Audio

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Quantic Shares Vibey “Subterráneo”

Will Holland is a British-born, New York-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ best known as Quantic. Emerging from the UK’s alternative dance scene of the early 2000s, Holland’s career features work that connects electronic production and beatmaking with soul, funk, jazz, and Latin music through recording, DJ’ing, collaboration and relentless create-digging.

Holland’s relocation to Colombia in 2007 marked a transformative chapter: He immersed himself in the country’s rich musical traditions, which led to collaborations with musicians across Latin America, as well as several different projects including Quantic Soul Orchestra, Flowering Inferno, Combo Bárbaro and Ondatrópica.

Currently based here in New York, Holland continues to combine vintage recording techniques, live musicianship and contemporary production to create music that’s rooted in the past, but specifically made for the dance floor.

Holland’s latest Quantic single “Subterráneo” is his first release on Play It Again Sam since 2024’s Dancing While Falling. “Subterráneo” is a warm, vibey blend of electronic music, melodic house and nu-jazz built with skittering beats, glistening and oscillating synths paired with a driving bass line. Evoking a rainstorm hitting on a window or a roof, “Subterráneo” reminds me a bit of Octo Octa‘s Between Two Selves.

“It brings together disparate fragments that swirl and swarm to create an emotional journey,” Holland says. “Through an organic approach, I wanted to hint at machine elements and human interactions through a collage of arpeggios and drifting sub tones.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nouvelle Vague’s Breathtakingly Gorgeous Cover of Depeche Mode’s “A Question of Lust” feat. Beth Hirsch

Founded by Marc Collins and the late Olivier Libaux back in 2003, Nouvelle Vague was initially conceived as a one-off tribute to post-punk songwriting in a Bossa nova style. 2004’s self-titled debut, which saw them establish their unique fusion of melancholy post-punk, Bossa nova and French re-interpretational approach, unexpectedly achieved global acclaim. Since then, Nouveau Vague has become a global phenomenon.

Their 10th album, A Date with Depeche Mode is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Kwaidan Records/[PIAS] Recordings. And as you can probably tell, the album sees the French outfit tackling the work of pioneering British electronic outfit Depeche Mode.

A Date with Depeche Mode will include the previously released “Never Let Me Down Again” feat. Brazilian artist Flavia Coehlo, “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain, and the album’s latest single “A Question of Lust” feat. Beth Hirsch. Originally released in 1986, the original is a slow-burning and atmospheric tune that balances entirely on the edge between desire vulnerability. For Nouvelle Vague, there was one choice that felt inevitable to interpret the song — Beth Hirsch, whose voice is an integral part of Air‘s ironic Moon Safari and has been etched into the collective memories of an entire generation.

Hirsch’s imitable vocal, which expresses yearning and vulnerability with an achingly wistful quality, ethereally sways over an acoustic Bossa nova arrangement of guitar and accordion. Simply put, the Nouvelle Vague rendition is a cinematic, breathtakingly gorgeous take.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Yari M Shares Breezy “Adicta”

Yari M is a Carolina, Puerto Rico-born singer/songwriter and pop artist, who blends elements of Latin pop, Afrobeats and urban rhythms into a unique sound of her own. Her debut EP, 2020’s Yo Soy introduced her fearless energy, with EP track “Freshy” getting attention through a remix with Randy Nota Loca and Brray. The Puerto Rican artist appeared on Randy Nota Loca’s 2021 effort, Romances de Una Nota, 2021 Vol. 2 as the only female guest artist to appear on the album.

2023’s “Está Lloviendo” was her first Billboard-charting single. And adding to a big year, she launched her label Black Diamond Music and opened one of Miami‘s first Dolby Atmos studios.

Building upon a growing profile, the Puerto Rican-born, Miami-based artist’s highly-anticipated full-length debut Momentos, which will include “Últimta Vez,” a hit in Venezuela and “Sin Ti,”which reached #1 in the Dominican Republic features songs that explore joy, heartbreak, nostalgia and celebration.

