Lovers Audio’s Favorite Albums of 2024

A Song For You
Home [Rhythm Section International]
A Song For You – Home radiates with gentle strength through vulnerability, an especially impressive feat given the size of the ensemble that brought it to life. The album thrives on the deep sense of community woven into its creation, with each artist pushed to their highest potential in an atmosphere of trust and support. The result is a timeless soul masterpiece, where stirring performances and rich arrangements elevate each moment. It all culminates in A Song For You, the closing track which carries a delicate balance of melancholy and hope, holding space for past pain while embracing optimism. There’s a deep sense of completion, yet the song is so moving that it’s difficult to stay present in the moment of joy, and not mourn the end of a chapter. Thankfully, this beautifully recorded, mixed, and mastered album allows us to return to it again and again, reliving its warmth and spirit with each listen.

Aheloy!
Deep In The Big Blue Dream [Discos Extendes]
Aheloy!’s Deep In The Big Blue Dream is a triumph of originality, a work of electronic music that feels wholly its own. With a masterful understanding of the genre, the artist navigates its expansive possibilities without ever slipping into imitation or derivative gestures. The album dances lightly on its feet, shifting effortlessly between ideas with a fluidity that feels both natural and deliberate. The sound engineering is nothing short of remarkable, crafting a sonic landscape where every tone, texture, and detail is perfectly balanced. It’s an album that invites exploration, rewarding attentive listening with its depth while remaining approachable and alive with energy.

Amaro Freitas
Y'Y [Psychic Hotline]
Amaro Freitas’ Y’Y is a transcendent journey through the Amazon rainforest, blending intricate jazz compositions with the rich textures of nature. The album, whose title means “water” or “river” in the Sateré Mawé dialect, draws deeply from the rhythms and spirit of Northern Brazil. Field recordings of the Amazon’s birds, rivers, and rustling trees are interwoven with Freitas’ polyrhythmic piano, creating a vivid soundscape that feels both organic and otherworldly. Collaborations with artists like Shabaka Hutchings and Brandee Younger add further depth, their contributions flowing seamlessly into the album’s lush, meditative atmosphere. Y’Y is not only a celebration of ancestral heritage and the environment but also a profound reminder of nature’s intricate music, rendered here with breathtaking artistry.

Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer
The Closest Thing To Silence [International Anthem]
The Closest Thing to Silence is a testament to brilliant artists' ability to recognize potential chemistry with their peers. Originally brought together for a BBC Radio 3 session, the trio’s collaboration quickly took on a life of its own, expanding into a full-length album that feels both exploratory and deeply connected. The result is a work that stands as a fruitful meeting of minds. Kalma’s archival recordings blend seamlessly with Chiu’s synth landscapes and Honer’s evocative viola, creating an organic fusion of cosmic jazz and electro-acoustic experimentation. Though deeply experimental, The Closest Thing to Silence resonates with an undeniable sense of harmony, as if these sounds were always meant to find each other.

Arp
New Pleasures [Mexican Summer]
New York-based producer Alexis Georgopoulos’ eighth album as Arp might be his most fully realized work yet. New Pleasures is defined by spacious, percussive rhythms that strike a rare balance—both deeply relaxing and irresistibly fun. The album’s percussion is particularly striking, often built from resonant tube-like sounds that add a tactile, almost physical presence to the grooves. Drawing from kosmische, minimalism, and Balearic traditions, New Pleasures feels like a new-age take on retro-futurism. There’s a strong sense of movement and exploration throughout, where every sound reveals a fresh discovery.

Berloiz
Open This Wall [Self Released]
Equal parts jazz and house, Open This Wall is a smooth, warm, and effortlessly inviting listen. Blending rich instrumentation with deep grooves, the album carries a gentle energy that feels just as suited for deep listening as it is for setting the perfect atmosphere. It’s music that elevates the moment without demanding attention—play it on a quiet morning, a late-night drive, or even while cooking dinner for your partner’s parents, and no one will complain. Berlioz describes his music as “If Matisse made house music,” and it’s easy to hear why—Open This Wall radiates the same understated elegance and vibrant warmth found in Matisse’s best works.

