Category Archives: Switched On

New music – HAAi – Hey! (Mute)

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from the press release, edited by Ben Hogwood

London-based, Australian-born producer, songwriter and DJ, HAAi (aka Teneil Throssell) has shared the latest track from her eagerly anticipated new album – HUMANiSE – out on 10 October 2025 via Mute on limited edition clear double gatefold vinyl and limited-edition CD in eco card packaging.

The new album – an immense evolution from her acclaimed debut – reckons with what it is to be human in an increasingly digital world, as AI threatens to eclipse everything and our screens separate us from each other.

You can listen to Hey! below:

Talking about the new track, Teneil explains, “‘Hey!’ is dedicated to the unmatched human connection we feel on the dance floor. The repeated lyrics “can’t live without you” is a nod to my love for the club and the people in it.”

Hey is an immensely likeable track, with an immediacy born of the dance floor and a direct style with repetition of voices that intersects a little with Caribou’s more minimal work.

The press release continues: In all of her work, Teneil has always sought to conquer new frontiers in electronic music, and on the new album, she’s drilling deeper into the grid to deliver an ambitious and thrilling epic: embodying a sonic step up, exploring the sweet spot between machine-led dystopia and emotion-filled utopia. “Throughout the album, I kept thinking about a machine with a human heart,” she says. Where previously she’s been hidden by a laptop, or obscured behind the decks, more recently she was, “inspired to return to my songwriting roots and use my voice more in my own music.”“Throughout the album, I kept thinking about a machine with a human heart,” she says. Vocals are front and centre, stunningly delicate and giving a newfound dimension to her kinetic productions. “It took a long time to get there, it’s such a vulnerable thing to do,” she continues, “but for this album, it was important for me to allow this ‘human heart’ to be front and centre.”

The human heart has another focus on the album: unity and community. HAAi explains, “Even though HUMANiSE is about how the world is starting to change beyond our control, it’s important to keep a sense of togetherness and hope.” These ideas of community and a sense of belonging is of utmost importance, and she has returned to work with friends including Jon Hopkins, Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip, singer Obi Franky and rapper KAM-BU, artist Kaiden Ford, as well as poet James Massiah, who guests on ‘All That Falls Apart’, and two choirs: TRANS VOICES with choir leader ILĀ and a gospel choir led by Wendi Rose. But this is no clique, the community she surrounds herself with is inclusive, with ample space for the listener on a journey where you are suspended in dreamlike euphoria, drawing the most human part of you to the surface – the part where nothing matters more than family, friends, and togetherness.

HUMANiSE is out on 10 October 2025 via Mute on limited edition clear double gatefold vinyl and limited edition CD in eco card packaging. You can pre-order here

Published post no.2,603 – Tuesday 22 July 2025

Switched On – Rival Consoles: Landscape From Memory (Erased Tapes)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

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.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,599 – Thursday 18 July 2025

On Record – Clare O’Connell: Light Flowing (NMC Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

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.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,597 – Thursday 17 July 2025

On Record – Herbert & Momoko: Clay (Strut / Accidental)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

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

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,597 – Wednesday 16 July 2025

On Record – Steve Queralt: Swallow (Sonic Cathedral)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

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

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,593 – Saturday 12 July 2025