Tag: Single Review

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: MADELEINE Shares Atmospheric “Give Back To Her”

MADELEINE is an emerging and rising talent in the UK nu-jazz and soul scene. Citing Flying Lotus, James Blake, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Ego Ella May and Sampha as influences on her sound and work, her early output has seen praise from The Line of Best Fit and Jazz re:freshed as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, and Jazz FM. She also played last year’s SXSW.

Building upon a growing profile in the UK, the rising British artist will be releasing the Earth Cry EP through Bridge The Gap on June 16, 2026. The self-produced, self-arranged and self-written effort features some additional production and mixing from Lewis Moody and Will Heaton. The EP reportedly sees MADELEINE taking on a much more futuristic turn, with the material featuring glistening synth textures complimenting her ethereal yet soulful delivery. The restful is an effort that explores future soul while balancing organic textures with an intergalactic interpretation of the sound of London’s cityscape.

Earth Cry EP thematically picks up from where 2023’s full-length Sun Daughter left off, acting as a cry for consciousness and care in relation to both the planet and to our fellow human beings. “I find the parallel between my own personal life, and the relevance of the world around me (nature, politics, the natural world, the dream world), extremely important,” MADELEINE explains. “Sometimes the two are so interlinked within my lyrics – they can almost blur into one. With this project I feel more confident in my directness with some of my themes. After the absolute horrors of the last couple years, it feels important to be talking about something that really matters.”

The forthcoming EP’s latest single “Give Back to Her” is a shimmering and atmospheric take on neo-soul that showcases MADELEINE’s effortlessly soulful delivery and knack for tight, catchy hooks. The result is a song that feels simultaneously improvised, sculptured and crafted. Fittingly, “Give Back to Her” was workshopped and crafted through a mix of her home studio and developing ideas on the road while touring as a keyboardist for Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith and Rachel Chinouriri.

Thematically, the song, as the rising British artist explains is about restoring balance, that people should return what is given, all while asking if we can learn to nurture the planet. “Mental health, for me, is strongly entwined with nature, and this idea of things being taken from us found itself manifesting in the verses from a more personal perspective,” MADELEINE says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Minneapolis’ Solid Gold Shares Shimmering, Politically Charged “Government Grade”

Minneapolis-based electro rock trio Solid Gold — Zachary Coulter, Adam Hurlbut and Matthew Locher — have released two critically applauded albums to date, 2008’s Ryan Olcott-produced Bodies of Water and 2012’s BJ Burton-produced Eat Your Young, as well as a handful of singles. The trio have supported all of their recorded output with a busy international touring schedule.

The trio are currently working on their long-awaited third album. Recorded at Cannon Falls, MN-based Pachyderm Studios, their new album reportedly showcases a dramatic shift in sound and approach: According to the band, the new songs are “maximalist psychedelic dreamscapes filled with shimmering synthesizers and pop vocal hooks.” They add that the album’s “sound is a reflection of the modern world, beautiful, but with an underlying essence of tragedy.”

Solid Gold’s latest single “Government Grade” is a a remarkably crafted and meditative song anchored around a shimmering psych pop arrangement, some incredibly catchy, well-placed hooks and a gorgeous melody. The song as the band explains is a direct response to the ongoing, violent occupation of Minnesota by ICE. And as a result, the song is a forcefully urgent documentation of our moment — one of many, of course — that also feels timeless and absolutely fucking necessary.

The band will be donating all proceeds from the sale of the song on Bandcamp to Minnesota Mutual Aid groups to support the good, resilient. diverse and deeply proud folks of the Twin Cities.

The Bandcamp link to purchase is here: https://solidgold.bandcamp.com/track/government-grade

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Saltmother Shares Dreamy, Hopeful “Masske”

Amanda Appel is a Danish singer/songwriter, best known for being a member of the Danish Music Award-nominated vocal outfit ilinx. Since their formation back in 2020, iinx has been at the forefront of the Danish experimental scene, playing sets at Roskilde Festival, midsummer bonfire ceremonies, fashion shows during Copenhagen Fashion Week and niche classical music festivals across the country.

Appel is also the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Saltmother. Appel’s Saltmother debut, 2022’s Heavy in Baby Blue EP was an adventurous batch of electronic music with songs that thematically touched on being young and in love, living in rental apartments and taking hormonal contraception.

