Dear Gravity & Raphah - Chronos (2026)

Another transatlantic collaborations in recent months makes it to the blog. This time it's a short EP made by Mike Graff aka Dear Gravity from the States and the artist known as Raphah from UK. It is short, but it's also so beautiful like a drop of dew in the morning sunshine.

As is clearly stated in the EP's title, the main theme of music here is the concept of time. The slow, introspective compositions feel like they are meant to make you experience the time flowing around you, from nothingness to nothingness. But while this concept is dreadful (to me and I'm sure to most people), the artists turn it into a thing of beauty. Thick layers of ambient with occasional droplets of piano sounds always get me. The album's slow pace and beautiful combination of neoclassical and ambient sound is a perfect way to end a day.

Chronos costs 5 USD.

Check: Chronos

Country: Minnesota, US/UK

Genre: neoclassical ambient

Label: Echoes Blue Music

Dear Gravity & We Dream of Eden - Holocene (2022)

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BAZGROŁKI - Przełamując fale (2026)

The Tricity music scene is said to be one of the most important ones in Poland, but living on the other side of the country makes it very distant for me, even in the age of social media. I was lucky enough to get to the new album release show where BAZGROŁKI showed to the world how dramatic the change in their music had been recently and how well they can now enchant the audience with the dreamy and mesmerizing music.

Because Przełamując fale is not a debut album, but more of a reborn: the days of the funny indie pop rock are gone and the artists embrace the more mature and way darker music now. The album's title is the Polish translation of von Trier's classic movie Breaking the Waves, but it's also a reference to the sea-oriented nature of their home city of Gdańsk and finally, a sign of a breakthrough in the band's story. The artists claim that it is a "sonic drift between the sea and the subconscious", making comparisons between sea waves and sonic waves and I find it apt and beautiful. And just like the sea, the sound here is massive.

If I HAD TO choose, the balance between the airy shoegaze atmosphere and the heavy guitar psychedelia is slightly shifted in favor of the latter (and it was even more pronounced during the live performance). The desert-like psychedelic walls of sound go on for ages and then you realize the song is already gone and you've been staring into space the whole time it was on. Sometimes those are more like the calm sea, without any recognizable feature, just a constant stream of noise (Bezmiar!), sometimes there are notes that rip through to make you pay attention (in Meduzy!) and then they disappear into the depths of sonic waves once again. The tide has turned for BAZGROŁKI.

Przełamując fale costs 5 EUR (22.5 PLN).

Check: Podwodny świat

Country: Poland

Genre: dreamy psychedelic rock

Label: S7Records

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BRUECKEN - years that answer (2026)

One of the most interesting new instances of the classic, guitar-oriented post-rock music comes from Germany. At the end of February, the Oldenburg-based BRUECKEN released their third album and it's some bloody good guitar music.

The album is filled with guitar compositions that are more melodic than atmospheric and can appeal to the fans of the good, ole' post-rock. But they also include a range of other sonic decoration, like the ethereal elements in Periapsis or soft vocals in Signs of Spring that can satisfy all fans. I really like that the massive compositions, first of all Dissolving, where you can feel the weight of the guitar sound while still enjoy the ever-changing melodies share the album space with some airy beauties that function basically as ways of appreciation of each sound and every note created. 

The name of the band is no coincidence. Just like bridges do (bruecken means bridges in German), the band is all about uniting. Let me quote the artists: "We believe in the power of 1music, friendship, empathy and solidarity and stand firmly against all forms of discrimination". I'm cosigning this message with both of my hands. And hey, we have our man in the line up as David Barteczko plays guitar since the establishment of the band!

years that answer costs 9 EUR.

Check: Dissolving

Country: Germany

Genre: classic post-rock

Label: Moment of Collapse Records

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Chalk - Crystalpunk (2026)

The Ulster band became a sensation with only three EPs ever released, but this is history now as the Ross Cullen - Benedict Goddard duo are finally releasing their debut album and it's as good as could be expected. The powerful music that blends post-punk, industrial and several other exciting genres leaves mark after the very first listening session. Welcome to Crystalpunk.

The music here marries various kinds of electronic and guitar music: the dark and the darker. The industrial vibes are all over the place, the electronic parts are designed to overwhelm you while make you dance like a psycho at the same time. It's the kind of a sound you feel with every inch of your body. The high-pulse compositions are the core of this release: high pace and angry, chaotic post-punk vocals do their job so well! And I can't even say which songs are best here, all I know is that the artists are really good at picking the single tracks.

