Saba Alizadeh - Temple of Hope (2025)

Saba Alizadeh creates music that is politically-involved and commenting on social matters. And as he is from Iran, you know that it is not going to be an easy-listening album. On his third album, Temple of Hope, the experimental musician talks about the issues in an extremely interesting and poignant way, even if he doesn't use many words.

"How can a sense of beauty be found amidst fear and cruelty", asks his Bandcamp account and I have to say, his post0industrial electronic soundscapes are far from the self-reflecting ambient pieces I usually listen to. Instead, they are filled with nerve-wrecking, thrilling sounds that come and go. There is the sense of danger and darkness as he "transforms the events during the >>Woman Life Freedom<< movement, as well as the struggles of the population in previous years, into poignant electro-acoustic music".

I said that he uses a few words and it's true: Alizadeh himself uses Kamancheh, a traditional, string instrument the sound of which is heavily transformed into the noisy, industrial output used to create the soundscapes. On some of the tracks, there are vocals though. They are provided by guest artists from Iran (Iran-born Sanam Maroufkhani) and from the Western World (Austrian Andreas Spechtl) and I have to say, the charm and beauty mentioned before can be found mostly in those places. The temples of hope.

Temple of Hope costs 8 EUR.

Check: Plain of the Free

Country: Iran

Genre: experimental post-industrial

Label: 30M Records

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Decline of the I - Wilhelm (2025)

I had post-metal debutants this week, now it's the time for the genre's old timers. However, we won't go far from the existential themes exploration in heavy, yet spiritual music. The French Decline of the I released their fifth album and did it with a (surprisingly experimental) bang.

Released by the Polish label Agonia Records, the album marries very traditional metal elements with airy and spiritual ones while still creating a coherent whole. The gregorians-like chanting is kept in check by angry vocals so that nothing here takes control over the music and the balance is in place. The same goes with samples, spoken word parts, tear-jerking violins in backgrounds. This black metal is filled with eclectic ornaments that make the album stand out.

The album is the second part of the trilogy devoted to Søren Kierkegaard and his existentialist philosophy, one that could only be illustrated so well by the sound of black metal. As the band's leader, AK, admits, the album constitutes "a constrained dive into the angst of ethics", or, as I would call it, an exciting, yet depressing and overwhelming at times, lesson on existentialism.

Band picture by William Lacalmontie. Wilhelm costs 11 USD.

Check: Éros N

Country: France

Genre: eclectic black metal

Label: Agonia Records

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Void of Hope - Proof of Existence (2025)

The best post-metal album with blackgaze inclinations released in the first quarter of 2025? I'll take the Finnish debutants (under this moniker, not in general)'s Proof of Existance over Deafheaven's Lonely People With Power every time. Not only because I think the American powerhouse's one is mid at best, Void of Hope genuinely created something breathtakingly beautiful.

Released by the Italian label Avantgarde Music, the album was created from scratch in five days "in the studio with -30°, -35° outside and in complete darkness for most of the day". Can you imagine something more Finnish? But the most important thing is that the music that came out of this session is extremely hot. Energetic. Euphoric. The best words to describe a good blackgaze album although I'm not 100% sure the band aimed for this (the genre tags on Bandcamp don't enourage this opinion). Nevertheless, for a blackgaze fanboy like myself, a great blackgaze release, even an accidental one is nothing to sniff at.

Just listen to Gift of Life or the monumental The Hollow Hymn. The atmosphere here is so dense, I could swear I felt like in a sauna when listening to it. This is the way the artists talk about "a journey through mental health and depression" that are a common thing for anyone who experienced existing. I feel better already after listening to Proof of Existence.

Proof of Existence costs 6 EUR.

Check: Gift of Life

Country: Finland

Genre: blackgazey post-metal

Label: Avantgarde Music

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Kestrels - Better Wonder (2025)

Coming from Nova Scotia, Canada, Kestrels is a love child of one Chad Peck. For some reason, I've never heard of the band although they play my kind of music and they do it for well over a decade now. Better Wonder is their fifth album so far and its catchy melodies and non-overwhelming noise-filled arrangements caught my attention with a fuzzy grip.