The Danish artist’s forthcoming Saltmother debut album reportedly marks a shift towards a much darker, more organic sound, anchored around intimacy and filled with captivating and deeply human imperfections.

The album’s first single “Maaske” is a weird yet gorgeous song that features a seamless blend of doom metal, stoner rock, folk and choral music, complete with some stunning harmonies. The song is anchored around a universal sentiment: that the darkness of our moment — or of any moment, really — isn’t forever; that we can overcome darkness by the comfort of being and singing together; and that brighter days are just ahead.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Indy Fontaine Teams Up With Charlie Cruz on Swooning “Tú Tienes Algo”

Indy Fontaine is a Cuban-born, Miami-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who can trace the origins of her career to her early childhood: Singing alongside her uncle and his old guitar, she fell in love with music when she was three. By the time she turned six, she was enrolled full-time at a music school in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, where she trained to be professional vocalist and musician. 

Fontaine went on to graduate at the top of her class from Havana‘s prestigious National School of Art. When she graduated, she already had over a decade of experience playing gigs all across her native Cuba, including music festivals, live radio and TV sessions, and more.

Fontaine then joined Sol y Sun, an act that has played sets across the international music festival circuit between the States and Cuba, as well as some of the most popular venues in Havana. The band was also frequently performed on national TV and radio shows.

The Cuban-born artist relocated to Miami, where she stepped out into the spotlight as solo artist. Her debut, 2024’s Moments of My Life ranged across a number of genres and styles, including Adult Contemporary, Easy Listening, Soft Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock and R&B — with songs written and sung in both English and Spanish.

The album featured “El Amor No Alcanza,” Fontaine’s subtly modern take on bolero, a Cuban genre that frequently focuses on affairs of the heart. Since then, Fontaine spent last year releasing a collection of highly successful singles including “Esta Navidad,” “Vacaciones,” “Mariposas En La Lluvia,” “Mejor Sin Ti,” “Que Te Vaya Bien,” and “Después De La Caída.”

Her latest single, the Andrés Castro and Guianko Gómez co-written and co-produced “Tú Tienes Algo,” sees her collaborating with salsa star Charlie Cruz. The new single is a swooning and euphoric declaration of passionate and complete surrender to love — even if it strikes you as being wildly inexplicable.

The song invites lovers to surrender with the same intensity they bring to the dance floor, to declare their love not just with words, but also with movement.

“‘Tú Tienes Algo’ is about that irresistible, mysterious attraction—and I say mysterious because you can’t explain what that other person has, but you know that when you’re with them, they shake your world,” Fontaine explains. “In the song, this person is asking the other to let themselves be loved because there’s resistance to fully surrendering, perhaps out of fear—that’s why they’re asking to surrender completely to love,” she says.

“This collaboration with Charlie is a dream come true,” said Fontaine. “It was a tremendous honor to share the studio and create music with an artist I deeply admire. To me, Charlie is a salsa icon who has kept the tradition alive in such an authentic way,” she adds.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yves von Wartburg Shares Swaggering “Feel My Bass”

Yves von Wartburg is Swiss producer and DJ, who spent the early part of his career contributing to multiple gold- and platinum-certified productions, which have achieved international chart success. That experience continues to shape his own approach to electronic music production.

Recording and performing under his own name, von Wartburg specializes on high-impact techno for club and festival settings. His first release on ISMUS, an imprint of Brussels-based label KNTXT, “Feel My Bass” is a swaggering, high-energy club and festival banger, featuring twitter and woofer rattling thump, glistening synth arpeggios, an in-your-face hip-hop-styled vocal sample and big hooks.

Perfect for clubs in Berlin and Ibiza, as well as festival stages, “Feel My Bass” reminds me of JOVM mainstays Boys Noize and LutchamaK, while showcasing a producer with a big, crowd-pleasing sound.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Cardiff’s FORT Shares Expansive and Stormy “From Sullen Earth”

Over the course of their nine year history, Cardiff-based post rock quartet FORT — Ben Hooper, Matthew Moore, Gavin O’Driscoll and Craig Prosser — have developed an instrumental post rock sound inspired by Caspian, And So I Will Watch You From Afar, Mogwai, 65daysofstatic, sleepmakeswaves, This Will Destroy You and Russian Circles.