Momento‘s latest single “Adicta” is a hook-driven blend of Latin pop, reggaeton and Afrobeats built around an an atmospheric production featuring squiggling bursts of funk guitar, skittering polyrhythmic beats and glistening synths beneath the Puerto Rican-born artist’s yearning delivery. While being a much-needed breezy and summery blast on a dreary and damp fall afternoon, “Adicta” is simultaneously club and lounge friendly — but at its core it captures the wooziness, the desperate longing of a new love.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: E Lundquist Teams Up with Michael Damani on Breezy “Chasing”

Los Angeles-based producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Eric Borders is the creative mastermind behind E. Lundquist, a project that derives its name from a loving nod to his family lineage, bringing the focus back to his own story. With E. Lundquist, Borders specializes in a warmly cinematic sound rooted in Rhodes-driven soul jazz, funk, R&B, library records and live band groove and analog synth textures, reflecting a shift to an intimate, reflective and composer-led approach. 

Borders’ forthcoming album Chasing My Reflections will touch upon themes of identity, resilience and self-reflection while featuring collaborations with Michael Damani, India Blue, Michael Edwards and JOVM mainstay Kendra Morris.

Chasing My Reflections will include “Wishing” feat. Kendra Morris and the album’s latest single “Chasing” feat. Michael Damani. “Chasing” is an upbeat and breezy tune, anchored around a Motown/Daptone/Big Crown/Colemine Records-like arrangement featuring reverb-soaked Rhodes or Wurlitzer, melodic rhythmic guitars and a steady backbeat beneath Damani’s yearning, equally old-school-like falsetto. Lyrically, the song touches upon themes of optimism, self-discovery and acceptance — all while feeling like a warm summer day.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: TOMORA Shares Dazzling and Euphoric “Celebration”

TOMORA is a collaborative project featuring:

  • The Chemical Brothers‘ Tom Rowlands: As one-half of The Chemical Brothers, Rowlands has produced and recorded six widely acclaimed UK #1 albums and won six Grammy Awards.

  • Norwegian artist AURORA: AURORA has released four studio albums and has quickly become one of Norway’s most influential and globally recognized contemporary artists. Her single “Runaway” has amassed over one-billion Spotify streams to date.

TOMORA builds upon a creative relationship that can be traced to the recording sessions for The Chemical Brothers’ 2019 album No Geography. AURORA contributed vocals to three tracks, including “Eve of Destruction.” Rowlands then went on to contribute to AURORA’s 2024 effort, What Happened to the Heart?, which landed on the UK Top 10.

Released earlier this year through Capitol Records, the duo’s full-length debut, COME CLOSER was written and produced jointly by Rowlands and AURORA. The 12-song album sees the duo pairing the Norwegian artist’s distinctive vocal with the acclaimed British producer’s unparalleled studio expertise. The album sees the duo creating their own unique space, somewhere they can produce the kind of magic that comes from flicking through a perfect record collection, flowing from wigged-out 1960s psychedelia to the hyper-futurism of sounds imagined for the 2060s. 

The critically applauded album includes the previously released singles “COME CLOSER” “SOMEWHERE ELSE” and “I DRINK THE LIGHT.”

After two wildly successful tour runs that included festival sets at Coachella, Fuji Rock and others, the duo went to Rowlands’ Sussex, UK-based Rowlands Audio Research Studio to record COME CLOSER‘s highly-anticipated follow-up, the five-song CELEBRATION EP. Slated for an October 16, 2026 digital release and a November 27, 2026 physical release through Capital Records. The physical release will include a standard 12″ black vinyl, a special marbled vinyl and CD formats. You can pre-order the EP here.

The acclaimed duo say of the EP: “Celebration is a privilege. Celebration is a person. Celebration is a funeral and celebration is a ritual. It’s human nature. And it’s a human need. We should all be celebrated, as real human beings.”

The new EP will include the expanded, ten-minute version of album track, “IN A MINUTE,” and EP title track “Celebration.” “Celebration” features a dazzlingly hypnotic production anchored around motorik-like electronic pulse and club rocking, thumping beats beneath AURORA’s imitable, ethereal and yearning delivery. The result is a track that feels simultaneously immediate and expansive, introspective yet outward-looking, and yearning for ecstatic release.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Leon Bridges Returns with Sultry and Soulful “Watch You Dance”

Atlanta-born, Fort Worth, TX-raised singer/songwriter and musician Leon Bridges quickly established himself as one of America’s most exciting new artists with 2015’s platinum-certified, Grammy Award-nominated debut Coming Home, which featured breakout singles “Coming Home” and “River.” Bridges followed up with 2018’s critically applauded Good Thing, which saw him expanding upon his sonic panic while earning a Grammy Award-nomination for Best R&B Album and a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand.”