The release is filled with songs that are so memorable perhaps because they had been brewing for years. As the band mentions, the good amount of them comes from Peck's never released solo album. This time around, time helped the material grow to shine with this shoegazey/noise rocky shine that involves a soothing vocal, hearty lyrics and comforting fuzz in the backgrounds. It does feel a bit as if it was a solo album, making me appreciate the small scale beauty of the songs. It's fun, it's sunny, it's easily approachable. It's surf rock if it was possible to surf in Nova Scotia (which, I had to google, is in fact possible. But probably a bit cold).

The only thing I don't like on the album are those accentuated rock-like solo riffs taking the lead from time to time. But it's just a personal preference. What I like is certainly Dream of You in Black, as it is described, "a synthed-out Robert Smith-style love song to a fictional goth girl". I'm not an expert on The Cure, but I can hear that.

Better Wonder costs 10 USD.

Check: Dream of You in Black

Country: Nova Scotia, Canada

Genre: noise (surf-)rock

Label: Darla Records

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Masma Dream World - PLEASE COME TO ME (2025)

Unsettling but spiritual, dark but filled with emotions, her live gigs are titled ceremonies. The Gabon-born and New York-based Devi Mambouka, known as Masma Dream World, opens up fantastic spaces to your personal use on her new album and it is recommended to follow her.

Her music involves "invokes, magic, and healing as a form of worship to the universal Dark Mother", making it clear that the experimental industrial dark ambient's biggest trait is its spiritual character audible in the forms of chants and backing vocals that are the leading force of the new album. But there is more, so much more. Even the pace changes as Seeking Your Protection offers a unique, industrial tribal vibes. Not every face of the artist on this album is what I like, but I appreciate the fact that the rather diverse album still feels like a coherent mass of sound.

I'm happy that I will be able to partake in one of her ceremonies during this year's dunk!festival in Ghent. I'm looking forward to this and getting ready my spiritual self. 

PLEASE COME TO ME costs 10 USD.

Check: O, Dark Mother

Country: New York, US

Genre: spiritual dark ambient

Label: Valley of Search

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Niechęć - Reckless Things (2025)

I am a person who famously dislike jazz. Sorry. But when I like an album that is very jazzy, if not jazz full stop, it's a clear indication that the album is really good. It's not Ciśnienie whose post-rock noise is structured like jazz, it's jazz music that feels like post-rock and it's enough for me to get really intrigued by the Polish band's fourth ever album.

The band admit their love for improvisation (is there any jazz outfit who don't like it?) but that their sound changes constantly and "balances between fury and melancholy, recently leaning towards trance rhythms and synths". After the first two tracks I was already sold: Nowe płuca (translating to "New Lungs") present a perfect riff (but played on a trumpet, I think) that makes the track an instant hit while Bezdech ("Apnea")'s finish is... just pure post-rock. Sorry to keep coming back to the comparison with the guitar-based genre, but this is where I feel comfortable in. I'm not trying to offend anyone.

Although it is not a norm for me, I prefer the livelier, more energetic fragments of the album. The more self-reflecting parts played with a saxophone (I think) are definitely not my cup of tea. Still though, I am excited by this album more than I could have guessed.

Reckless Things costs 7 EUR (29 PLN). 

Check: Nowe płuca

Country: Poland

Genre: post-rocky jazz

Label: Audio Cave

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Postcards - Ripe (2025)

Ah, yes, after last week's Cats of Transnistria, there comes another common guest of this blog. I follow the Lebanese Postcards' career since their 2020's sophomore album and I'm never disappointed with what they cook in their artistic, lyrical minds. Last month they released their 5th album with the title suggesting that it is their final artistic form.