The band employs driving bass lines and soaring guitars to convey emotion, while taking the listener on a journey.

The Welsh quartet’s recently released full-length debut, A Token of Our Depreciation is also sadly, their last. The band’s members decided it was time for the band to call it a day and to move on from it separately. But as they explain, “we poured everything into this release and truly proud of what we have created.”

A Token of Our Depreciation single “From Sullen Earth” is an atmospheric and expansive song featuring a swirling shoegazer guitar-driven melody, thunderous . .. And Justice For All and Black Album-like drumming and some big, heavy metal-like riffage. Sonically bearing a resemblance to Mogwai and Collapse Under The Empire among others, “From Sullen Earth” is a bruising yet cinematic composition that conveys a deep sensitivity and beauty, much like watching a storm brewing on the horizon.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Crá Croí Shares Breakneck “Lost In The Electric Blood”

Deriving their name from the Gaelic phrase for “heartache,” or “vexation of spirit,” County Cork-based duo Crá Croí — RG (songwriting, production, mixing and mastering) and CD (vocals and visuals) — have employed a fiercely DIY ethos while establishing a sound that meshes elements of 1980s New Wave, post-punk and goth, featuring melancholic synths, dark melodies, angular guitars and sharp, hook-driven vocals. 

The Irish duo’s work explores themes of nihilism, love and destruction, dystopian collapsed and nuclear annihilation, often wrapped in irony and paired with post-apocalyptic metaphors. 

The Cork-based duo’s self-produced, 12-song, full-length debut, Tá brón orm is slated for an October 30, 2026. Deriving its title from the Irish phrase for “sadness” or “sorrow is on me,” the duo’s debut will feature the previously released “Radiation Romance,” “Fires At Dawn,” and “Feeding The Fear,” as well as the album’s latest single, “Lost In The Electric Blood.”

“Lost In The Electric Blood” continues run of post-punk that seemingly draws from Interpol and post-punk atmospherics. Arguably one of the album’s most breakneck songs to date, the new single evokes a restless, uneasy energy.

Thematically, “Lost In The Electric Blood” explores identity and defiance in an overstimulated and fractured, dystopian world that feels much like our own. Capturing a sense of tension between chaos and calm awakening, the song at its core, is a defiant refusal to surrender to numbness. It’s a a bold declaration that even in a world that’s gone mad, there’s something still worth giving a shit about, and something worth fighting for.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: Gnaw Shares Bruising and Anthemic “Star”

Emerging Singaporean indie rock outfit Gnaw have quickly developed a sound that meshes elements of 90s alt rock, shoegaze and power pop mangled through digital processing and noise paired with lyrics that touch upon lingering memory and motion.

The Singaporean outfit’s debut single “Gnaw” is a bruising, hook-driven song that brings back memories of 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock, complete with the classic grunge song structure — alternating quiet verses and loud choruses — but with an incredibly modern sensibility.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Alex Amen Shares Breezy “Cabin by the Sea”

Alex Amen is a rising, 26 year-old Texas-born, Los Angeles-based indie folk/country singer/songwriter. When he was 18, Amen relocated from Texas to California to study filmmaking. After one semester, he dropped out and moved onto the Dittman Family Commune, a commune with historic ties to the countercultural movements of the mid 1960s. While on the commute, he formed his first band in 2017. The band broke up shortly after, resulting in his relocating from Southern California to an island in Washington State’s Puget Sound.

Over the course of the next three years, Amen spent in relative isolation, taking up interests in mycology, mountaineering, poetry and wooden boat building. But as the years began to pass, he felt an increasing need to return to California to pursue music.

In January 2023, the Texan-born artist began self-production his debut EP, last year’s The Zorthian Tapes in a self-built studio at Altadena, CA’s historic Zorthian Ranch. He now resides in Los Angeles, releasing music among the city’s growing folk/Americana/country scene and playing shows across North America and elsewhere.

Just in the past year, he has toured with Folk Bitch Trio, a tour that included a stop at Baby’s All Right. He has also made the rounds of the international festival circuit, playing Pitchfork Festival London and Pitchfork Festival Paris, Newport Folk Festival, Iceland Airwaves, Austin City Limits and Outside Lands. And he participated in the Americana Music Association‘s annual Grammy Eve concert at the Troubadour to honor the legendary Neil Young.