2021’s Gold-Diggers Sound was the acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth-based artist’s most adventurous album to date, and the album received critical applause while earning another Grammy Award-nomination for Best R&B Album. His most recent album, 2024’s Lean is an introspective effort inspired by his Texan roots and his artistic evolution.

Along with his solo work, Bridges has collaborated with the equally acclaimed act Khraungbin on two albums — 2020’s Texas Sun and 2022’s Texas Moon. In a relatively short time he has earned six Grammy Award-nomiations — three for Best R&B Album — and a Grammy Award-win, has also collaborated with an eclectic array of artists, including John Mayer, Kacey Musgraves, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Gunna, The Avanlanches, Gary Clark, Jr. and Shaboozey, all of which showcase a remarkably versatile artist.

Adding to a rapidly growing profile, Bridges has a long-held reputation as a captivating live performer, who has made a run of the global concert and festival circuit, playing an increasing number of the world’s major festivals while making appearances on Saturday Night Live, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert and Austin City Limits.

Bridges’ fourth album, the J Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto-produced fifth album, Happiness Anytime is slated for a Friday release through Columbia Records. Happiness Anytime reportedly sees the acclaimed Atlanta-born, Fort Worth-based artist returning to the warmth of his 2015 debut but while seeing the members of Jungle and Bridges’ signature sensibilities blending to create something entirely new — an expansive, borderless sound and approach that pushes the Grammy Award-winning artist into brand new territory. The material reportedly echoes Fela Kuti, Paul Simon’s 1990 effort The Rhythm of The Saints and Jorge Ben without feeling overly referential. At its core, the album is reportedly boundary pushing while remaining unmistakably Leon Bridges, rooted in his imitable vocal, effortless charisma and melodic sensibilities.

The album was written and recorded across three fast and furious sessions with Lloyd-Watson and Kitto, a collaboration that can trace its origins to the trio repeatedly crossing paths across the global festival circuit. The trio decided to attempt a low-pressure writing session at Los Angeles-based Chaplin Recording Studios. Four days later, they had come up with six songs — half of the completed album. Pino Palladino contributed bass during the sessions. The overall end result is a timeless body of work that feels unfussy and breezy — that they all hope will make the listener feel happiness anytime they play it.

“For me, happiness is not a feeling that you chase,” Bridges says,“I want this album to be something that lingers with people and lingers in people’s bones. There’s this feeling that we have to fix the problems of the world; you feel inadequate or it can be debilitating. My role is to be light. I hope that comes across with this album.” With Happiness Anytime, Bridges actively sets out with a desire to not only find joy but to find movement again.

Early in his career, Bridges was out in front dancing — and that was something that has wanted recently. He wanted to get back to making music to dance to, music to excise the stresses and frustrations of modern life, and to feel grounded in the rhythms of the present. Interestingly, over the summer, he has been introducing audiences to the new album with sets in Paris, Cannes, Los Angeles, Montreux Jazz Festival, London, Chicago and Outside Lands. And as he has being playing the new material live, he has unveiled “Leon Bridges Presents Happiness Anytime,” a reimagined stage production featuring a vinyl DJ, a horn section, three backing vocalists and Bridges out in front dancing and singing. Partly inspired by the communal spirt of Jamaican dancehall culture, the live set mirrors the album’s emphasis on movement — and on dancing your stresses and frustrations away for a bit. You can see what the live show will look like during his most recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he performed medley of tunes from the soon-to-be-released album — the strutting Afrobeat-meets-1970s Motown soul-like “Light The Way” and “Illusion” and jubilant, joyous ode to working things out “Talk It Over.”

