Quantic featuring Andreya Triana – Run

Quantic is the creative and performance identity of musician and producer Will Holland who has an incredible back catalogue with his unique melting pot of Latin, Disco, Soul, Jazz and Electro hybrid sounds which are invariably a delight to the audio senses. He first caught my attention over ten years ago on an album with Alice Russell called ‘Look Around The Corner’ which sounded for all the world like a lost Motown classic with disorientating echoes of the future. Incredible stuff and that is merely the tip of the iceberg yet still today it is more than apparent that his ear for an authentic soul voice and indelible groove remains intact thanks to this stunning tune made with Andreya Triana. Andreya herself is an artist I have kept an ear out for since her equally impressive debut from 2010 ‘Lost Where I Belong’ and today she remains one of the outstanding, authentic vocal talents in the soul world; all in all, a musical marriage that works for everyone…

Joanna Sternberg – People Are Toys To You

As we hit October I am starting to think about the albums that will make up the list of my top twenty records of the year and it is already beyond doubt that Joanna’s ‘I’ve Got Me’ LP will have a high place in the run down. They are a US singer-songwriter and visual artist who seem to have such a natural flair with the craft of melodic music composition. There is a quirkiness to Joanna’s sound which may regrettably push them to the ‘outsider’ fringes of the music scene which is wholly unjust because there is a classicists eloquence to the work way beyond the reach of most pop balladeers and two-chord strumming acoustic coffee shop poseurs. I flipping love Joanna’s album and sincerely hope it is heard and picked up by the large volumes of people it deserves, if Taylor Swift could make a record this good the critical establishment would be queueing up to call it a masterpiece…

Teleman – String Theory

In recent years Teleman have always been a dependable band for superior sounds in the indie-rock world. They released new music on the ‘Good Time / Hard Time’ album earlier this year but found there was still a lot of top-drawer material left in the tank and so a new deluxe-edition of the album is on its way. Tom from the band explains “we were aware of these extra songs that were knocking around; songs that should have/ could have made the cut but for one reason or another got left off. As well as that there was the usual big pile of demos and alternative versions that we always have when we come round to making an album. So we thought that a Deluxe version of the album was in order- all the bells and whistles- and to top it all off, we went back into the studio and recorded a brand new track called ‘String Theory’ which came out really well”. It certainly did, here it is…

Romy – Loveher

Romy Madley Croft is perhaps better known for her music as part of The XX who have won widespread acclaim and success over the past 13-14 years with their bass heavy, quite dubby variant of indie/electro pop. Here Romy is branching out on her own, albeit with XX bandmate Jamie XX listed as part of the production team, revealing a side to her work heavy influenced by the dancefloor. Far from being a blatant shot at mainstream solo riches however, this classy track has the soulful injection you would expect from a classic house 12″ and consequently is rather wonderful indeed, dig in to this one immediately…

The Coral – That’s Where She Belongs

I have been writing new music recommendations on this site for a few years now and it is possible that The Coral are my most frequently suggested band. They have just released a wonderful new album ‘Sea Of Mirrors’ from which this is taken, one of two new LPs they are spoiling us with in 2023. It is not that I have a bias towards them, I really don’t, I haven’t even seen them live since 2002 but the reason they deserve such regular shout outs is simply the quality of their work. They seem to exist in a sweet spot where they have had a deserved amount of success, but nowhere near enough for it to spoil their creativity. The Coral clearly still live and breathe through their music and as much as I’d imagine that’s a rewarding place for the band members to exist, the real winners are us, the listeners. They simply keep on giving us the most wonderfully written and recorded albums to enjoy and obsess over, please never stop…

Hania Rani ft. Duncan Bellamy – Don’t Break My Heart

I have only recently written about Hania Rani and her glacial splendour as a creator of deep, expansive and immersive instrumental mediations on the piano. Her work comes from other planets and as such you need to receive it and give it the attention it demands in order for the vibrations to work their magic. However, it seems she is increasingly moving towards songwriting with lyrics too, as heard on this new release, which given the superior quality of the work can only be a good and welcome development; do not miss out on this one…