The rising young singer/songwriter recently signed to ATO Records, who will be releasing his highly-anticipated debut album late this spring. He also announced that he signed to Rick Rubin’s American Songs/PULSE Music Publishing. Adding to a what may be a breakthrough year, he has a busy touring schedule that incudes a just started, month-long NYC residency across three boroughs, performances at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion at SXSW, Analog Reunion Festival and Green River Festival. (As always, tour dates below.)

In the meantime, “Cabin by the Sea,” his debut album’s first single is informed by his proclivity for nature and his time spent at the Dittman Family Commune and the Puget Sound. Featuring some gorgeous and expressive pedal steel from Tommy de Bourbon, strutting bass from Grammy-nominated Billy Mohler, Amen’s deftly plucked guitar, accompanied by his easy-going John Denver-like yet subtly Texan drawl singing lyrics describing a simple yet beautiful scene — a bluebird that he sees flying near his cabin. And naturally, he envies the birds ease, simplicity and freedom.

The result is a song that sounds a bit like a mix of classic Nashville-era country and Laurel Canyon-era folk while showcasing a songwriter that pairs poetry and songcraft with a breezy ease.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Lukka Shares Dreamy and Meditative “Fabric of the Cosmos”

New York-based indie trio Lukka — Berlin-born, New York-based creative mastermind Franzi Syzmkowiak (guitar, vocals), Ashley Gonzalez (bass) and Simon “SiFi” Fishburn (drums) — have long operated at the crossroads of space rock, neo-psychedelia and synth-driven indie pop. The band’s sound is anchored around hypnotic grooves, immersive textures and melody-driven songwriting, frequently blending repetition with expansive, atmospheric arrangements featuring driving bass lines, propulsive rhythms, delay pedaled guitars and layered analogy synths, and equally atmospheric production.

Syzmkowiak has travelled across the globe, seeking a musical home that felt right. She had stints in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina before settling in New York. “New York City felt like the right place to meet like-minded people,” she says. “The reason I make music is that it serves as an escape from everyday reality and the problems of daily life. Songwriting helps me process what is happening around me. Music, and especially synthesizer sounds, takes me to another realm where I can feel at peace and experience emotions I have not felt elsewhere. Creating music almost feels like a religious act. Having a band and being an artist in this city has allowed me to meet so many other interesting people. Through these relationships, I feel that I am part of a larger creative community, which creates a strong and meaningful sense of connectedness.”

The trio’s third album, the Abe Seiferth-produced Wendekind is slated for a June 5, 2026 release. The band’s Syzmkowiak was born around the fall of the Berlin Wall. She explains that children, who were born in East Germany at that time were called wendekinder, a generation born into a new, free world. Her mom would always call her a wendekind. “It felt like the perfect title for the album,” she says.

Recorded at Brooklyn-based Transmitter Park Studios, Wendekind reportedly sees the band expanding upon the sound of 2022’s Something Human while pushing further into much more immersive, synth-driven territory.

Thematically, Wendekind sees the New York diving deeper into the metaphysical, tracing loss and memory, while questioning one’s place in an infinite and seemingly indifferent universe. For Syzmkowiak, the album is a deeply personal and reflective effort, moving between memories of the past, and hopes for the future while touring on space, time, chance and self-discovery.

“Over the past three years, a series of events pushed me to look inward and question what had been driving my choices and behavior,” Syzmkowiak says. “The album became a deeply personal and spiritual journey, leading me back to my roots and to memories of where I came from.”

Wendekind’s first single, “Fabric of the Cosmos” is a meditative slow-burn that features Syzmkowiak’s dreamily yearning delivery ethereally floating over glistening synths, boom bap-like drumming and phased out guitar. Seemingly channeling Pavo Pavo, the cinematic new single, as Syzmkowiak explains is “about trying to see beyond the three-dimensional world and being only able to-do that through e-motion (electric motion/vibrations), dreams or day visions. The song slips into the metaphysical world.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Orielles Share Angular “Wasp”

Acclaimed, Manchester, UK-based JOVM mainstays The Orielles — Esmé Dee Hand-Halford (bass, vocals), Sidonie Dee Hand-Halford (drums, vocals) and Henry Carlyle Wade (guitar, vocals) — will be releasing their highly anticipated fourth album, the Joel Anthony Patchett-produced Only You Left through Heavenly Recordings on Friday.

