Hiding Place - Bouvetøya & Yellowstone (2022)

Given what I know about geography, there's only the slightest chance that Hiding Place is a project coming from Svalbard or Jan Mayen islands, as it is suggested on their Bandcamp page. However, this, and all other references to the geographical North, already say a lot about the music created by the artist. There seem to be a short EP released every month so far this year, but I decided to look closer at the two last ones: they seem to be matching in more than one way.

Bouvetøya and Yellowstone are filled with drone soundscapes, the kind that at first glance seem static but when investigated closer, reveal tons of lively sounds dancing around the melancholic layers. It's the sound that makes it very easy to get lost within while admiring its beauty - especially when the organ-like keyboard sounds kick in. The nostalgic Arctic atmosphere, reminding me of Terror the TV series, is only enriched by the visuals and the tracks' titles that together create some kind of sad exploration story.

Both EPs cost whatever you want to pay.

Check: カルデラ 

Country: ?

Genre: drone soundscape

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Noise Above the Ocean - Lame 13 (2022)

Led by Aurélien Luc Lebot, the French music collective appeared on my blog with their debut album Dow to You! Earth already four years ago (!) and I must say, there's something in their music that makes me keep going back. Especially the this year is the time the band showed us the followup called Lame 13.

There's something from The Boxer Rebellion in the Frenchmen's music - it's not only the vocals with similar falsetto flavour to the ones from Nathan Nicholson. It's also the overall style - they play indie rock but not really: there's tones of post-rock influences, experiments in form, noise passages. Goes On is a fine example here: it's opened by a heavy post-rock riff that suddenly slows down and the whole thing transforms into a moody ballad, almost Immanu El-style, only to give place to a fast, indie rock Savior soon enough. This genre flexibility is so impressive, especially that the whole, long album still stays within the darker and moodier vibes realm and I love it.

This is the kind of music that successfully bridges the mainstream sound and alternative incline towards darkness. I wish they got bigger as their music could appeal to big crowds really.

Lame 13 costs 9 EUR.

Noise Above the Ocean - Down to You ! Earth (2018)

Check: Half to Be There

Country: France

Genre: post-indie rock

Label: Atypeek Music

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ROOK - Infinite Empty (2022)

Just before this year's edition of dunk!festival, dunk! label is showing us a new, pretty impressive work of one of its artists: the Belgians of ROOK. It's the band's second full-length album and most certainly best one yet with its gloomy and heavy atmosphere spreading all around the listener.

The Belgians' music is centred around Billie's spoken word and more traditional vocals with a hint of folk flavour to them; vocals that sound unfazed by the dark madness that goes on around her all the time. The guitar noise the band prefers to put in the backgrounds ranges from dark ambient's pure despair to noise-filled jazzy passages up to the louder, post-rock-like pieces. This one-of-a-kind atmosphere boils throughout the album, reaching the peaks in the post-metal fragments of The Shoulder and surprisingly electronica-heavy, horror disco in Ruis. This track transforms into the most mesmerizing fragments that bring together the psychedelic guitars, tribal tunes and chanting vocals and I'm here for it.

It's no wonder that the musicians aim for the genre-fluidity, as the label locates their music in the place where "genre becomes a nebulous concept, and the uncanny impressions formed by the music demonstrate a powerful synergy between the visceral and the ethereal". I bet this is the kind of music that is particularly impressive live so I'll be happy to see this spectacle on the dunk!festival next week!

Infinite Empty costs 7 EUR.

Check: Ruis

Country: Belgium

Genre: spoken word guitar noise

Label: dunk!records

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White Flowers - Are You (2022)

The British duo White Flowers made a great impact on my personal view of the dream pop/shoegaze music out there a year ago with the fantastic debut album Day by Day. There's some new material now from the duo: the short EP Are You sounds differently but it's not a bad sign at all.

Although their official band description says they are "isolated from any kind of music scene and enveloped by the cold Brutalism of Preston" (I love this sentence really), their music fits a broader environment of the dreamy but also post-punk-like cold musicians like The KVB for instance. But this can be deceiving as they managed to make themselves known for being quite genre-fluid: Day by Day was utterly ethereal but its remixes made a perfect SPC ECO-style trip-hop experience. This time, their songs seem to be lighter with more pop in their dream pop. It seems to be disposed of many layers to show more of the melodic and sweet side of their music. But the impressive atmosphere-generating skills can be heard here as well, mainly on my favourite here This Is Not with its deep and airy backgrounds.

The British will open for Beach House on the incoming Euro tour and I can't wait to check them live.

Are You costs 5 EUR (4 GBP).

White Flowers - Day by Day (2021)

Check: This Is Not

Country: UK

Genre: light dream pop

Label: Tough Love

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Lumastora - When We Are (2022)

I can safely say that Jed Flora and his Lumastora moniker is one of my favourite ambient projects. The lush and deep layers of sound bring comfort and awe and it's also the case of Flora's new album called When We Are.

