H E X - II (2025)

Somewhere on the verge of post-rock, gothic rock and experimental music sit the five artists of the Swiss outfit H E X and they sit there and make their difficult to categorize music. Their second album leaves the audience with the feeling of participating in something unique. Dark and heavy but also unique.

Is this just post-rock with vocals? I doubt it. Is it just dark indie? Not really. The long compositions are based on the vocal parts that are not meant to be very catchy but rather atmospheric and mysterious. Remember the Icelandic band called The Autumns? It's what this music reminds me of. Very indie rocky in a way, but having also a lot of space for gloomy and heavy guitar work to introduce the audience into the hazy trance so similar to some of the more atmospheric-playing post-rock bands.

Accoridng to the artists, the album was created from a total chaos multiplied by changes in the band's line-up and I'd say you can notice that. The compositions somewhat lack order and seem to simply be the manifestation of the band's energy. This, together with the coherent, very dark texture of their sound makes a curious mixture that is first of all aimed at creating the atmosphere, but also, another quote from the artists, at making "an attempt to map our flaws and turn them into strengths, to make our misalignment with the world into a language of its own". Does it work? Of course it does.

II costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Liminal

Country: Switzerland

Genre: dark rock

Label: Humus Records

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Meena - Different Now (2025)

A blend of genres that gives birth to a concoction that is as airy as it is catchy? Count me in! The Manchester-based Meena has released three EP before their long-play debut, but this is the day now! Or it was in August. Nevertheless, Different Now is hell of an album.

"An incomparably intricate wonderfully listenable burst of mayhem, beautiful delicate sounds woven in a cathartic wave" says the band when asked what they play. I say that the intimate layer of oneiric music, mostly due to the extremely ear-pleasing vocals, is definitely there, mayhem I don't hear. But it doesn't matter as the vocals are accompanied by an artistic blend of electronic music, rock music, trip-hop music, post-punk music. You know how sometimes you see something you know was made out of different elements, but you don't see it at first glance? I have this with this album. 

The electronic sounds in the backgrounds sometimes create melodies but sometimes give out some of the post-punk's roughness (like in Money), which sometimes feel restricted in the trip-hop-like beats. I like artful complications and this is exactly what I get here.

Different Now costs 12 EUR (9.99 GBP).

Check: Creation

Country: UK

Genre: airy electronic wave

Meena - Newspapers (2023)

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Ola Budzyńska - Lanquidities (2025)

In the era of fantastic neoclassical but also experimenting Polish artists like Hania Rani and Resina, there are still somewhat lesser known artists that need to be discovered. Ola Budzyńska is hardly one of those since she is known as a member of a chamber pop duo Ljos, but Lanquidities makes for her debut solo release and it's absolutely charming.

Budzyńska is a violist and this is the base of the new album. But there is so much more here. The subtle soundscapes hide electronic sounds and vocalizations that add some spooky and airy vibes and make everything just swarm with life. The ethereal sounds come and go throughout the whole compositions, making the audience mesmerised with ease. Everything just radiates this atmosphere that is beautiful even if dark, inviting even if mysterious, especially when for one song Budzyńska is joined by Tomasz Mreńca, creating one of my favourite cooperations in Polish music this year.

Lanquidities costs 12 EUR.

Check: 22:22

Country: Poland

Genre: viola-led soundscape

Label: Left Eye Blind Records

Ljos - A Foreword (2020)

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The Ferrules - Pusty dom (2025)

There is not enough shoegaze (-ish) bands and projects in Poland and I'm the first to say that. So when there is an interesting debut in this field, I'm gonna acknowledge that. And the first sounds of Pusty dom with their juicy, heavy and atmospheric guitar certainly fit this approach, especially that the whole album from the Gdańsk and around-based The Ferrules is really good.

I'm kinda shock what's the range of these guys. Sometimes they sound like a post-punk-influenced indie rock (Dni sounds exactly like something Zwidy would make and in some other places, mostly due to the vocalist's characteristic voice, they remind me of the long-forgotten Pustki), sometimes it's as close to shoegaze as you can get while still playing some more approachable music (as in Afloat, a track that just keeps on giving with the most beautiful, hazey atmosphere).