So what is this ripe fruit of their work? It is a melancholic and moody as ever, but I feel like the band shifted slightly their sound towards chamber rock (pop/singer-songwriter vocals and compositions accompanied by rock-like yet very moody guitars (Poison!) ) at the expense of the dreamy tones. Slight shift, there's still tons of the oneiric parts (like the beautiful ending of Wasteland Rose), but generally makes me think of how Lucy Kruger plays after Medicine Boy got disbanded. Nevertheless, the music is addressed to the sensitive audience just like it's been up to this point.

This thought is acknowledged by the band itself as the description of the album includes phrases like "[the band] transmute their rage into something transcendental" and "[the album] is as much a departure as it is a natural evolution for the band: rawer, darker, but with the same unflinching resolve". One has to also remember about the wherabouts of the artist's music: coming from Lebanon, it revolves around many hardships their land faces, which is reflected in the titles like Wasteland Rose, Ruins or Construction Site, in many places drawing comparison between the world in shambles and the reality of one's love life.

Ripe costs 10 USD.

Check: Wasteland Rose

Country: Lebanon

Genre: lyrical art rock

Label: Ruptured

Postcards - After the Fire, Before the End (2021)

Postcards - The Good Soldier (2020)

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Radar Men From the Moon x Twin Sister - Mirrors for Discharge (2025)

Radar Men From the Moon have already around 10 releases, but none of them was very much to my taste. It's different with the live album and one can say it's VERY different as I rarely appreciate live albums at all. And this one, recording of their live set together with Twin Sister made in 2/3 of Dead Neanderthals, I find definitely appreciating worthy. 

The album was recorded during the gig at 2022's Roadburn Festival and, what's important here, the compositions had been all written for this specific set. Both formations are known for their heavy, psychedelic space rock and this is what dominates in the speakers when listening to the album. Heavy, psychedelic space rock squared. The slow, but poignant composition venture towards the noisy and sonically overwhelming realms thanks to a real army of guitars.

But the heaviness is not the only thing. Somewhere in the compositions, hidden between the mesmerizing repetitiveness and meaty riffs and desperate, touching vocals, I hear the dreamy escape offered to the audience. Perhaps it's the space element of their music that invites me so insistingly to the experience. Or maybe it's Twin Sister as it is only their second album ever (under this moniker of course) and they are 2/2 present on this blog.

Mirrors for Discharge costs 7 EUR.

Check: Drowning in Self-Image

Country: The Netherlands

Genre: heavy psychedelic rock

Label: God Unknown Records

Twin Sister - Twin Sister (2020)

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Amulets - Not Around but Through (2025)

This is not ambient electronica for easily startled people. The Oregon soundscapes icon brought the next album in his discography this year and filled it with an ambitious take on ambient music: it can be overwhelming, it can feel heavy, but it is always as beautiful and emotionally marked as possible.

The album explores the "process of acceptance and the tumultuous journey of looking within" with mesmerizing soundscapes that may sound nice and kind at the start, but soon enough evolve into a slow-motion avalanche of organ-like noise. A beautiful one too. And this is a common pattern on the album. The music here is a curious kaleidoscope of genres including drones and post-rock and almost anything you can imagine.

And ambient pop. And when Midwife borrows some of her fuzzy magic to an album, you know it has to be good.

Not Around but Through costs 10 USD.

Check: Myriads

Country: Oregon, US

Genre: heavy soundscape

Label: Beacon Sound

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Cats of Transnistria - IV (2025)

POV: A band checks all your personal boxes to catch your interest. Having a great, unusual name; being from a beautiful and unusual place; and most importantly, creating magical music. No wonder that the Helsinki-based Cats of Transnistria have appeared on this blog many times already and it is safe to say that with every new album they will be featured here too. 

Because the band's dream pop is how this should be done. And since it's been already 6 (!) years since their previous (and my favourite!) album, I had to post about IV. Henna Emilia Hietamäki and Tuomas Alatalo have a great ability of creating moody, intimate dreamy tracks that do not shy away from using lightly louder guitars as it is the case in very old-school rock like parts of Thunder as an Arrow (no wonder that the video to this track looks like taken from the 90s.). I appreciate that, but still my favourites are the songs that mesmerize with repetitive structure and airy atmosphere. Like Horrors, a beautiful little nightmare.