Bolis Pupul
Letter To Yu [DEEWEE & Because Music]
Bolis Pupul wrote Letter to Yu to process and examine his heritage in the wake of his mother's sudden passing, but the album is far from mournful. If anything, Letter to Yu is a celebration of her life and the identity he inherited from her. It’s a vibrant fusion of synthpop, techno, and East Asian influences that balances deep personal reflection with a playful sense of humor. Pupul has a flair for big moments and irresistible hooks, crafting tracks that carry emotional weight while never taking themselves too seriously. Field recordings from Hong Kong weave through the album, adding texture to its rich sonic palette, while pulsating basslines and bold synth lines make it as danceable as it is introspective. Robotic grooves and shimmering melodies offer a tongue-in-cheek take on techno futurism. Letter to Yu is a dazzling showcase of Pupul’s ability to merge his personal heritage with crisp production, resulting in something both thoughtfully constructed and charmingly strange.

Brothertiger
Fundamentals, Vol V [Self Released]
Brothertiger’s Fundamentals, Vol. V is a beachside take on downtempo house, so thick with sun-drenched haze that it borders on shoegaze. Layers of shimmering synths and reverb-soaked melodies drift like heat waves off the sand, creating a dreamlike state where time seems to stretch and dissolve. Crafted through live-streamed improvisations, the album flows with an organic ease, each track unfolding with a tranquil, meditative grace. Fundamentals, Vol. V captures the blissful daze of a long afternoon spent melting in the sun.

Cameron Winter
Heavy Metal [Partisan]
Cameron Winter's Heavy Metal is an unconventional yet accessible singer-songwriter album brimming with punk rock bravado. His arresting vocal performance adds a raw intensity, making every track feel like a high-stakes moment. The lyrics often unfold like a manic stream of consciousness, as if Winter is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, heightening the album's unpredictable and gripping nature. Heavy Metal showcases his unique ability to blend vulnerability with audacious expression, immersing listeners in a world of emotion and urgency.

Carlos Niño & Friends
Placenta [International Anthem]
Inspired by the birth of Carlos Niño’s second child, Placenta carries a profound sense of renewal, warmth, and reverence. Placenta is best described as a spiritual jazz record, but its fluid nature allows it to drift into ambient meditations and avant-garde noise compositions while remaining deeply engaging and cohesive. Undulating synth tones, gentle woodwinds, and intricate percussion create a cosmic atmosphere, while contributions from artists like Sam Gendel, Jamael Dean, and André 3000 add rich textures to its expansive sound. Even as it reaches toward abstraction, Placenta stays grounded in its emotional core, never tipping into self-indulgence despite its heady explorations. It’s a testament to Niño’s ability to weave deep, meditative themes into something that feels as welcoming as it is otherworldly.

Celia Hollander
Perfect Conditions [Self Released]
Celia Hollander’s Perfect Conditions is a striking meditation on the interplay of elemental forces, with its tracklist structured around astrological pairings like "Air / Fire" and "Earth / Water." The album moves fluidly, capturing the chaotic yet harmonious energy of natural phenomena through slippery electro-acoustic rhythms, vaporous textures, and shimmering layers of sound. Hollander’s artistry lies in her ability to create music that feels both meticulously crafted and organically unpredictable, as though shaped by the elements themselves. It’s a dynamic and immersive listening experience, balancing abstraction with emotional resonance, and inviting reflection on the forces that govern both nature and art.

Charles De Sancerre & Mama Badema Sissoko
Abé Kila [Mape]
Abé Kila by Charles De Sancerre and Mama Badema Sissoko is one of the most exhilarating takes on Afro-house in recent memory—a rugged, deeply percussive record that feels raw yet meticulously crafted, avoiding the flashy, overused production techniques that often dilute the genre. Rooted in Malian and West African traditions, the album seamlessly integrates rolling polyrhythms with the heavy groove of deep house and the raw edge of electro. A mix of intricate hand-played percussion, drum machines, analog synths, and electric guitars results in a hypnotic sound that feels both organic and futuristic. Ripe for the dance floor yet rich with depth, Abé Kila is a bold fusion of tradition and innovation, pushing Afro-house into thrilling, uncharted territory.