And regardless, my top song here is neither: Zimne ognie makes me think about my favourite Polish song of the year, Dogs by Flower and Pines (although more in the unnerving, society-questioning atmosphere than the actual music). There is so much to uncover on this album and even though sometimes I find that the songs are too different from each other, I appreciate the quality the band put into the whole thing,

Pusty dom costs 8 EUR (35 PLN).

Check: Zimne ognie

Country: Poland

Genre: shoegazey indie rock

Label: Wytwórnia Tematy

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The Deadly Affair - Visions Through the Sense of Silence (2025)

I can't believe that this is only debut from the Chilean band The Deadly Affairs! When I came across it, I was sure it's created by an experienced group and probably a bit too well-known for this blog. This is not the case, even though Visions Through the Sense of Silence makes certainly a well-made and very airy darkwave release.

The image and the vocals scream darkwave here, but the atmosphere of the music around it is far from this genre, way closer to slowcore, dream pop genres. Which, together with the backing vocals make my genre-centered mind go through some unbelievable options including ambient cold wave or ethereal post-punk. I love it. And it's ot only that, the band can create this overwhelming yet calm atmosphere that drags the audience to the ground but also feels very intimate. Like a heavy blanket made of cold wave music. And it's still not everything because they are as swift with ambiance creation as with writing catchy melodies which may sound strange, but Take My Blood is certainly a banger you hum together with the artists.

This "stark and hypnotic descent into brooding atmospheres and unrelenting tension", as it's advertised by the label, makes one of the most promising debuts of the year, regardless of the genre.

Visions Through the Sense of Silence costs 7 USD.

Check: Take My Blood

Country: Chile

Genre: ethereal darkwave

Label: Anything That Makes Light

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All Is Violent - Monolith of Becoming (2025)

Talking about the most obvious inspirations used in band's names, the Australian post-rockers of All Is Violent are certainly up there, among the top (maybe after Sugar for the Pill). But interestingly enough, the omitted part of the phrase, "...All Is Bright" is omitted on purpose as their instrumental music is all but bright.

Ad if you know me already, I don't look for the bright in post-rock. So this year I didn't care about you, infinite, but I do care about this unassuming EP from the other end of the world. As expected, nothing here is bright, but everything is violent. The pace and the hit produced by the guitar compositions take the audience away like rapids on a mountain stream from the very first notes. The sounds feel dark and not very approachable, ready to hurt you more than heel you. But sometimes you need this as well. There is a brief moment of peace in Where Knowing Else, but it's short and you know that it will be proceeded by another storm of sounds.

Unfortunately, it's so fast and so short that it's gone way too early. But if you write a thing like this, it's generally a good thing I think?

Monolith of Becoming costs 6 EUR (10 AUD).

Check: Where Knowing Else

Country: Australia

Genre: rapid post-rock

ALL IS VIOLENT - Cartographers Of Human Purpose (2019)

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Julia Gjertsen & Gustav Davidsson - Wandering Mind, Drifting Weather (2025)

When two Scandinavian neoclassical artists come together to create a beautiful soundscape, it almost never disappoints. This time the Norwegian pianist and the Swedish trombonist charm not only with the sheer quality of the music but also with the a new and exciting (at least to me) match of instruments.

I'm not a fan of trumpet and similar instruments in music. I can't describe exactly what I dislike in those, but with some exception I tend to avoid trumpet-led compositions. And yet this album sounds so perfect! Especially that Gustav Davidsson manages to create melancholic sounds on the trombone without sounding too on the nose or even cringey. That's why it works so well with the subtle piano melodies that play the role of lively yet atmospheric backgrounds. 

As it is the case with many Scandinavia artists, Gjertsen and Davidsson are inspired by the weather in their countries that can be especially picturesque. Judging by the track titles, those days were very much Scandinavian-like: melancholia-inspiring and slow. If that was the case, the album makes a perfect soundtrack for them.

Wandering Mind, Drifting Weather costs 6 EUR (5 GBP).

Check: Black Cloud

Country: Norway/Sweden

Genre: trumpet-led neoclassical

Label: whitelabrecs

Julia Gjertsen & Juha Mäki-Patola - Dive (2023)

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