is just what Ela set out to do when writing DIA.
DIA is a record about becoming, from a process that entailed self-discovery at a deliberate pace to songs that seem to collectively ask where we go from here, long after we’ve been broken but long before we intend to be broken forever. Throughout the 10 songs, mixed by Marta Salogni and mastered by Heba Kadry, the same team behind acts of rebellion, Ela seems to saddle a line between worlds of pop accessibility and experimental aplomb, her incandescent and catchy choruses always surrounded by meticulous and imaginative sonics. Opening the mountain, DIA marks the next phase of Ela Minus’ career and life without declaring where any of it may or must go.
In support of her album, Ela will be joining Caribou on their 2025 EU/UK Tour, and will support Floating Points at the annual ADE Amsterdam Dance Event at the iconic Melkweg venue. This follows recent performances at Four Tet’s All Dayer, Field Day, Sónar, MUTEK, and Brooklyn’s Knockdown Center. This fall, Synth Historyis also launching an ongoing and in depth docu-series on Ela’s story and music. Preview the first episode here. Ela recently launched www.forthebirds.xyz, a platform where fans can write to Ela, and she writes back, covering personal and technical topics or whatever approach grabs her interest.
Today Thailand’s Khana Bierbood announce details of their second album ‘Monolam’, set for release on October 25th via Guruguru Brain. Along with the announcement, they have shared first single and accompanying video “Fi Rak Sanae-ha” – online now.
The music of Khana Bierbood is equal parts revival and revelation. The six-piece band was formed around 2012 in Thailand’s beach side sub-district Bangsaen by university friends who shared a love for the western psychedelic music of the 60’s-70’s. As they began writing songs they found a likeness in their sound and the Thai Funk, rock’n’roll imbued Luk Thung and traditional Lao Molam-inspired music styles of those eras. These are influences that the band says come from their simplistic reduction of generational stories and cultural experiences which envelope a hidden underlying wit. Their music is laced with a kind of Thai pop sensibility that lays the foundation for a truly kaleidoscopic frenzy of authentic fuzz and far east frequencies.
Following the release of their debut LP ‘Strangers From The Far East’ in 2019, in 2023 Go Kurosawa (of Kikagaku Moyo and the band’s label Guruguru Brain) joined the band at TMM studios in Bangkok and together they recorded this, their second studio album, ‘Monolam’ (meaning unique in sound and style).
While the album maintains the infectious rock’n’roll charm of their previous offering, it shows a departure toward an even more sublime and groovy psychedelic sound – a sound that pays homage to their passion for the past and their longing for a new cultural renaissance. Lyrically, the songs speak of the life experiences of the band, combined sometimes with stories from Thai movies and dramas, telling tales of love, loss and adventure.
Today they share the track “Fi Rak Sanae-ha”, meaning “Fire, Love and Enchanted” which they describe as being “a toxic love song”. The track is a funky take on Thai Lae – a mantric, stripped-back style of music used to covey Buddhist scriptures, usually sung by monks.