“Watch You Dance,” Happiness Anytime‘s latest single is a strutting and sultry bit of neo-soul meets classic soul that feels like a funky, dance floor friendly synthesis of Black Pumas, Cody Chesnutt, Daptone Records and Marvin Gaye‘s “Got To Give It Up” but anchored in old-school craft, earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism and a grown ass folks sensuality. The song’s narrator knows that seduction is a game that you have to play — and he knows how to play it well.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: San Francisco’s Blord Shares Sultry and Euphoric “Frequency”

Brett Ferrera is a San Francisco-based electronic music producer, electronic music artist and DJ, best known as Blord. Citing influences that run the gamut from Tinlicker, Zhu and Kavinsky, Ferrera’s career journey has been at times tumultuous and painstaking, but that has also managed to inform his most recent work.

He believes that music serves as a bridge between the world we see and the one we feel — a powerful, celestial language. Sonically, his mission is to blend the heavy and melodic depths of melodic techno with the collective energy of dance pop to create a space for unity and healing.

Ferrera has quickly built a reputation for crafting mesmerizing house music: Last year, he landed two tracks on Beatpot’s top 10 Melodic Techno and Progressive House genre charts — “Hustlin‘” and “Till The End.” And building upon a growing profile, he has played Madarae, Paname, and Bergerac alongside Denis Horvat.

His latest single “Frequency” is a sultry and euphoric bit of melodic techno featuring thumping, tweeter and woofer rattling 808s, glistening synth arpeggios and euphoria-inducing hooks and choruses beneath a yearning vocal melody. Perfectly suited to get bodies moving, and to perhaps have you dance and sweat away your stresses and troubles, “Frequency” is about finding someone that matches your wavelength.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Baltimore’s Little Lungs Share Gorgeous, Introspective “Strangest Thing”

Baltimore-based indie rock outfit Little Lungs — Leena Rhodes (vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, synth), Brendan Russell (bass). Ricky Schwarzenberg (guitar) and Eli Simms (drums) — combine intimate and sincere lyricism with intricate guitar melodies and pulsating rhythms to create a sound that blends elements of folk and indie rock. Never shying away from vulnerability, the Baltimore-based quintet’s work dives into the obscure, difficult to explain emotions, like the innate feeling of absence, the flux of infatuation, the beauty of intoxication.

Recorded at Charm City’s The Watermelon Room last spring, the Ricky Schwarzenberg-produced sophomore album The Heat was released earlier this year. Arguably, their most cathartic effort to date, The Heat examines the love, loss and rebirth left in the wake of a tumultuous and volatile relationship — with vivid imagery and decisive storytelling.

“Strangest Thing,” The Heat‘s latest single is a breathtakingly gorgeous and soulful blend of folk, country and dream pop built around strummed acoustic guitar, jangling electric guitar and bursts of shimmering pedal steel with Rhodes’ introspective lyricism, big hooks and choruses and Rhodes’ equally gorgeous delivery.

The song is full of small, novelistic details and observations, which gives the song a deeply lived-in feel, while the narrator confesses a seemingly undying devotion to their lover.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: My Morning Jacket and Preservation Hall Jazz Band Team Up to Tackle Neil Young’s “Like A Hurricane”

https://youtu.be/NzgXx7Ol-Bg?si=D0leDjp8-5V7VLKD

Cinema Music Group and Killphonic Records recently announced that they’ll be releasing Heart of Gold: The Songs of Neil Young, Vol. 2 — Out of the Blue and Vol. 3 — Into the Black on November 6, 2026. Featuring contributions from King Princess, Draco Rosa, Lucinda Williams. Ann Wilson, Peter Frampton, LP, MJ Lendermann, Ben Gibbard, Cold War Kids, Kurt Vile and The Violators, Los Lobos and a lengthy and impressive list of others. these new volumes beautifully blend cherished classics with innovative interpretations that honor Neil Young‘s enduring and towering musical legacy.

Proceeds from the albums will benefit The Bridge School. Founded in 1986 by Neil and Pegi Young, The Bridge School to serve individuals with severe speech and physical impairments, much like their son Ben. The organization was built on a simple but powerful belief” every individual deserves the opportunity to communicate. Over the past 40 years, The Bridge School has helped transform the lives of thousands of individuals with complex communication and physical disabilities while helping shape the fields of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) through innovative education, research and professional development.