And so the dream finally comes to an end with the extremely airy Ceiling of Stars and one can only want to go back. The cosy, very artistic and drawing from other genres dream pop from Finland is quite addictive.

IV costs 7 EUR.

Check: Horrors

Country: Finland

Genre: art dream pop

Label: Soliti

Cats of Transnistria - Aligning (2019)

Cats of Transnistria - Opium (2018)

Cats of Transnistria - Divine (2016)

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Sterile Cuckoo - Until All the Flocks Are Gathered (2025)

Dream pop that feels both intimate, melancholic and filled with life and emotions? Lively ambient meeting sadcore vocals? This is how Sterile Cuckoo's third album feels and I gotta say, there is little that could be done to grab my emotions more.

The name of the project is taken from a novel by John Nichols that was adapted to the screen by Alan Pakula so you know it's bound to be about interhuman emotions and the music proves is so well. The lo-fi atmosphere certainly help as well as the artist feels so close to the audience that you can almost hear his breathing (this closeness reminds me of what Raised by Swans does so well). But you can't say it's a monotonous singer/songwriter type of lo-fi project. 

Sterile Cuckoo creates compositions in which "haunting synths weave a tapestry of ethereal textures, interspersed with cascading guitar lines that radiate like distant starbursts", making soundscapes that are bursting with life while still feeling slow and contemplative. I love the addition of strings in Spring and Loss that is not too invasive but fits right in. Similarly the glitchy effects in Grave Memories and many more. Elements that enrich the compositions, without overtaking them and overshadowing the clue. And yes, the artis admits what we know already, the music is designed as a tool for meditation, for taking a while to reflect on your lives, on your emotions. And it works, maybe even too much.

Until All the Flocks Are Gathered costs 1 EUR.

Check: Spring and Loss

Genre: vibrant slowcore

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ANIMADORA - Sobre lo visible (2025)

If anyone craves some dreamy vibes but with strong sense of rock-like energy, very emotional vocals and heavy guitars, the second EP from the Spanish ANIMADORA is something to try. Sobre lo visible may be short, but there is some fantastic vibes included.

ANIMADORA seems to be a solo project by Andrea Podadera that evolved into a 5-pieces band (at least that's what RYM suggests). And this wide line-up is certainly audible: the compositions are multi-layered, with a big focus put on creating the shoegaze atmosphere but still maintaining the rock/grunge-like energy. The tracks are usually vibrant and fast, they make me think on the band's compatriots (at least formally!) from Arima, so I know that I won't stop listening to the alum anytime soon.

The EP talks a lot about relationships (that didn't go that well) in an emotional but also extremely poetic way. It is in Spanish, which I appreciate, so I have to rely mostly on a translator, but, yeah, those kinds of words are very universal. It is so well visible in the opening track that talks about the Devil the protagonist falls in love with and in El Carro:inóvil, certainly the most emotional piece here. 

Sobre lo visible costs 5 EUR.

Check: El Carro:inóvil 

Country: Spain

Genre: grungy shoegaze

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Lumnos - Na santa paz da aurora (2025)

The illuminated cover art says it all: this album is all about electronic blackgaze filled with the light as much as with the darkness. Lomnos comes from Brazil and I have to say, there is something in the Latin America that invites the solo acts that bring a lot of energy to the blackgaze community.

And while I haven't heard of the artist before, it is not a new name on the scene as this album is meant to be released to celebrate the 10 years of the project. Interestingly enough, the artist calls their music "Ambient Black Metal" which, I guess, is a good way of describing blackgaze. At least the amount of electronica makes sense (albeit far from ambient's peacefulness). Quite the opposite, there is so much going on in this music, not only the occasional black metal vocals and energetic drums. If this is an ad for the artist's last 10 years of music, I'm sold.

