John Sellekaers has released not one but two albums through Bandcamp this month. Détour and its accompanying album Roman de gare, were released on Friday 19 June.
They were mainly recorded last winter, and in an accompanying note, John says, “I hope you’ll enjoy their twilight, mysterious atmosphere…”
Published post no.2,924 – Sunday 21 June 2026
by Ben Hogwood
Welcome to a very occasional series on Arcana…sharing vinyl purchases from charity shops! I have recently inherited a record player, which has opened up a new line of listening possibilities.
Here is one of the first! What I would imagine is a pretty rare recording, too – the Clarinet Concerto by Thea Musgrave, with soloist Gervase de Peyer and the London Symphony Orchestra under Norman del Mar:
published by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release
Canadian electronic producer Myagi unveils his new remix of Georgia, originally composed by Sarah Neufeld, Richard Reed Parry and Rebecca Foon, taken from their collaborative debut album First Sounds.
Reimagining the original composition through his signature acidic style, Myagi transforms the piece into a steadily evolving, rhythm-driven journey. The remix shifts the work from its chamber-influenced, meditative origins while retaining its depth and melodic sensitivity.
“It was a joy to work with such a beautiful original piece,” says Myagi. “Rather than simply add a beat I chose to reinterpret it, building a solid evolving, funky groove that builds and builds into a milieu of dreamy euphoria. I hope this finds its way into both a late night dance floor and a sunny summer afternoon playlist.”
Richard Reed Parry reflects on the reinterpretation; “Myagi and I have known each other since early childhood, though this is the first time our musical paths have ever officially crossed. We couldn’t be more thrilled about the remix he has done for us – it’s entirely outside of what we do musically as a trio, but hearing our own acoustic instruments and gentle sound space transformed into this hypnotic, rolling electronic groove sounds somehow entirely natural, and very exciting to us. Enjoy.”
First Sounds is the debut album from Neufeld, Parry, and Foon, a trio whose roots trace back to Montreal in the late 1990s, where they first met and began collaborating before embarking on internationally recognised careers.
Neufeld and Parry are widely known for their work with indie rock group Arcade Fire and instrumental ensemble Bell Orchestre, while Rebecca Foon has been a central figure in Montreal’s experimental and contemporary classical scene, co-founding Esmerine, performing with Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra and Set Fire To Flames, and leading her electro-acoustic project Saltland.
Myagi has been producing since 1997, touring internationally across Australia, China, and Europe. His work has been featured across HBO, Showtime, BBC, MTV, CBC, Syfy, and Netflix, and he has remixed artists including Orbital, The Crystal Method, and Dub Pistols, as well as appearing on BBC Radio 1, Triple J, Sirius, and other international broadcasters.
Published post no.2,922 – Friday 19 June 2026
published by Ben Hogwood, with text from the press release
Acclaimed Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche releases euphoric new single Follow The River – a flamboyant 9-minute pop-odyssey that captures the Norwegian songwriter in an unabashedly romantic, ecstatic state of mind, energised by renewed faith in love and life. Follow The River marks the second reveal from Lerche’s newly announced eleventh studio album Acrobats, out on Friday 21 August via PLZ / Virgin.
Acrobats – his first full-length of brand new music in over four years, marks the return of the beloved Norwegian artist with an album that’s bold and bombastic; a polarising reflection on the dichotomy of finding love while in times of soulless global unrest and unfathomable human atrocities.
Originally beginning life as “quite a small and simple song”, new single Follow The River gradually expanded into what Lerche describes as his “very first disco odyssey” – a sprawling nine-minute epic in its full album form, packed with ever-new scenes, encounters and experiences.
Each of its six verses zooms in on the profound and mundane details of two lost dreamers meeting and falling in love through music, scent and taste, on breezy bar visits and through sticky, sweaty city streets in summer.