The Bridge School’s impact extends far beyond its campus. Its education model, professional training. and outreach and research programs have reached professionals, families and individuals around the globe. Through their Bridge to Life program, the organization now provides direct services, consultation, and training for individuals with communication and/or physical disabilities from infancy through adulthood. ensuring that people of all ages have access to th tools and support they need — and deserve — to communicate, participate, and thrive.

As the organization celebrates its 40th anniversary, it continues to advance the belief that communication is a fundaamental human right — and that every voice deserves to be heard.

And to support the international release of the complications. Cinema Music Group and Killiphonic Records partnered with City Slang, who will oversee physical distortion and marketing across the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, expanding the reach of the Heart of Gold project while brining all three volumes to fans through its established retail and distribution networks.

Vol 2. — Out of The Blue’s latest single features My Morning Jacket teaming up with the iconic Preservation Hall Jazz Band to tackle “Like A Hurricane.” The My Morning Jacket and Preservation Hall Jazz Band cover, lovingly retains the drunken, wistful sway and aching longing of the original while adding some subtle NOLA soulfulness to the proceedings, before building up to a passionate frenzy for the song’s coda.

“We were so honored to get to be at several of the Bridge School Benefit concerts in the past, and are so honored to once again be a part of raising funds for this amazing school, with these amazing songs of Neil Young,” My Morning Jacket’s Jim James says. “We felt like teaming up with Preservation Hall Jazz Band would add some magic to this track, so we all got together with producer Ross Hogarth down in New Orleans and recorded it live at Marigny Studios. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed playing it!”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Glasgow’s The Marches Shares Brooding “The Habit”

Since their formation in 2024, Glasgow-based indie rock outfit The Marches — Katie Palmer (vocals, rhythm guitar), Nicola Singleton (bass), Jane Jenkins (lead guitar) and Kate Morrow (drums) — have quickly established a sound that blends emotional intensity, ambitious melodicism and razor-sharp storytelling.

And in that same time, they’ve also quickly built up a regional and internationally recognized profile: Their breakout single last year’s double A-side single “November“/”Don’t Fool Me Twice” received both international and national press attention/. Their previously released material received airplay from BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Introducing Scotland, Amazing Radio UK and Amazing Radio US.

Adding to a growing profile, the Scottish quartet have started to amass a reputation for an electrifying live show, which has led to a hometown headlining set at Glasgow’s The Garage Attic in November.

2026 has seen The Marches release a handful of singles, including the previously released “She” and “Struck To The Heart,” and their latest single “The Habit.” “The Habit” further cement the band’s growing reputation for unerring melodicism and crating catchy hooks paired featuring brooding arrangement of atmospheric guitars, forceful and pulsing drumming beneath Palmer’s delivery which throughout the song’s run moves from intimate confession to defiant and steely resolve.

Underneath the remarkably self-assured performances, is a song about dysfunction, touching upon feeling the pull of repetitive patterns you know too well, even when deep down you know better. Certainly, for anyone who has escaped dysfunctional and destructive patterns, the song captures something disturbingly familiar.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sassy 009 Shares Club Banging Jam City Remix of “Tell Me” feat. Blood Orange

Oslo-based producer and singer/songwriter Sunniva Lingård is the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed, shape-shifting electronic music project Sassy 009. The Norwegian artist found early acclaim with 2017’s Do You Mind EP? and 2021’s sultry, bass-driven Heart Ego Mixtape. Adding to a growing profile, Lingård has collaborated with Clairo on 2018’s “Lara” while remixing tracks by Empress Of, Lolo Zouaï, MØ, Agar Agar, and a lengthy list of others.

Released earlier this year, Dreamer+ is Lingård’s true Sassy 009 debut — a concept album pieced together from nearly four years of studio work and an ambitious attempt to take complete control of her art. Built with distorted vocals beneath a soundscape with elements of grunge, shoegaze, 90s beatronica and gauzy hyper pop, the album is a grim fairytale in which dreams and emotions are processed through a landscape of shapeshifting characters, dark forces and moral responsibilities. Thematically, the album touches upon identity, memory and the shifting boundaries of the self, in which the dreamer is the only witness/the only one who remembers.

The album features guest spots from Blood Orange, yunè pinku, and BEA1991.