Recorded last summer in two locations — the Greek Island of Hydra and Hamburg — the 11-song Only You Left reportedly sees the band consolidating the bold experimentation of 2022’s Tableau with the more stripped-back, song-driven approach of their earlier releases, channeling a return to the familiar. “There’s nothing more trad than a three-piece,” quips Henry, in reference to the band’s decision to return to their roots as a trio. 

The JOVM mainstays, who originally started out in Halifax first gained attention both nationally and internationally with the release of their full-length debut, 2018’s Silver Dollar Moment, which recently celebrated its eighth birthday. “These things come in like seven year cycles. So we’ve come in like a full circle back to a familiar place, just as different people,” the band says. 

As for the foundations of the forthcoming album, the band’s Henry Carlyle Wade says “You’ve got to die and be reborn between albums.” “It comes naturally, the band’s Esmé Hand-Halford adds, “it’s not something we consciously do.” Interestingly through this process of creative renewal, the JOVM mainstays have managed to weather a pandemic, the fickleness of a trend-driven music industry and somehow emerge with something that’s familiar yet completely different. 

According to Wade, the first ideas for the new album can be traced back to May 2023: Esmé Hand-Halford had purchased a freeze pedal, which allowed her to play around with sustained notes on her guitar. These heavy drones would later form the background of album tracks “Wasp” and “Three Halves.” 

In breaks between tours, the band began to meet up and record their practice room sessions, later analyzing the voice notes with a granular attention to detail. “We recorded everything on our phones, every snippet,” explains Henry Carlyle Wade. “We went so deep into what each song needed or what we wanted to hear from it.”

While the Tableau sessions were semi-improvisational and partially written in the recording studio, Only You Left was fleshed out through a series of intense writing sessions between May 2023 and last summer. Each of the album’s 11 songs were meticulously refined and became its own distinctive work. “It almost felt really novel for us to be writing as a three-piece and really, really crafting these songs,” the band’s Esmé Hand-Halford recalls. “But Tableau gave us that confidence to know we could go into a studio and pull things together in that setting under the time pressure.”

Producer and engineer Joel Anthony Patchett, whom Esmé Hand-Halford dubs the honorary fourth member of the band, has had a massive influence on the album’s sound and approach. “Joel brings an extra level of interpretation and deep listening,” Henry Carlyle Wade says, “and it’s always exciting to explore that.” Sidonie Hand-Halford adds, “He’s constantly talking us through every step of what he’s doing and getting really, really involved with that process as well. And we’re just kind of learning together and making these mistakes and discovering things together.” 

Only You Left will include the previously released “Three Halves,” the double single “You Are Eating Part of Yourself”/”To Undo the World Itself,”Tears Are,” and the album’s latest single “Wasp.”

Anchored around a looping, buzzing and droning guitar line, an angular and propulsive bass line and skittering, off-kilter drumming and percussion, “Wasp” subtly channels In Rainbows while simultaneously evoking a wasp flying in figure 8s and circles higher and higher.

“Taking on another shift in perspective, the lyrics follow a [sic] miniscule wasp as it reaches the height of a mountain, one of nature’s grandest settings,” the band explains. “Inspired by the film Black Narcissus I wanted to capture this feeling of questioning faith, purpose and the self when confronted by such vastness, using a wasp to exaggerate this magnitude even further. In seeing through its perspective maybe we can relate to the plight of the wasp, but the real sting in the tale (hah!) is that ultimately it is nature itself that conditions the wasp to hurt us.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sun Spots Shares Anthemic “Rocket”

Pacific Northwest-based indie rock outfit Sun Spots features members of essential regional punk and hardcore acts, including Criminal Code, Nudes and Bricklayer. With the release of their debut EP, 2022’s Loosey, Sun Spots quickly established a songwriting process that they’ve jokingly dubbed pop songs for hardcore fans — or hardcore songs for pop fans, depending on your perspective.

The Pacific Northwest-based outfit’s sophomore EP, Dog Is Calling is slated for a Friday release through Seattle-based indie label Den Tapes. Engineered and mixed in Seattle by Cameron Heck and mastered by Greg Obis, the EP features four upbeat and driving songs that sees the band pairing thick, crunchy guitar riffs with buoyant melodies, showcasing their love of the Big Muff pedal and big, catchy hooks.