“This one doesn’t make excuses for being completely overcome with feelings of love and desire,” says Lerche. “So naturally I thought, ‘I need a gospel choir on this,’ because it’s almost indulging, maybe, as an act of defiance, in the beauty of two humans finding each other, reveling in all the little, mundane moments of that.”
Featuring a rousing gospel-style choir and adlibs from singer Suzanne Sumbudu, Follow The River stands in striking contrast to much of the wider Acrobats album – unashamedly upbeat, optimistic and love drunk in all its glory.
Musically, the recording shamelessly embraces music history with nods to everyone from Pet Shop Boys, Janet Jackson and Steve Reich to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, which inspired the track after Lerche found himself “crying his eyes out” during a performance at the Oslo Opera. “It actually started out as quite a small and simple song, but the story expanded into more of an epic, and I felt the urge to turn the entire recording into a groovy adventure, with ever-new scenes, encounters, and experiences,” says Lerche. The track also features what is perhaps Lerche’s most natural and simplistic chorus so far in his ever-expanding catalogue.
Alongside the sprawling album version – which even includes its own remix in the spirit of Pet Shop Boys’ Introspective – the song will also be released as an elegant and concise single edit clocking in at four effective minutes before summer takes over.
The expansive album version features contributions from saxophonist Jonas Hamre, clarinetist Solveig Wang and vocalist Gabriela Garrubo, alongside Lerche’s longtime collaborators, drummer Dave Heilman and producer Kato Ådland.
‘Acrobats’ physical pre-order is available as a webstore exclusive 2xLP gatefold ‘Splendor’ edition including recent EP ‘Turning Up The Heat Again’, a standard 1xLP edition on transparent red vinyl, and CD.
Sondre Lerche‘s new album ‘Acrobats’ is out 21st August via PLZ / Virgin. Sondre Lerche will embark on an extensive headline tour in support of the new album, which will take him across the UK, Europe and the US. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit his website HERE.
Published post no.2,921 – Thursday 18 June 2026
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
What’s the story?
“A thought experiment equipped with drumsticks, circuitry, and the desire to go beyond hardwired limits”. So reads the Bandcamp appraisal of Laurence Pike’s first album for the Balmat label – which doesn’t behave as its title implies.
“My loose concept was: What does music sound like when the expectations of late capitalism are removed from it?”, says Price. “How might a jazz musician from an idealised culture of the future, or even another world, utilise musical language when the conventions of style and marketing are no longer a factor in music making?”
For one thing, Pike is the only consistent presence through the album, the ‘jazz quintet’ being a figment of his vivid imagination. Three occasional guests are credited, however – alto saxophonist Ben Lerner, pianist Novak Manojlovic and Nico Callahan, described as providing ‘additional synthesis’.
The utopias are very real, going beyond jazz in search of ambient, electronica and post-rock.
What’s the music like?
Rewarding. Pike’s varied work as a soloist but also as part of Szun Waves, Pivot aka PVT, Triosk and Liars means he has an acute ear for what works with percussion – and that reaps dividends here.
Pike’s sonic palette is impressively varied. On one hand is Manojlovic’s freely flowing piano on Guardians of Memory, where urgent pulses are detected from hi hats and tapped cymbals. Often his music suggests the weather – an approaching storm, the wind in the trees, a humid day on the edge of a desert. All these things and more could be determined by The Shame of Jazz to Come, with its brooding synth pads and rustling percussion, but elsewhere Pike’s thoughts are more fractured and dislocated.
Saxophonist Lerner”s contributions are telling, while Pike’s ability to evoke nocturnal scenes is maintained in the subtly atmospheric Night Bird and dappled beauty of Possible Utopias itself.
Does it all work?
It does – because Pike’s music has refreshing details of unpredictability, original textures and riffs, and a feeling for the listener that all this is taking place outdoors, under the stars.
Is it recommended?
It is – and proves a fine addition to an already impressive solo body of work.
For fans of… Szun Waves, Luke Abbott, James Holden, Portico Quartet
Listen / Buy
Published post no.2,920 – Wednesday 17 June 2026
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