His music can be uplifting but it can also as easily get very chilling, as it is the case in The Faded Husks with its slow and ominous drone soundscape. Whatever the nature of feelings it generates within the audience, it's impossible to be untouched by this album. The layers of soft electronica come together and slowly consumes you and drown in a slow but steady stream of emotion, even if it's only a half an hour-long one. 

When We Are costs 5 USD.

Lumastora - Inlet (2019)

Lumastora - Bend (2017)

Check: The Faded Husks

Country: Arizona, US

Genre: thick-layered ambient

Label: 222 Records

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Bethlehem Struluckt - Daphne (2022)

Ambient/neoclassical musician but also a photographer and artist in general (as can be witnessed on his Instagram account), Bethlehem Struluckt comes from Central Mexico and brings a good dose of music magic. His new album, Daphne, seems to be his comeback to music making after a decade-long hiatus and it's a good thing he came back too.

There's so many different vibes on this album, the artist clearly wanted to try a lot of things and combine them into one whole. And I'd say it worked: the subtle electronic sounds (Agnosthesia) go together with the beautiful piano parts and very ethereal notes in the backgrounds. The latter are so omnipresent that I could safely say it's a dream ambient music, especially where background choir-like vocals make the composition extremely cinematic too. And there are parts that remind me of my favourite soundtracks - a good example would be Volver atrás y no sentir perdón with piano keys resembling the ones in Clint Mansell's works.

Daphne costs 7 EUR (150 MXN).

Check: Volver atrás y no sentir perdón

Country: Mexico

Genre: neoclassical ambient

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U137 - Imagination (2022)

Almost a decade after the huge success that turned out to be the project's debut album Dreamer on the Run, the Swedish U137 comes back with the third album in discography. Imagination contains tons of cinematic post-rock music with a great taste for overwhelming grandeur moments.

With the help of new instruments (including church organs for instance), Oscar Gullbrandsen, who is now the sole member of the outfit, created the "biggest sounding album to date" and it's no joke. There's so much grandeur on this release that it could fill one or two more with ease. Deep Elm Records that released the album, state that it aims at "generating a feeling of pure euphoria in the listener" and this is the emotion that clearly comes first to mind while listening to this music. Also, it can't be a coincidence that the label is known for working with Christoffer Franzen (aka Lights & Motion) as the flavour of their music is similar: luminous and inspired, a bit bombastic and very much filled with hope (one of tracks is literally called Have Hope too). And also extremely cinematic: if there's music that clearly deserves to be tagged as cinematic, it's this one, no doubts.

Imagination costs 8 USD.

Check: Run Towards the Sun

Country: Sweden

Genre: cinematic post-rock

Label: Deep Elm Records

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Syberia - Statement on Death (2022)

Three years after their signature album Seeds of Change, the Spanish post-rockers of Syberia are back with a great follow up in the form of the new release called Statement on Death. The album is filled with heavy instrumental music and as such should be appreciated by the fans of the genre.

The Spanish' post-rock is clearly heavier than what usually post-rock is associated with. It borders with post-metal and sludge but also presents a very post-rock-like composition building and is strictly vocalless. The harsh and energetic guitar sounds are characterized by a great flow that catches the listener and drives them quickly very far away. Long tracks, like my favourite Ain't.Care.About.Bullets, feel short and brief, that's how much happens in them all the time. This track actually feels like it is about to get finished in an impressive crescendo style not once but multiple times, from its beginning up to the end. It's fantastic.

And it's true not only about this track in particular. The whole album is basically never-ending excitement transformed into heavy guitar music. Also, remember that the band plays a lot of places in Europe this spring and summer and they are coming to Poland's Kraków soon enough too. Can't wait!

Statement on Death costs 4.99 USD.

Syberia - Seeds of Change (2019)

Check: Ain't.Care.About.Bullets

Country: Spain

Genre: heavy post-rock

Label: Metal Blade Records

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

There's very few vocals I find as ethereal and utterly melancholic as Lucy Kruger's one. It's almost unbelievable how tear-jerking the compositions from the South African artist are, but, at the same time, it's difficult not to join her in her fascinating music. As it is the case on Kruger's fourth album released with The Lost Boys, Teen Tapes (for Performing Your Own Stunts).

On this album, there's much talking about love. But as Kruger's vocals are either melancholy- or anger-sounding, the message gets twisted around. But it also makes a lot of sense, no emotion, let alone love, is simple. There's pain, there's depression hidden within and this should be articulated too. So the artist's lyrics are very pictoresque in a gore way ("And now my scaled skin/ Is soft as milk and sure of bleeding" in Risk) and touchingly straightforward ("Will you come to me/ When the lights go out/ I’ll be the mess/ Who screams with sweat" in Hold You Back) and it all makes sense. Especially that, when you take the album's title into consideration, this all is only escalated when you are a teenager.