Dog Is Calling‘s lead single “Rocket” will bring back warm and hazily nostalgic memories of 120 Minutes MTV-era grunge for all of you fellow olds as the song showcases the band’s penchant for pairing big, crunchy riffs with even bigger hooks with saccharine sweet, pop melodies. And of course, this is placed with a classic grunge song structure — alternating quiet verses and loud choruses. Play loud.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Thundercat Teams Up with WILLOW on Atmospheric, Quiet Storm-like “ThunderWave”

Acclaimed JOVM mainstay Thundercat will be releasing his fifth studio album — and first album in over six years — Distracted through Brainfeeder on April 3, 2026. Distracted was created in close collaboration with super producer Greg Kurstin with additional production from Flying Lotus, Kenny Beats and The Lemon Twigs. The new album also features contributions from an all-star cast that includes A$AP Rocky, WILLOW, Tame Impala, Channel Tres, Lil Yachty and a previously unreleased collaboration with Mac Miller. 

Thematically, the album vividly captures the uneasy tension between overstimulation and introspection. Thundercat is deeply skeptical of technological “progress,” especially the way it has narrowed our collective imagination instead of expanding it. He jokes about Star Trek and childhood dreams of space travel, then pivots to the horrible anticlimax of reality: drones without lasers, phones that only feature upgraded cameras, innovation reduced to spying and access. The disappointment isn’t about just gadgets; it’s about a vision of the world we were promised versus what we got right now. Sure, some forms of deep space travel may be difficult, if not impossible, but we don’t have flying cars or smart-alecky robots. We barely have high-speed trains or anything else. 

While the drawbacks of constant distraction are evident in today’s attention deficit economy, a true idiosyncratic like Thundercat can identity the ways in which it used to one’s advantage. You can’t spell “daydreams,” without dreams. “Sometimes you need to be distracted to focus in a different way,” Thundercat says. What the JOVM mainstay wants listeners to take from the album is remarkably, disarmingly simple: “Just enjoy it and have fun and just know that the struggle is real and changes shape, but just to keep pushing forward.” 

Rather than instant and constant commentary, the JOVM mainstay offers something quieter, more radical, and maybe something more empathetic: The permission to be confused, tired and distracted — and yet still make something beautiful and necessary out of the noise. 

Distracted will include the previously released “I Did This To Myself,” feat. Lil Yachty “She Knows Too Much,” feat. Mac Miller, and the album’s latest single, “ThunderWave” feat. WILLOW. “ThunderWave” features Thundercat and WILLOW’s seamless harmonies floating and bobbing over Greg Kurstin’s ambient production, a slick synthesis of Peter Gabriel-like art pop, Jaco Pastorious-era jazz fusion/jazz funk and Quiet Storm soul, which includes the sound of waves lapping gently on the shore. The result is a moonlit-like scene between two seemingly doomed, endlessly yearning lovers.

Thundercat shared some thoughts about creating the track: “Willow, the weeping, the whimsy, the whispy, the wizard. Grateful for the opportunity to create and spend time with such a beautiful human. Our journey together has been quite a fun one. Creating this song together, felt very much like the real us. So happy to be able to share.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tinariwen Shares Uplifting “Amidinim Ehaf Solan”

Pioneering Grammy Award-winning, Tuareg musical pioneers and JOVM mainstays Tinariwen recently announced that their tenth studio album Hoggar is slated for a March 13, 2026 release through their own label, Wedge. The album derives itself from the Hoggar mountains, a defiant marker of presence visible for miles and a symbol of a homeland for their displaced people. 

Long known for being fierce advocates for their people’s nomadic culture that exists in the desert borderlands between Mail and Algeria, the acclaimed JOVM mainstays bluesy, guitar-driven music has found global acclaim for its blend of dexterous, Western rock-styled guitar work, Tamasheq language-driven political bent, syncopated rhythms and soaring melodies. 

More than 45 years into their lengthy and storied career, Hoggar reportedly sees the acclaimed masters of the desert blues returning to the foundations of their sound with the band returning to their early years of songwriting with acoustic guitars and communal singing around the desert campfire. The album also sees the band staking their claim as elders of the Tuareg musical tradition while also proudly passing the torch onto a younger generation of featured musicians, who can continue to keep their culture’s flame of rebellion and defiance alive. 