Contours
Elevations [Music From Memory]
Contours’ Elevations is a sweeping cinematic journey, inspired by the mountainous landscapes of Cumbria that the artist calls home. Drawing on the grandeur and stillness of nature, the album captures the sense of losing oneself in vast open spaces, where time seems to stretch and the world feels limitless. Ambient textures, delicate melodies, and intricate percussion evoke sprawling vistas, with each track painting scenes that are both deeply intimate and expansively grand. Subtle jazz inflections and a minimalist sensibility enhance the album’s wide-lens vision of sound, inviting listeners to immerse themselves in its layered atmospheres and the meditative beauty of the natural world.

Dazegxd
Exhibition Mode [DeadAir]
Dazegxd’s Exhibition Mode plays out like a montage of parties, each track offering a vivid snapshot of fleeting moments—ecstatic highs, hushed intimacy, or neon-lit chaos. The album’s foundation lies in its confident fusion of pop and R&B sensibilities with a razor-sharp understanding of rave and club music, resulting in tracks that feel both deeply familiar and refreshingly unpredictable. The album cover features the artist riding the NYC subway with a DJ deck, a perfect metaphor for the music itself—a relentless absorption of the city’s cultural pulse, where genres blur and ideas collide. This rapid intake of inspiration fuels the album’s breakneck transitions, embodying the restless, vibrant energy of life in New York. It’s a bold, fearless record that feels alive with possibility.

Dar Disku
Dar Disku [Soundway]
Dar Disku’s self-titled debut is a thrilling celebration of music and culture, seamlessly weaving together golden-age West Asian and North African sounds with contemporary dancefloor energy. The Bahraini-British duo pulls from disco, raï, piano house, and Turkish psychedelia, crafting tracks that feel both nostalgic and refreshingly modern. Featuring the legendary Asha Puthli alongside a diverse cast of collaborators, the album bursts with vibrant rhythms, infectious hooks, and a joyful sense of cultural exchange. It’s a triumph of international pop music—bold, playful, and impossible to resist.

Don Glori
Don't Forget To Have Fun [DeepMatter]
Don Glori’s Don’t Forget to Have Fun is an infectious celebration of rhythm and melody, bursting with hooks and grooves that make it both sensual and inviting. Living up to its title, the album radiates joy and playfulness with its irresistibly catchy blend of jazz, funk, soul, and Brazilian influences. As Don Glori explains, the title is “a nice reminder to myself about the journey of the album. How you can change the narrative by keeping a positive attitude, trusting the process, and continually experimenting.” Don’t Forget to Have Fun is a vibrant record that fully embodies its name, unforgettably fun.

Dummy
Free Energy [Trouble In Mind]
Dummy’s Free Energy is a whirlwind of sound that feels like flipping through record crates in the ’90s—familiar touchpoints flicker by, but the result is something entirely fresh. Packed with kinetic energy and sharp left turns, the album fuses krautrock, shoegaze, and post-punk into a strobing psychedelic haze. Dummy excels at twisting recognizable sounds into something unpredictable, their elusive techniques adding to the sense of discovery. Each track bursts with originality, whether through hypnotic rhythms, warped synth textures, or layered harmonies that feel simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic. Free Energy isn’t just an homage to past influences—it’s a bold, forward-thinking statement from a band redefining what rock can sound like.

Fana Hues
Moth [Bright Antenna / Sweet Virtue]
Fana Hues' Moth invites listeners into an intimate and gentle world, crafting a unique neo-soul language influenced by R&B, house, and rock music. The album's serene and hypnotic soundscapes provide a soothing backdrop to Hues' exploration of themes such as growth, resilience, and self-discovery. As the journey progresses, the music builds into an optimistic and loving finale, leaving listeners with a lasting sense of warmth and hope.