Na santa paz da aurora costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Janaína

Country: Brazil

Genre: electronic blackgaze

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Bezsenna - We mgle (2025)

Ah, yes, a good and fresh Polish post-punk, haven't seen that for a while. Although Bezsenna are called like a dream pop band (meaning "sleepless" for a female person), they are in fact energetic and rebellious (at least against the horrors of human existence) artists who are here to make use of some impressive guitar riffs.

While the structures of the songs and the vocals are very much (post-)punk in vibes, the real gold can be found underneath them. Don't get me wrong, I like the lyrics, they seem more focused on the ridiculous elusiveness of human's life and interpersonal relationships, which I find more universal and generally more interesting than punk's usual anti-system attire. But what I like the most is the modern approach to music that plays in the backgrounds. It is so catchy and modern-sounding that it may almost be indie rock-like. In the positive sense of course. I like this mix of punk's alternativeness and indie's approachable nature, makes the music potentially closer to bigger audience. I will be looking at the band's career with big interest.

We mgle costs 30 PLN (7.5 EUR).

Check: Palcem na wodzie

Country: Poland

Genre: modern post-punk

Label: Koty Records

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SOM - Let the Light In (2025)

SOM might be the band that made me interested in doomgaze as a genre. Their 2022's album The Shape of Everything really stuck with me and made me excited for the follow up. This came just two weeks ago in the shape (ha!) of the equally green and equally good album called Let the Light In.

High pace, complex music backgrounds and Jonas Bjerre-esque vocals is what characterizes the Americans. In their music, the "doom" part certainly doesn't refer to the speed in which the tracks go by and by. It's fast, there's a seducing flow, the compositions are catchy. The "doom" part is the heaviness of the music that contrasts so beautifully with the fragile, soft vocals that really make me think of Mew's airy madness. But what strikes me most is the ingenuity that is so well perceptible in the backgrounds. Everything that takes place under the vocals in Let the Light In, Chemicals or Give Blood is shockingly awesome.

The first part of the album feels certainly stronger. Maybe it's because this kind of intense music may tire the listener a bit with time. But still, it's one of the best bands of its kind out there and I can't wait for an opportunity to see them live somewhere out there.

Let the Light In costs 7.99 EUR.

Check: Chemicals 

Country: US

Genre: energetic doomgaze

Label: Pelagic Records

SOM - The Shape of Everything (2022)

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Empress Ephemeral - Everything Will Probably Be Fine (2025)

My favourite kind of post-rock is probably anything that includes neoclassical instruments in order to make the whole thing either more airy or energetic. But when the neoclassical starts playing the main role, my excitement goes beyond the metaphorical speedometer. And I've already learned that the American s from Empress Ephemeral make me feel that way.

The only ephemeral thing about this music is the band's name. Otherwise, it is crunchy, it is textured, it is tangible. It is a stone thrown at your face, nothing from the string instruments' atmosphere creating qualities. In here, the strings are in the foreground, but they fuel the music's energy and tempo. They are closer to folk strings than neoclassicism. Especially that they are accompanied by heavy and meaty guitars, making the band's works lying exactly on the border of post-rock and post-metal when it comes to heaviness.

No wonder that the artists admit to being inspired by "the raw beauty of their coastal surroundings". It does't sound like an ocean, it FEELS like it. Even the (beautiful, as always with these guys) cover art shows a violent burst of nature origins. This is this music. The only thing I'm not sure about is the album's title. Maybe it's ironical, because this kind of music doesn't make me calmer or less worried about the future. But maybe it's the "probably"'s role.

Everything Will Probably Be Fine costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: One Last Great Dream

Country: New Jersey, US

Genre: violins-led post-metal

Label: Movement & Repose

Empress Ephemeral - Empress Ephemeral (2022)

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Messier 13 - Stay for a While (2025)

There is more than one Athens-based band in love with Slowdive's music? Yes sir! Three years after the world received the debut album from Sugar for the Pill, Messier 13 releases their own and, even if not called after the shoegaze legends' song, their vibes may be even closer to the beloved band.