But there is more to the album than only the adrenaline-fueled hits. The uncomfortable lyrics sound best when screamed out, no wonder that the word "pain" appears everywhere at the release, mostly referring to the emotional struggles the artists lived through. As the description of the album goes, it was inspired by "the beauty, confusion, complexity, and intensity of [the artists'] youth – lived under the shadow and around the scars of conflict. In many ways it reminds me of Glasvegas' lyrics even if musically the two couldn't be much different. The duo is planned to come to OFF festival being one of the major reasons for me to go there too this year.

Crystalpunk costs 9 USD.

Check: Can't Feel It

Country: Northern Ireland, UK

Genre: industrial dance punk

Label: ALTER Music

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Jelena Ćirić, Snorri Hallgrímsson, Cécile Lacharme, Oliver Patrice Weder - Tramuntana Tapes II (2026)

The four artists started collaborating as a group in 2023 "at an old shoe factory in Mallorca". Since then, they released an album in 2025 that is now being followed up by a second release. The improvised neoclassical music they create together has the charm and the beautiful energy that inspires the audience with so much ease.

The two releases are characterized by delicate neoclassical soundscapes joined by magical vocals that only boost the soothing and slightly mysterious atmosphere. This all is a result of creating music freely, without a plan or expectations, just fueled by the energy of the group of artists being present in one place in one moment and filled with the need to create something together. Jelena Ćirić sings, Snorri Hallgrímsson and Oliver Patrice Weder play piano and Cécile Lacharme accompanies all of them on viola. I love this multi-instrumental neoclassical team joining forces like some sort of Avengers to save the souls of us, mortal music enjoyers.

Tramuntana Tapes II costs 4 EUR (6 CAD).

Check: Wave

Country: Serbia, Iceland, France, Switzerland

Genre: neoclassical

Label: Moderna Records

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LOLOET - Circle of Echoes (2026)

When I listened to this album, I didn't know the story around it. But apparently LOLOET is a project centred around Ayaka Wada, a j-pop singer and an idol known from girlsband Angerme, who decided to create... ambient pop? How cool is that?!  What's more important, the effects are fascinating: the slowcore, jazzy and experimental pop feels both artsy and fun to listen to. This February, the band released their debut album and it's definitely worth checking out.

Wada says she wanted to make music "that resembles the paintings of Mark Rothko" (yes, those bright and colourful minimalist and abstract pieces) and I... don't see it. I mean the abstraction is certainly there, but this music is far from minimalism. But it's very, very possible I don't focus on the right thing, I have no idea about paintings. My point is that music here is very, very rich. Yes, it may start as ambient background, but it quickly evolves into jazzy and neoclassical structures that ripple around and change shapes all the time while Wada's soft and airy vocals charm their way into the listeners' hearts.

It's such a fascinating journey this album: you can't guess what's going to happen next. Some compositions are vocalless and they are magical too (I'm looking at you, les yeux) and some become a poetry reading that touches upon important, sociopolitical themes. The thing that makes this music special is also the use of trumpet sounds: Chan keng's doing what he can to add this trumpet charisma to the compositions without overwhelming the listener, which I really appreciate.

Circle of Echoes costs 15 EUR ( ¥2,800).

Check: Le matin

Country: Japan

Genre: slowcore/ambient pop

Label: Kankyo-ON

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Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Pale Bloom (2026)

It's been already almost 10 years since Lucy Kruger started releasing albums with her band as Lucy Kruger & the Lost Boys and she proves that she has innumerable layers of artisticness and pure talent within herself. The albums are released so frequently one can lose track of Kruger's discography, but that's ok. I can assure you, they are only getting better and better.

The characteristic minimalism the artist nurtures evolves with every release, at least that's how I see it: it's not as rough and lone electric guitar-heavy, less of the dark blues vibe and more towards softer, dreamier art pop music. In some places even bordering with ambient pop's soundscape-y unintelligibleness of the backgrounds. It may be softer but it's certainly not much lighter: the darker shade of dreamy is the signature skill of Kruger's music and, first of all, lyrics which play the lead role in every song on this and any other release. And those can be extremely poignant and uneasy. 

But the thing I love about this music is how effortlessly it combines the ethereally catchy parts with artsy, slightly less approachable in form, very often within one composition too. That's why Ambient Heat is definitely my favourite here: the short lyrical phrases that create a mosaic of fear and existential uncertainty contrast the beautifully executed chorus that contrasts the ambient pop formless parts. I could hardly not love this one.

Pale Bloom costs 9 EUR.

Check: Ambient Heat

Country: RSA/Germany

Genre: dreamy art rock

Label: Unique Records/Schubert Music

Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Teen Tapes (for Performing Your Own Stunts) 2022

Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys - Transit Tapes (For Women Who Move Furniture Around) (2021)

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