Known for recording amid the windswept expanse of the Central Saharan desert, the acclaimed JOVM mainstays have long drawn inspiration from the rhythms of nature. With political unrest in Mali prompting the band to seek new spaces, the founding members, who are now based in Algeria recorded the album in studio set up by young Tuareg band and mentees Imarhan in Tamanrasset, which continues their legacy of innovation and collaboration. 

While previously released albums like 2023’s Amatssou saw Tinariwen collaborating with acclaimed producer Daniel Lanois, on Hoggar the band looked closer to home. Gathering with the local Tuareg musical community for a month, founding members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni and Touhami Ag Alhassane began writing songs fueled by political unrest alongside young artists like Imarhan’s Iyad Moussa Ben Abderrahmane, Hicham Bouhasse  and Haiballah Akhamouk. The band also collaborated with Terekaft‘s Sanou Ag Hamed and Tinariwen co-founder Liya ag Abill, a.k.a. Diarra for the first time in 25 years. 

The album also marks some other firsts: The band’s lead vocalist Ibrahim and Abdallah sing together for the first time in over 30 years, breaking their long-held tradition of each songwriting performing only their own compositions. And there’s a guest spot from acclaimed longtime fan José González. 

Lyrically, Hoggar explores urgent and timely themes, addressing the social and political challenges facing the Tuareg people and northern Mali. The band continues their long tradition of bearing witness through their work, balancing the joy of their celebrated lie shows with reflections on community struggles, resilience and the need for cultural preservation. 

The album will include the previously released “Sagherat Assan,” a gorgeous, soulful rendition of a traditional Sudanese song, and the album’s second and latest single, “Imidiwan Takyadam” feat. acclaimed singer/songwriter and longtime fan Jose Gonzalez, and the album’s third single “Amidinim Ehaf Solan.”

Anchored around the collective’s unerring melodicism and gorgeous guitar work, “Amidinim Ehaf Solan” is a comforting message from wizened elders to younger generations that although things seem dire right now for their people, that they still have a homeland to love and protect, and that it’s still worth saving. And when things are dire, having something or someone to fight for and save, will keep you going.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Womack Sisters Share Defiant “You Went Away Too Long”

Rising Los Angeles-based soul trio The Womack Sisters — Kucha, Zeimani and BG — can trace the origins of their careers to their childhood: The trio were singing before they could even walk. They grew up on stages and in studios across the globe, singing behind their parents, as well as their legendary uncle, Bobby Womack. Adding to The Womack Sisters’ remarkable pedigree, their grandfather was the iconic Sam Cooke.

No matter where they called home at the time — London, Thailand, Amsterdam, Kenya, West Virginia, The Bahamas — music and family were always a constant at the center of their lives. Of course, fas the sisters grew up, each with their own respective journeys, experiences and heartaches, they managed to find their own voices and their own path.

Each member of the trio has their own individual vocal, but they playfully trade leads and effortlessly (and perfectly) blend their harmonies in a way that only siblings can.

Back in 2016, a mutual friend introduced The Womack Sisters to Daptone Records co-owner and producer Gabriel Roth, a.k.a. Bosco Mann, who heard them sing and feel quickly and deeply in love with their voices. Shortly after, they went met at Daptone’s Riverside, CA-based Penrose Studios to record their label debut, “If You Want Me“/”I Just Don’t Want You (To Say Goodbye).”

The trio’s latest single “You Went Away Too Long” opens with a broodingly cinematic introductory section featuring shimmering and quivering Rhodes, regal horns and orchestral chimes before quickly shifting to a tender, classic soul-inspired first verse showcasing an achingly melancholic longing of women, who just haven’t been able to forget or get over a lover, who did them wrong. But by the defiant chorus, it’s obvious that the women have the confidence to refuse to wait too long for their due. Life is short and you can’t delay on living the best life you can possibly live.

“This song holds a deep meaning that’s different for each of us,” the trio explains. “Imagine precious time stolen from your life, slipping away like sand through an hourglass, as your loved ones slowly forget the sound of your laughter. ‘You Went Away Too Long’ is a song about love and life interrupted.”