Especially when you think about the band's first phases with slightly lo-fi sound and psychedelic guitars in the background, accompanying the soft and emotional vocals. But it cannot be said that the the Greeks, whose name is taken from a cluster of thousands of stars, are a cover band. The vibes are similar, but there's more to this music. There is, for example, some experimentations with heavier, louder notes in Apartment that is clearly inspired by more modern nugaze outfits.

The artists admit that their music is meant to touch the "themes of everyday life's fragility, routine, unrequited love and mourning", a perfect fit for the emotional shoegaze. It is melancholic and poignant while also being hypnotic and self-reflection-fueling. And makes me curious about the Greek shoegaze scene even more now.

Stay for a While costs 7 EUR.

Check: Apartment 

Country: Greece

Genre: melancholic shoegaze

Label: Inner Ear Records

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SPC ECO - Hello (2025)

There are a few bands who refuse to publish their work on Spotify or do so in a limited way. And while I respect this decision and back all the efforts for achieving justice in the music industry, my playlist-focused way of listening to music is hurt. One of the bands are the Bandcamp's giants from UK who released their... I can't even count that high. They released ANOTHER great album.

Their signature electronica-heavy trip-hop music with a strong ethereal atmosphere on top is back. The Rose Berlin - Dean Garcia duo (helped, as always, by Jarek Leśkiewicz from Poland) doesn't stray away from what they do best: mixing the melodies with dense electronica and so creating melancholic and psychedelic musical paintings. Those can be extremely catchy and hit-worthy (like the title track Hello) or serving as mood-producing little machines. It's no surprise that the album is dedicated to the late David Lynch. It's the mood that matters.

Hello costs 11 EUR (9 GBP).

Check: Hello

Country: UK

Genre: dreamy trip-hop

SPC ECO - Calm (2017)

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Pothamus - Abur (2025)

The sophomore album that is even better than the debut? It's how it is with the Belgian doomgazers/ sludge metal heads of Pothamus who released their new album via Pelagic making it the most interesting post-metal release of the beginning of the year. The psychedelic meeting the heaviness? Count me in!

This repetitious, tribal-like pace is certainly what strikes the most while listening to Abur. The flow of the tracks is unbelievable, you can start listening to the first track and suddenly realize that it's been almost an hour and you sit mesmerized by the guitar psychedelia. And this doesn't mean that the album is monotonous, quite the opposite, there is space for dance-inducing, high voltage parts and for meditative, musical mantras at the same album.

An important part of the band's philosophy is the way it looks to the Eastern cultures, which can be spotted even by complete laymen in the title of the first track (and I assume the following ones as well). The spiritual component of the Belgians' music is so important for them that the band describes themselves using the phrase "mixing music and metaphysics" as the starting point. In other place, they say about this album that "[the songs] are vessels of meaning and ideas, meant to be carried, reshaped, sung back into the air". For me, the mesmerizing, tribal-like rhythm certainly invites some self-reflecting states.

Abur costs 7.99 EUR.

Check: Zhikarta

Country: Belgium

Genre: spiritual doomgaze

Label: Pelagic Records

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Tremours - Fragments (2025)

SS

Back in 2022 I posted about a single from a new dreamy band from California (yes, another one) and now I'm happy to say that the band developed into a full-fledged ethereal power, one ready to show their debut album to the world. And you have to know that the Lauren Andino and Glenn Fryatt duo's music is out of the top league.

Andino's vocals are the base of the project's warm and airy vibes. The rather slow and very much cosy melodies fit flow from the very first track like a stream of consciousness. This also reflects what the vocalist says about their work: "Most of our songs center around loneliness. Not necessarily sadness, but the comfort that you can find in being lonely". Being alone in the cosy way. The vocals are supported by the music in which the bass lines are what stands out the most, making me use the ethereal wave tag to describe the band. I like those moments when the music grows out of the background and shines the most as in tad noisier Dark Glasses but my favourite song as to be the melodic, West Coast nostalgia in Devil Town.

