After an extended time out, Ryan Lee West – the man behind Rival Consoles – returns with his ninth album.
Having fallen out of favour with the creative process, West retreated and started composition by way of an audio scrapbook, where past clippings and musical sketches were transformed into fully fledged tracks.
What’s the music like?
There is a fresh, revitalized feel to Rival Consoles on this album. In fact West seems to be falling over an abundance of ideas, but has found the best way to get them all together and make an album that is consistently rewarding, colourful and durable.
There are many highlights, such as Coda and Drum Song, where percussive work and melodic craft work well hand in hand. Yet at times the music is at its most effective without a drum track, as on the start of Nocturne, or the reverie Tape Loop. 2 Forms brings both together intriguingly, starting in an ambient mood but with a sudden burst of acidic, quasi-industrial noise.
Gaivotas, meanwhile, is a great illustration of the colour West brings through from the studio, a rich and dazzling array of textures.
Does it all work?
It does – and the album only gets better and more rewarding with repeated listening.
Is it recommended?
Yes. If you’re a Rival Consoles fan then you will need no persuasion, but if you are new to his music then Landscape From Memory is a great place to start.
Cellist Clare O’Connell releases the Light Flowing album, which, in the words of the press release, is “inspired and tied together conceptually by ideas of light, depth, simplicity, the search for a perfect line, and capturing an otherworldly beauty that these carefully chosen composers represent within their different sound worlds.”
She looked for an ‘introverted introspective simplicity’, which is found through new compositions from five composers.
What’s the music like?
The music here is rather bewitching, in the best examples drawing the listener into a spell, with O’Connell playing beautifully.
Edmund Finnis contributes two examples, beginning with the Three Solos, expressive miniatures that O’Connell inhabits easily, especially the playful second solo with its pizzicato. Finnis allows for expansive thought in the outer two movements.
Meanwhile Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch contributes the imaginative four-part suite Opened, its movements based on the pitch of each of the cello’s four strings. Although it starts from the lowest ‘C’ string and works up, the pitches are closely linked and longer, sustained drones are used. The colours are subtly shaded, the musical motifs rich in thought and execution.
Natalie Klouda’s Uhteare is an excellent piece, packing a strong emotional punch but also falling naturally under the scope of the instrument, with a terrific end – O’Connell’s tone in the high register as sure and pure as it could be.
Emily Hall’s You Sail To The Sky is a meditative space, while Nick Martin’s two Vocalises find a hypnotic and compelling train of thought. The first floats down with delicate harmonics like a feather falling slowly through the sky, while the second floats most attractively, O’Connell’s cello ideal for its songlike profile. Prayerful, and lost in thought towards the end in contemplation, it disappears beyond the horizon.
Zenith introduces a timely change of sonorities, introducing the harp of Eleanor Turner, which has a more Japanese feel. An engaging discourse between the two instruments, it grabs the listener especially towards the end where O’Connell’s cello climbs higher. Then the sound descends to the depths as Marianne Schofield’s grainy double bass winds through a shadowy encounter as the first of three Figures Of Eight, Finnis writing a slight but compelling second movement drawing in the listener’s ear. The two instruments circle each other with pizzicato figures that get more insistent but stay largely quiet in the second movement, while the third has a richer, mellow sound
Does it all work?
It does, a thoughtfully planned recital executed with no little technical expertise.
Is it recommended?
Yes. The literature for solo cello is a rich body of work, right back to Bach in the 18th century, but this wide range of works illustrates how, with imagination, it is still possible for composers to explore new paths. Clare O’Connell proves a compelling communicator in bringing the pieces to life.
This is an intriguing collaboration between the multi-skilled producer and instrumentalist Matthew Herbert, and drummer / vocalist Momoko Gill. Clay is the result of a musical relationship begun in 2024 with the song Fallen.
Typically for Herbert releases there are some intriguing sound sources involved, with live improvisation and sampling paired with the use of instruments ranging from kotos to basketballs. In the words of the Bandcamp commentary, “Clay treads nimbly between the dancefloor and the more introspective moods of the early hours”.
What’s the music like?
Intriguing at the very least, and often touching on the sweet spot between the end of the night and the start of the morning, capturing a rarefied set of sounds.
Gill’s pure voice conjures memories of Sade on occasion, and with sensitive and creative drumming proves the ideal foil to Herbert’s creative production. As the album progresses the songs only get better and more substantial.