Flofilz
Handful [Casual Low Grind]
FloFilz’s Handful is a perfect record for a stony evening stroll through the park. The album drifts effortlessly, carrying a laid-back optimism that soothes rather than commands, each track a gentle ripple in a still pond. There are no grand gestures or obvious hooks—only understated melodies and jazz-infused beats that breathe with a natural ease, inviting you to bask in their warmth.

Ghost Dubs
Damaged [Pressure]
Ghost Dubs’ Damaged is a dubby descent into shadowy depths, where every sound feels steeped in weight and resistance. The music moves slowly, like wading through murky water, its sludgy rhythms dragging you deeper into a world of unease. It’s dark and heavy, yet strangely meditative, capturing the stillness of a rainy day where time seems to stretch and the air hangs heavy with introspection. The album doesn’t push forward so much as it pulls you inward, into its dense, brooding currents—a hypnotic lull that feels both unsettling and oddly restorative.

Henkel
Slow Down [Madlib Invazion Music Library Series]
Henkel’s Slow Down is a masterclass in mood, a record that feels effortlessly relaxed yet endlessly engaging. Clearly inspired by the golden age of instrumental music-for-hire, the album pulls from jazz, funk, bossa nova, and ambient textures, weaving them into something that feels both deeply nostalgic and refreshingly modern. Warm Rhodes keys, gently plucked guitars, and silky woodwinds float over steady, unhurried grooves, creating a sound that’s mellow without ever fading into the background. Whether soundtracking a quiet morning or a late-night wind-down, Slow Down carries an undeniable charm—its warmth and effortless cool making it a record you'll want to return to time and time again.

Hiro Ama
Music for Peace and Harmony [PRAH]
Hiro Ama’s Music for Peace and Harmony resonates with a quiet strength, its plucky, percussive sounds carrying the weight of resilience. On the album cover, Ama holds a circular piece of art before him, as if embodying both a shield and a focal point of balance, prepared to meet the challenges of the modern world with calm determination. There’s a connection here to the image of the wounded warrior—not a figure of aggression, but one who stands tall despite the scars, finding bravery in the act of simply continuing. The album’s serene, meditative moments provide a counterbalance, offering a space to pause, reflect, and heal. It’s music that offers not just respite but renewal, a moment to regroup before facing life’s unrelenting trials.

Hotspring
Apodelia [Mood Hut]
Hotspring’s Apodelia opens with the blissful serenity of “Blood,” a track that feels like the musical equivalent of deep breathing or meditative breathwork. Its gentle pulses and soothing melodies wash over you, inviting epiphanies. But as the album unfolds, this initial calm gives way to a more shadowy emotional terrain and harder-to-define moods. Ghostly vocals with textured, dubby electronics stir up more melancholy feelings. The progression feels deliberate, like a journey inward, where moments of tranquility and clarity gradually dissolve into the complexities of the subconscious. It’s a captivating emotional arc, both enigmatic and deeply affecting.

Jack J
Blue Desert [Mood Hut]
Jack J’s Blue Desert is a blissful blend of new age, Balearic, soft rock, ’80s synth-pop, and ’90s house—genres that drift together like a warm breeze over an endless horizon. Yet beneath its gentle grooves and sunlit melodies, the album carries a sense of sorrow, its lyrics wading in the wake of past pains and regrets. Blue Desert evokes a landscape of sadness, isolation, and reflection, where the artist struggles with endings, searching for a path with no landmarks in sight. Born Without a Smile hints at childhood trauma as a source of these regrets, suggesting the narrator is learning to accept themselves even as they remain entangled in the past. Jack J’s smooth vocals and delicate instrumentation make the journey feel weightless, yet the emotional core remains heavy, giving the album a depth that extends far beyond its tranquil surface.

James Devane
Searching [UMEBOSHI]
James Devane’s Searching feels like stepping into the mind of a computer, caught in a whirlwind of its own fragmented emotions. The album captures a unique tension between precision and volatility, with rhythms that teeter on the edge of chaos. Its sparse arrangements are alive with subtle shifts and glitches, like pulses of thought flickering across circuits, creating a sense of unease that contrasts with moments of stark beauty. At times, the tracks hum with calm clarity, evoking serene introspection; at others, they spiral into restless energy, as if the music itself is grappling with its own identity, cycling through bursts of euphoria, frustration, and quiet reflection. Searching invites the listener into an intricate, evolving world, balancing control and unpredictability with remarkable finesse to deliver a deeply expressive and profoundly human experience.