The duo is becoming a big deal which you can sense from the fact that the album attracted artists such as Peter Holmström (The Dandy Warhols) and Mark van Hoen (The Locust) as well as Simon Scott of Slowdive who mastered the whole endeavour. 

Fragments costs 9.99 USD.

Check: Devil Town

Country: California, US

Genre: ethereal wave

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Wilson Trouvé - One Life (2025)

The Belgium-based artist, Wilson Trouvé, released an album filled with beautiful soundscapes of intimate and dramatic music, that has all the features of a movie score, the positive and negative ones.

he artist created the album as a "hypothetical film score or documentary on human life and existence" and the structure made of short tracks is meant to reflect the structure of human lives that are, in reality, made of short moments. Those moments are constructed with the help of a range of live instruments, making the whole album feel very close to the audience and especially immersive. I love the music and while I appreciate the idea behind it, I'm not a fan of movie scores, precisely because of what is captured here: the tracks are, basically, too short. I'd love to hear the director's cut of this album!

One Life costs 8.5 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: Day 1

Country: Belgium

Genre: neoclassical soundscape

Label: Bigo and Twigetti

Wilson Trouvé & Wil Bolton - Escape (2021)

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Am Fost La Munte Și Mi-a Plăcut - I Went to the Mountain (2025)

The Romanian post-rockers are one of my favorite bands making the melodic, guitar-heavy kind of the genre (can you tell by the number of times they already appeared on this blog?). And now as the blog is back and the band is back with a new album, we both meet so I can enjoy the well-crafted essence of the post-rock fun.

The band's fifth album shows their evolution towards more progressive sounds with the strong "inclination towards a barefaced, riff-led take on the music [the band] love". The artists also point at some post-metal and stoner elements in their compositions, but I'd say they are not that noticeable to me. I still feel like the focus on the melodies and the love for what the guitars can do is predominant in their music (even if it's slightly heavier). Good, that's what I like about them. 

There is one change I noticed and I don't like. The titles of the tracks (and the album as well, translating part of their head-scratching band name) are now in English. I'm not sure about that. I like the mystery the Romanian ones delivered each time I listened to their albums, but I guess the artists wanted to be more approachable for the "normal" listeners. Nevertheless, a solid album filled with well-balanced tracks.

I Went to the Mountain costs 10 USD.

Check: We Hold Each Other at Current 

Country: Romania

Genre: guitar post-rock

Label: dunk!records

Am Fost La Munte Și Mi-a Plăcut - La Vale (2022)

Am Fost La Munte Și Mi-a Plăcut - La Deal (2019)

Am Fost La Munte Și Mi-a Plăcut - S​-​a Rezolvat. Nu Se Poate.(2017)

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Solkyri - Cranebrook (2025)

The Australian post-rock icons decided to change what we know them of and instead of the melodic guitar-based music, on their new album they put the weight on the minimal but meaningful atmosphere, making Cranebrook sounding more like an instrumental ambient release.

Let's quote the band themselves: "we made something different. It’s slow, at times it’s really slow, but it allows a moment of reflection, a chance to stand still and importantly, rest". And so the tracks are quiet, acoustic, making me think of a slow Sunday somewhere in the country side drowning in sunlight. The acoustic guitar, piano keys and violins make the sound carefree and filled with light which interestingly contrasts the cover art which looks like the band wanted to show how they destroyed the concept of the previous album, Mount Pleasant. Instead of the violent destruction, however, the change seems to be smoother. I'd think of it as a house slowly devoured by the lush green than crumbled from some disastrous blows.

Anyway, the change is clear. "This is a brave leap, but it is one that we are proud to take" add the band members and I'm curious to see if that's the direction they will go in the future as well. I'd be very happy if the answer is yes.

Cranebrook costs 6 EUR (10 AUD).

Check: I Guess I'll Be Leaving Now

Country: Australia

Genre: instrumental ambient

Solkyri - Mount Pleasant (2020)

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The Heart of the Sun - Blue Album (2025)

Filiph Antonsson comes from Sweden and creates an involving psychedelic pop that includes some great traits of the genre: catchy melodies, mesmerizing atmosphere and interesting lyrics. After years of singles, he finally released a longer album and it's absolutely worth checking out.