The past year has been a whirlwind for the Sassay 009 creative mastermind: She appeared on the over of NME. She played a sold-out show at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and while in the UK, recorded and then released Live at BBC Maida Vale, a live session that features a cover of Limp Bizkit‘s “My Way,” along with “Tell Me and Someone.”

The acclaimed and rising Oslo-based artist will be releasing the Dreamer+ Deluxe album on October 16, 2026 through HEAVEN-SENT/[PIAS]. The deluxe edition of Dreamer+ will feature some of Lingård’s closest friends and musical collaborations — and few surprises for fans. Dreamer + Deluxe‘s latest single sees Jam City giving album track “Tell Me” feat. Blood Orange the remix treatment. “Tell Me” feat. Blood Orange is a brooding and atmospheric, trip-hop meets-grunge-tune that features the Norwegian artist’s smokey delivery over thumping boom bap-like drums, gauzy electronics and shoegazer-like textures. The Jam City remix pushes the tempo up, turning the song into a woozily euphoric, footwork-like banger anchored around skittering triplets, glistening synths and chopped up vocal samples.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Skinshape Returns with Summery “Take It As It Is”

Will Dorey is a London-based producer, singer/songwriter, producer and creative mastermind behind the solo recording project, Skinshape. And with Skinshape, the London-based artist has established himself as a master of understated soundscapes, blending rich textures with an array of eclectic influences from around the world. Dorey’s work is known for being imbued with warmth, depth and a timeless character.

Every Skinshape effort reflects the London-based artist’s meticulous approach to composition and production, rooted in the distinct sonic identity made possible by the vintage analog recording equipment he uses. 

The London-based artist’s 11th Skinshape album, Chapman’s Pool is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Lewis Recordings. Deriving its title from a secluded bay on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, near Dorey’s childhood home, the album draws from the landscapes that have remained a constant source of inspiration throughout his career.

Written, self-produced and self-recorded at Dorey’s Finsubry Park-based studio with minimal Chapman’s Pool covers a variety of styles and sounds and sees Dorey revisiting his first two Skinshape albums to some degree while featuring more Mellotron and glockenspiel. Most of the album’s instrumentation — guitar, bass, piano, keys, synths, drum machines and the like — was played by Dorey, with the exception of drums, which were played by Tom Blind and Dan Hale. Various field recordings were captured outside the studio. including the sound of waves lapping the shore close to Chapman’s Pool and a car driving past.

Chapman’s Pool will include the previously released “The Blade of a Knife” and its latest single, “Take It As It Is.” Built around a swaggering and strutting groove that seemingly channels Bobby Oroza, the Daptone Records crew and Moscow‘s The Diasonics, “Take It As It Is” is a summery and escapist tune rooted in a blend of old-fashioned British stoicism and Zen calm that feels — well, remarkably necessary as our world burn down and descends into chaos. The song’s narrator implores the listener to do as the old British saying “keep calm and carry on.” “It’s about how we should accept life as it is, with its ups and downs,” Dorey explains. “It focuses on the mental troubles we all face and some reflections on how we may deal with this.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Nouvelle Vague’s Breezy Take on Depeche Mode’s “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain

Founded by Marc Collins and the late Olivier Libaux back in 2003, Nouvelle Vague was initially conceived as a one-off tribute to post-punk songwriting in a Bossa nova style. 2004’s self-titled debut, which saw them establish their unique fusion of melancholy post-punk, Bossa nova and French re-interpretational approach, unexpectedly achieved global acclaim. Since then, Nouveau Vague has become a global phenomenon.

Their 10th album, A Date with Depeche Mode is slated for an October 30, 2026 release through Kwaidan Records/[PIAS] Recordings. And as you can probably tell, the album sees the French outfit tackling the work of pioneering British electronic outfit Depeche Mode.