Joseph Shabason & Ben Gunning
Ample Habitat [Séance Centre]
Joseph Shabason and Ben Gunning’s Ample Habitat thrives on the art of restraint, crafting minimal compositions where the spaces between sounds are as vital as the sounds themselves. Each track is a delicate balancing act, allowing silence and texture to coexist in a way that feels deeply intentional. The album shifts seamlessly between pieces built with organic instruments—saxophones, guitars, and percussion—and those sculpted from electronic tones and processed sounds. Despite this variety, the record remains remarkably cohesive, unified by its meditative atmosphere and the duo’s masterful ability to let each element breathe. Ample Habitat utilizes space to elevate it's sound.

Lars Bartkuhn
Nomad [Rush Hour]
Lars Bartkuhn’s Nomad takes inspiration from the desert, a place he describes as “an alien environment whose combination of vastness and beauty challenges those lost within it to first find themselves before they can find a way out.” Despite this stark vision, the album feels like an oasis—a lush and tranquil refuge within an infinite expanse. Drawing from deep house and Balearic traditions, Bartkuhn weaves shimmering guitars, fluid rhythms, and organic textures into soundscapes that are both expansive and deeply comforting. Each track balances the contemplative stillness of the desert with moments of vibrant energy, offering a transformative listening experience that feels like a journey toward clarity and renewal.

Loidis
One Day [Incenso]
Brian Leeds is known for stopping time with his textural sonic experiments under his Huerco S. alias. Now, as Loidis, Leeds anchors his signature sound in dubby deep house. One Day is marked by rolling grooves, subtle modulations, and delicate variations, creating rippling psychedelic jams that evoke the darkest of after-hours parties. Where much of Leeds’ previous work explored abstraction, One Day leans into warmth and movement, allowing rhythm and melody to take a more central role without sacrificing the hypnotic depth that defines his music.

Luke Temple
Certain Limitations [Western Vinyl]
Luke Temple and The Cascading Moms’ Certain Limitations sees the seasoned studio wizard crafting his grooviest record yet. Known for his work with Here We Go Magic and the eclectic explorations of Art Feynman, Temple brings a newfound rhythmic vitality to this collaboration. Backed by The Cascading Moms, the album combines his signature melodic inventiveness and richly layered production with a spirited approach that feels refreshingly loose yet meticulously crafted. Each track showcases Temple’s knack for blending experimental textures with undeniable hooks. Certain Limitations is a testament to his ability to reinvent and expand his sound while keeping it unmistakably his own.

Mark Barrott
Everything Changes, Nothing Ends [Anjunachill]
Mark Barrott's Everything Changes, Nothing Ends is a poignant departure from his signature Balearic soundscapes, serving as a deeply personal tribute to his late partner and their 20 years together. In place of the breezy, sun-drenched compositions of his past work, Barrott embraces a gloriously cinematic approach, blending orchestral grandeur with ambient and jazz elements. The result is an album that feels vast yet deeply intimate, carrying the weight of memory and loss while celebrating love’s enduring presence. This evolution not only highlights Barrott's versatility as a composer but also his capacity to present a crystal-clear vision with each release, making Everything Changes, Nothing Ends a testament to his artistic growth and personal resilience.

Max Graef
Natural Element [Tartelet Records]
Max Graef’s Natural Element brings the sonic palette of club music into a relaxing, home-friendly setting, blending electronic grooves with the warmth of organic instruments. The album weaves jazzy keys, soft percussion, and gentle strings into its layered soundscapes, giving the tracks a tactile, human quality that complements their rhythmic foundations. Graef’s integration of live instrumentation and electronic textures creates a space that feels vibrant yet calming, where energy flows naturally without overwhelming. It’s music that breathes and invites you to settle in while savoring its rich details.