Sure, the multi-layered, dense music is great, the atmosphere captures you and doesn't let you out before the album ends, the vocals are dreamy and pleasant. But what I like the most about Antonsson's debut are the story-driven and very lyrical texts. Especially in Probably Not that gives me strong Grandaddy vibes which is a great compliment in my books. I feel like the two artists have a similar approach to music: the lyrical layer is the most important, but it has to be not too abstract and must be accompanied by at least equally intriguing music. It works so well in this single track.

But the further the album goes, the more psychedelic it gets. The space-like So Many Secrets to Reveal certainly doesn't sound like it will reveal any of said secrets. The psychedelia element is what drove me to the album, but the lyrical sensibility is what made me stay.

Blue Album costs 4.5 EUR (50 SEK).

Check: Probably Not

Country: Sweden

Genre: dreamy psychedelic pop

Label: Declared Goods

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Julien Demoulin - A Trial of Distances (2025)

There is something special in airy soundscapes that are enriched with sounds of live instruments, especially when the instruments are not that obvious. This is exactly the case with the new album from the French artist Julien Demoulin, who created a dream with a twist.

As the label states, the release provides us with "emotional themes, deep chords of eerie synths and melancholic drones" with inclusion of "lovely brass sounds of trumpet, trombone and flugelhorn, provided by Kelly O'Donohue". The trumpets are really not something I envision in the reverb-filled, ethereal form, quite frankly I seldom envision them in any form. But those soundscapes work so well, I can't deny it. So, without any denying at all, let's sink into the beautifully dense ambient sounds.

Just to mention everything, the album includes also three remixes by some well-known names in the soundscaping world, including our very own How To Disappear Completely from Poland.

A Trial of Distances costs 7 EUR.

Check: A Trial Of Distances Pt.3

Country: France

Genre: brass instruments soundscapes

Label: sound in silence

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Lara - Disambiguate (2025)

"Noisy bois from the south of the metro (Manila)" maintain my image of the South-East Asia's underground music: the lo-fi but honest noisy shoegazers rocking the scenes. Their new (and possibly debut) album comes with all of the subgenre's features and has to sound especially great live.

There's little doubt on who inspired the debutants from the Philippines: the sound of early shoegaze releases from UK is audible in every second of the album. The lo-fi vibes make the resemblance even more striking. The melodies are hidden under the guitar noise, but there are moments where they can shine as well (great Countenance) and generally, I prefer the faster, noisier parts of the album as the ballads, although they diversify the track list, feel unremarkable in my ears.

I do appreciate, however, that the band is not afraid of leaving the vocals behind in some longer parts, relying on the instruments creating a noisy but equally cozy atmosphere (so great in Sonoluminescence!). All in all, a very promising debut with a lot of different approaches to noisy music that, still, together sound very well and coherent.

Disambiguate costs 7 USD.

Check: Countenance

Country: The Philippines

Genre: garage shoegaze

Label: Calm Lake Records

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Type Foundry - Type Foundry (2025)

Luke Buneo, a solo artist from Phoenix, Arizona released his first ever EP and I have to say: I've heard worse debuts. The airy vocals (and backing vocals!) with quite rough-sounding guitars in the backgrounds create a wonderful atmosphere from the borders of one's dreams.

Those rocky music is what I hear the most on the album. The guitar backgrounds sometimes sound like slightly tamed MBV's madness (Dawgs) and sometimes like "just" a grunge/rock/indie riffs that are catchy and filled with raw energy. This makes an interesting comparison with the very dreamy vocals and slower compositions that make me think of Ruby Haunt (Working the Jaguar). In general, this short album is very well thought through and well-rounded, especially for a solo musician's debut release. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the artist cause there's never enough of interesting solo shoegaze projects.

Type Foundry costs 7 USD.

Check: Dawgs

Country: Arizona, US

Genre: solo shoegaze

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