It's all accompanied by very grunge and very minimal rock arrangements. The slow pace is filled with guitar riffs that do not overwhelm the soft vocals but quite the opposite - make them sound even more poignant. Just like the use of noisy finishes (known from  the band's previous album) and the same can be said about the drums that in some places get pretty atmospheric and grandeur-sparking but, still, Kruger's vocals are what drives the whole album. And they can be admired live now as the band is currently touring (coming also to Kraków at the end of May).

Teen Tapes (for Performing Your Own Stunts) costs 10 EUR.

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

Medicine Boy - Take Me with You When You Disappear (2020)

Medicine Boy - Lower (2018)

Check: Iscariot

Country: South Africa/Germany

Genre: dreamy grunge

Label: Unique Records

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young prisms - Drifter (2022)

It's been already a decade since the Californian band Young Prisms released their last album. Finally, the third installment of their discography was shown to the world this year with Drifter having all of the qualities a good dream pop/shoegaze record should have.

While staying within the frames of the dreamy genres, the band decided to thematically reach the opposite of the ethereal as it "explores the tension and release that comes with bringing your head down from the clouds and making sense of the tangible entanglements that make up everyday existence". Stefanie Hodapp's beautifully airy vocals contrast the theme drastically being one of the airiest and dreamiest out there at the moment. Sounding both sweet and melancholic, they convey the message of praising the boring and the normal in your life in a surprising but effective way.

Song like Honeydew make instant shoegaze classics with the short but concise chorus and incredibly catchy melodies. But the album is fairly long and within its length can fit also moody and ballad-like parts. In those, the mellow melodies generate an incredibly ethereal soundscape on which the soft vocals paint sad and poignant stories (as is the case in Melt Away).

Drifter costs 10 USD.

Check: Honeydew 

Country: California, US

Genre: airy shoegaze

Label: Fire Talk

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Somali Yacht Club - The Space (2022)

After Sun and The Sea, there comes The Space. The third album by the Ukrainian post-metal/stoner rock big names makes an amazing and very heavy experience. It is also pretty amazing that it could get released at all.

The band's modus operandi is to explore the "boundless, wide-open, quiet/loud spaces that atmospheric post-rock and metal occupy". Their music is build on the stoner-like heavy guitar sound with its relatively slow pace and thick atmosphere. This creates a literal sea of noise with drums being the waves on the surface and the vocals the wind traveling over. There's such a clear nostalgic vibes here, the vocals sound tearful at some places, the music deep and mesmerizingly noisy. Especially when the vocals turn more towards choral chanting in Echo of Direction. Powerful stuff.

I find the album even more significant as it was released while the band's country is literally on fire and the bombs are falling down around their homes. The album is a sign that there's still place for art in hell and it is also used for good cause as the band is going "to donate all profits made in 2022 (till the end of the year) to various charities to help Ukraine and Ukrainians now". 

The Space costs 9.99 USD.

Somali Yacht Club - The Sea (2018)

Check: Silver

Country: Ukraine

Genre: stoner post-metal

Label: Season of Mist

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Ohio Mark - Whoever (2022)

Ohio Mark is a Belgian trio whose music is all about the post-rock's noise with heavily ethereal atmosphere around it. The wittily-named band have just released their second EP called Whoever and the content here is interesting to say the least.

Their music is ethereal and airy but also quite fast-paced and energetic. Think more SOM and Astronoid than Immanu El. The noisy backgrounds are extremely catchy and intriguing at the same time; the drums dictate the fast pace that is filled with thick guitar noise to the point where it fits the dispersed vocals, making it a homogeneous whole. The music is said to be "thoroughly rooted in a hazy kind of reverb, distortion with an ever present eagerness to radically shift moods". It's noise made pretty with the help of similar means as My Bloody Valentine did but in a more post-rock attire. 

Ohio Mark are playing at dunk!festival this year and I'll make sure to catch them live.

Whoever costs 5 EUR.

Check: Class of '88

Country: Belgium

Genre: shoegaze post-rock

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Toothwalker - Reboot, Reinvent (2022)

Three musicians out of Prague make up Toothwalker, a band devoted to "combining a post-rock atmosphere with heavy riffs and modern electronica". Three years after their debut EP, they showcase their music on another one called Reboot, Reinvent.

The album is said to represent "an essence of [their] emotions from the past two years including the dark pandemic times" and is inspired by the nature of Czech Republic, the calmness and sanctuary it provides for people. And so the EP starts accordingly calmly, as if aiming to inject this natural peace into the audience with the beautiful and silent guitar sounds. However, as could be expected, the calmness lasts only about half of the first song when the guitar heaviness starts to take over. It feels heavy and smooth in the pretty atmospheric way. BURST, however, adds some of the riff-based heavy metal madness to the whole thing and it is surprisingly (for me) extremely attractive. Especially that it's balanced with ethereal backgrounds. I like how much unpredictability there is in the Czechs' music and how it still retains the atmospheric-building characteristics.

Reboot, Reinvent costs 2.99 EUR.

Check: BURST

Country: Czech Republic

Genre: guitar post-rock

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