Mowing is reminiscent of early Herbert, with its ‘kitchen sink’ percussion paired with a sonorous vocal, and so is Fallen Again, a particularly beautiful number. Drums and vocals – upper and lower registers – trade off to good effect on More And More, while the vocals dovetail nicely with minimal accompaniment on the short Heart.
Animals pairs flickering riffs from percussion and keyboard with the voice, but the longer songs are even more effective, developing in hypnotic fashion. Fallen Again is definitely one of those, while Circle Shore, by contrast, proves to be a thoughtful coda led by Gill’s drums.
Does it all work?
It does, though where you listen is key, as sometimes the level dips on headphones and the intricate production cannot be fully appreciated. When at their peak, though, Gill and Herbert are frequently compelling.
Is it recommended?
Yes. With such creative minds in play the results could never be less than interesting, and with Clay Matthew Herbert and Momoko Gill have created a bewitching and seductive album.
For fans of… Jamie Lidell, M J Cole, Roisin Murphy, Dani Siciliano
This is the first solo album from Ride bassist Steve Queralt, the result of fitful opportunities to record between the ‘day job’.
Yet the fact that Swallow has taken shape over five years is an illustration that it means a lot to him, as he joins his band mate Andy Bell with a solo record on the Sonic Cathedral label.
Queralt is joined by singers Emma Anderson (ex-Lush) and Electrelane’s Verity Susman, who guest on three of the album’s nine tracks.
What’s the music like?
Beguiling. Queralt writes in the shoegaze tradition, like his band, but there is some wonderfully dreamy music here that puts you under its spell with repeated success.
After an atmospheric introduction, Lonely Town – headed by Anderson – is an early highlight, a dream pop moment of excellence that reaches the heady heights. Anderson appears again on the moody Swiss Air, with exhilarating widescreen production, while Verity Susman’s contribution is also a thing of wonder, a bold vocal backed with big guitars and spacious production.
Elsewhere Queralt complements the vocal numbers from the heart with some impressive instrumentals. 1988 holds itself with poise, a slower number that Queralt paces to perfection until it breaks out into a massive, drum-fuelled epic. A Porsche Shaped Hole has the sort of grandeur you would associate with M83, reaching for the stars and then floating seamlessly.
Does it all work?
It does. Queralt gets just the right balance of soft and loud, vocal and instrumental, slow and fast – the result being that the nine-tracks fairly fly by.
Is it recommended?
This is an auspicious debut from Steve Queralt, a starry-eyed gem that frequently reaches the celestial bodies for which it aims. It is a shame he has started late on the solo trail, but hopefully this will encourage him to take the plunge again without delay. Highly recommended.
For fans of… Ride, M83, Trentemøller, Maps, Beach House
Acclaimed composers and producers Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, known collectively as DROKK, make a long-awaited return with a striking remix of Cruel Mother by ØXN—originally released on ØXN’s 2023 album CYRM. This marks DROKK’s first release since their self-titled debut album in 2012. The package is complemented by Ben Frost’s haunting, elegiac rework.
Barrow and Salisbury, whose work as DROKK began in 2011, have since focused on a range of scoring projects across film and television. Now, they revisit their DROKK identity with a new purpose: using music to support War Child UK.
“We love ØXN—not just their music, but who they are as people, and what they stand for politically,” says Barrow. “We’ve been huge fans of “Cruel Mother” since its release, and I reached out to see if we could remix it in support of War Child, a brilliant charity I’ve been involved with for many years.”
The remixes will be released alongside the ØXN original on limited edition vinyl, with 100% of profits donated directly to War Child, which supports children affected by conflict around the globe. Order the vinyl and download / stream the remixes here.
“I just hope we’ve done the song justice,” Barrow adds. “Like many people right now, we’re feeling helpless and heartbroken by the suffering of children in war zones. While we can’t fix broken infrastructure or end conflicts ourselves, we can use our music to raise money and awareness. This is our way of contributing.”
ØXN adds, “Nobody can escape the sickening and horrifying images being live streamed to our eyes every day of innocent civilians, those mostly helpless and defenceless children being murdered or maimed, orphaned and forever mentally scarred because of the choices made by political fascists and tyrants. The proceeds of this release will go to War Child.
“We stand with the children of Palestine. The children of Sudan. The children of The Democratic Republic of Congo. The children of Ukraine. The children of Yemen and all the children dragged into these man-made nightmares.”
Arcana.fm 