Midland
Fragments of Us [Graded]
After more than 20 dance EP, Midland takes on the album format for the first time with Fragments of Us, delivering an introspective and deeply moving examination of queer history and identity. Blending ambient-electro soundscapes with spoken narratives from British and American gay subcultures, the album bridges the personal and the collective, past and present. A standout moment comes in a recording of filmmaker Marlon Riggs, reflecting on how individual identities and communities remain fragmented while questioning how we move beyond apathy toward unity. Throughout, Fragments of Us balances dancefloor sensibilities with atmospheric depth, creating a listening experience that feels both intimate and expansive—an elegant, resonant step forward in Midland’s ever-evolving artistry.

MLiR
Pulpo Fiction [Studio Barnhus]
MLiR’s Pulpo Fiction is a sun-drenched celebration of sound, brimming with a playful spirit and a sly sense of humor that keeps its eclectic grooves light on their feet. Across 16 tracks, the Swedish duo blends vibrant rhythms, nostalgic nods, and forward-thinking production, crafting a kaleidoscopic journey that feels tailor-made for long summer days. There’s a mischievous charm in the way the album moves, weaving together funky basslines, quirky samples, and breezy melodies with an effortless flair. It’s music that refuses to take itself too seriously while still delivering infectious energy and a finely tuned ear for detail, making Pulpo Fiction yet another delightfully refreshing album in the Studio Barnhus catalogue.

Molly Lewis
On the Lips [Jagjaguwar]
Molly Lewis’s On the Lips captures the essence of her Café Molly gatherings—intimate, glamorous, and laced with a touch of mischief. Her signature whistling leads a collection of numbers that are sultry, seductive, and irresistibly playful, striking a perfect balance between genuine allure and a knowing wink. Drawing on the smooth sophistication of lounge music and the escapist fantasy of exotica, the album conjures a lush, nostalgic world that feels like an intimate performance in a smoky, dimly lit cocktail lounge.

Mudd
In the Garden of Mindfulness [Claremont 56]
Mudd's In the Garden of Mindfulness is a delightful blend of smooth jazz funk and AOR disco influences, creating a sound that’s both sophisticated and playfully self-aware. The album indulges in its own cheeky charm, fully embracing the shameless pleasure of its sonic paradise. With lush arrangements and inviting grooves, In the Garden of Mindfulness offers a blissful escape into a world where enjoyment knows no bounds. It’s the perfect soundtrack for your next carefree moment. When was the last time you went skinny dipping?

Musclecars
Sugar Honey Ice Tea! [BBE Music]
Musclecars arrived fully formed in 2020, masterfully alchemizing their jazz and neo-soul influences into house heaters that feel both timeless and forward-thinking. With Sugar Honey Ice Tea!, they’ve perfectly captured the soul of the New York City house scene, distilling its rich history and raw energy into a collection that feels like an instant classic. The album pays homage to the legends that came before them while firmly solidifying their own place in that lineage. Soaring vocal performances from a cast of rising collaborators add depth and emotional resonance, their voices gliding over deep grooves and lush instrumentation. Sugar Honey Ice Tea! oozes sensuality and buzzes with the spirit of NYC, a love letter to its house music past and an inspiring vision of its future—an instant classic.

Nala Sinephro
Endlessness [Warp]
Lightning has struck twice. Interdimensional being Nala Sinephro follows up her glorious debut Space 1.8 with Endlessness, a stunning expansion of her cosmic jazz vision. Where her first album felt like drifting weightlessly through deep space, this new collection finds gravity in hypnotizing arpeggiations and scales that blur in and out of focus, while swelling strings give the arrangements a vast, cinematic scale. Sinephro’s artistry remains impeccable, her compositions unfolding like celestial bodies in motion—graceful, radiant, and infinite. Endlessness is both grander and more immersive than its predecessor, proof that her musical universe is still expanding. We won’t be surprised when she scores the next blockbuster sci-fi film.

Nidia & Valentina
Estradas [Latency]
Nídia and Valentina Magaletti's Estradas is a captivating fusion of Afro-Portuguese batida and avant-garde percussion, weaving a rich tapestry of polyrhythms and textures. The album's title, meaning "roads" in Portuguese, reflects the duo's journey through diverse sonic landscapes, blending Nídia's electronic beats with Magaletti's organic drumming. Tracks like "Mata" showcase their seamless interplay, with hand drums and synths interlocking unpredictably, creating a dynamic and immersive experience. Each track unfolds like a new destination, offering moments of tension, release, and undeniable movement. It’s a vibrant, boundary-pushing collaboration that pulses with the energy of discovery.

Novo Line
Artifact [Ecstatic Recordings / Osàre Editons]
Novo Line’s Artifact is a throbbing study of ambient techno, built on a foundation of meticulous sample manipulation fed into analog gear. Rather than relying on the warmth of vintage synths, the album’s hypnotic pulse emerges from the gradual modulation of sample start and end times, creating a constantly shifting, psychedelic morphing effect. The tracks evolve through subtle variations, where textures unravel and recombine in a trance-like haze. Each sound is sculpted with precision, making Artifact as much about tone and atmosphere as it is about rhythm. The result is a deeply immersive, mechanical creation that feels alive with movement—a study in minimalism, texture, and groove. Artifact is not just a celebration of hardware-driven production, but a mesmerizing, shape-shifting world unto itself.

Ozoyo
Worm [Threefinger]
Ozoyo’s Worm warps the senses, pulling the listener through a dimensional portal where organic textures and synthetic manipulations intertwine. The album conjures worms in both their earthly, fleshy form and the infinite spirals of a cosmic wormhole, burrowing through space and sound alike. Grounded in intricate IDM and bass-driven rhythms, the beats feel hyper-detailed yet impossibly weightless, skittering with microscopic precision while gliding like liquid. Chirping birds and rustling leaves dissolve into glitchy synths and pulsing low-end, forming a soundscape that feels at once tactile and digital. Worm isn’t just music to listen to—it’s a living, breathing sonic ecosystem, constantly tunneling between the organic and the digital, the microscopic and the infinite.

Panoram
Great Times [Balmat]
Panoram’s Great Times is an oddly delightful listen, radiating a sense of childlike wonder through playful electronic textures and surreal sound design. It feels like stepping into a daycare for computers, where synthetic voices babble, digital toys hum, and gentle melodies swirl with a curious innocence. The album moves with a strong pace, never lingering too long in one place, yet maintaining a dreamlike cohesion that makes each moment feel interconnected. Its blend of whimsy and precision makes it one of the most exciting ambient releases in recent memory—imaginative, unpredictable, and brimming with personality.

Qendresa
Londra [Dream City Discs]
Qendresa’s Londra is a smoky, lo-fi blend of funk and R&B, dripping with sensuality and a raw, unfiltered intimacy. The album’s hazy production and deep grooves give it a late-night allure, while Qendresa’s sultry vocals navigate themes of love, desire, and longing with effortless cool. Each track feels like a private conversation, yet the emotions she channels—passion, frustration, vulnerability—are universal. The sound is both nostalgic and immediate, evoking ‘90s slow jams while maintaining a distinct, personal touch. Londra isn’t just an album to be heard; it’s one to be felt, wrapping around the listener like flickering candlelight in a dimly lit room.

Sam Gendel & Sam Wiles
The Doober [Leaving Records]
Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes’s third collaborative album is a swirling blend of improvisation and experimentation, where familiar forms are stretched and warped into something deliciously abstract. The playful energy and the album’s title, The Doober, suggest that the studio may have also doubled as a hotbox, fueling its free-spirited and expressive nature. Gendel’s saxophone twists and turns through Wilkes’s grooving bass lines, creating an unrestrained dialogue that feels spontaneous yet intentional. The album thrives on its unpredictability, celebrating the joy of discovery in music-making while inviting listeners to lose themselves in its exploratory charm.

Saphileaum
Exploring Together [Mule Musiq]
Saphileaum’s Exploring Together unfolds like an expedition into uncharted sonic terrain, where polyrhythms ripple beneath layers of looping instrumentation and field recordings of birds and flowing water. The album radiates with adventurous energy, its rhythms weaving intricate patterns that feel rooted in both ancient traditions and futuristic visions. Every sound feels deliberate yet untamed, shifting between dense, percussive passages and wide-open melodic spaces. Exploring Together captures the sensation of moving through nature—observing, listening, and absorbing the rhythms of the world.

SML
Small Medium Large [International Anthem]
SML's Small Medium Large captures the boundary-pushing creativity of Los Angeles’s experimental music scene. The quintet—featuring bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann—creates music rooted in live instrumentation yet strikingly reminiscent of MIDI-controlled experiments. Improvised sessions recorded at the now-closed ETA venue were refined into compositions that merge the spontaneity of performance with the precision of electronic manipulation. This fusion allows SML to explore a vast spectrum of sound, weaving together elements of jazz, afrobeat, and ambient synthesis into an unpredictable and immersive listening experience that defies easy categorization.

Solpara
Melancholy Sabotage [Other People]
Melancholy Sabotage is a broodingly dark album that stands out as unique against the genres it would be tied to. It carries the depressive weight of goth music without sounding whiny, the detached attitude of post-punk without sounding snarky, and the pulsating synths of techno without feeling clubby. Disjointed trip-hop rhythms evoke a sense of stumbling, as if every step is a struggle. It's a record caught in the fog of angst, living with tunnel vision, moving forward without reason. Its heavy, unrelenting nature doesn’t seek resolution, like a feeling that refuses to fade.

Stones Taro
Dwellers Of The Seabed [NC4K]
Stones Taro’s Dwellers of the Seabed feels like a spiritual successor to the aquatic electro visions of Drexciya, both sonically and thematically immersed in an underwater world. Yet beneath its fluid rhythms and shimmering atmospheres, there’s an underlying tension, a sense of something lurking just below the surface. While the title suggests a deep-sea civilization, it may also be a nod to the shadowy figures of the inner city, a metaphor for those dwelling beneath society’s surface. This duality plays out in the music itself—deep, dubby textures and liquid breakbeats give way to moments of raw menace, where gritty basslines and razor-sharp drum programming hint at a darker urban undercurrent. It’s this balance between fluidity and edge, between dreamlike immersion and streetwise grit, that makes Dwellers of the Seabed such a compelling listen.

Tim Koh & Sun An
Salt and Sugar Look The Same [Music From Memory]
Tim Koh and Sun An’s Salt and Sugar Look the Same creates a space where time stands still, leaving you alone with the haze of your own memories. Across its 18 heavy tracks of deep reflection, its delicate interplay of acoustic plucks, tape-warped textures, and vaporous electronics evokes the numbness of nostalgia. Each piece feels suspended in a dreamlike fog, as though replaying fragments of forgotten conversations or scenes from a life half-remembered. It’s an album of introspection, inviting you to sink into its blurry atmospheres and confront the fleeting nature of time and emotion, like watching a faded photograph dissolve before your eyes.

Tom Noble
House of Spirits [Razor-N-Tape]
Tom Noble's long-anticipated House of Spirits has proven well worth the wait, delivering an impressive take on disco revivalism that authentically channels the essence of the late '70s and early '80s with a subtle modern touch. Crafted over more than a decade, the album features silky funk performances from Orgone, seamlessly blended with Noble's production to create a sound that feels both reverent to the past and refreshingly new. Standout track "Times Are Changing" exemplifies this balance with its effortless groove and universally resonant lyrics, making it a timeless anthem that will speak to listeners across generations.

Total Blue
Total Blue [Music From Memory]
Listening to Total Blue's self-titled debut feels like attending a psychedelic healing ceremony conducted by otherworldly beings, where each track guides you deeper into a state of serene introspection and blissful exploration. It’s a sublime, meditative journey through Balearic, new age, and ambient jazz, with wind synths, fretless bass, gentle percussion, reverb-soaked guitars, and spaced-out, delay-drenched saxophones creating lush soundscapes that completely engulf the listener. Blissful and opulent, it’s the perfect soundtrack for a spa treatment, a late-night drift, or your next comedown session.