A Date with Depeche Mode will include the previously released “Never Let Me Down Again” feat. Brazilian artist Flavia Coehlo, and the album’s latest single, “Only When I Lose Myself” feat. Mélanie Pain. Originally released on 1998’s compilation The Singles 86>98 “Only When I Lose Myself” is a brooding song full of desperate, aching longing. The Nouvelle Vague rendition, which features one of the act’s long-time collaborators retains the longing at the heart of the song but now paired with a breezy Quincy Jones and Herb Alpert-like arrangement featuring Bossa nova rhythms, strummed guitar and soulful brass. The result is a take that gives the song a sultriness rooted in desperate need and a little bit of lust while being incredibly cinematic.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Good Health Good Wealth Shares Punchy “Susanna”

London-based duo Good Health Good Wealth — Bruce Breakey (vocals, production) and Simon Kuzmickas (guitar, production) — exploded into the national scene with 2024’s breakout track “Full Circle,” which has since amassed 1.5 million Spotify streams and lead to the pair making the runs of the national festival circuit with sets at Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Truck Festival, Boomtown Festival and Latitude Festival.

Since “Full Circle,” subsequent releases have received airplay on BBC 6 Music, Radio X and BBC Introducing with their latest single, “Who What Where Why” landing on Spotify’s All New Punk playlist.

The London-based duos full-length debut, The Disco Never Ends is slated for an October 16, 2026 release. The album reportedly sees the rising duo documenting life as it happens: Relationships that start and end a quickly as they started, shit jobs, nights out getting older, grief, sex, friendship, arguments, strangers, drinking, dancing and all the mundane moments that somehow become the ones you remember. The album’s title comes from a rather simple idea: that time doesn’t stop, people come and go, places change and one chapter of your life tumbles into the next one and the next one and the next one . . .

The Disco Never Ends‘ latest single “Susanna” is a punchy dance punk song that seemingly channels Gang of Four and LCD Soundsystem while showcasing the duo’s deliberate attention to catchy hooks. The song’s narrator describes how infatuation and obsession can overwhelm common sense, with the narrator tacitly admitting that despite the fact they’re aware of a love interest probably being terrible for them, that they’re okay with — for now, at least. And as a result, the song is rooted in the sort of restlessness, masochism and self-flagellation of someone who’s desperate, horny and a bit stupid.

“We wanted to write a proper stomper for the new album to give us a bit of light from the shadier moments while retaining that darker mood that the album has overall,” the duo explain. “‘Susanna’ is about that girl you’ll let walk all over you, you even let her off for putting the milk in before the tea bag, putty in her hands. We played it live for the first time at Boomtown and it did exactly what we were hoping, made the tent rattle.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mathis Picard Shares Gorgeous, Soulful “Portrait of Lizzy”

Born in France to a French father and a Malagasy mother, acclaimed composer, bandleader and pianist Mathis Picard began playing piano when he was four and pursued a rigorous musical education across the US, France and the UK. Currently based in New York, Picard is a Juilliard School graduate, an ASCAP Next Generation of Songwriters recipient and a member of the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation. Adding to a growing profile, the French-born, New York-based artist has performed with Ron Carter, Lillias White, Céceile McLorin Salvant, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride and a lengthy list of others, while making a run of the global touring and festival circuit, playing sets at Umbria Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival and The Jazz Cruise.

Picard’s newest band The Sound Orchestra can trace its origins back to when he was 13: Back then he led a similar ensemble while studying at Chetham’s School of Music in England. The first iteration of his US-based Sound Orchestra bean as a three-horn ensemble performing the French-born composer and musician’s original work, featuring Giveton Gelin and Ruben Fox. The band continued to expand over the years into a full-fledged orchestral unit featuring a saxophone section, electric bass and an expansive percussion section providing the rhythmic foundation for Picard’s genre-bending compositions.

The project’s debut, The Sound Orchestra, which is slated for a November 6, 2026 release through La Reserve Records is the latest chapter in Picard’s career — a career that has seen him emerge as one of the most distinctive young artists and voices in contemporary jazz. Throughout the band’s debut, Picard’s arrangements draw from and musical worlds that have shaped him e rhythms from his mother’s native Madagascar meets Afro-Cuban music, 1970’s Earth, Wind & Fire-like funk, Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. “This is not your traditional Big Band record,” Picard explains. “The goal of the band was always for it to make people dance. Whether it be swing music, house, dubstep, waltz, or even a ballad, I wanted to connect with the audience through dance. Dance for me is this wonderful way to express our bodies, and for us to be together in community.”

The Sound Orchestra‘s first single “Portrait of Lizzy” is a celebration of Picard’s life through a re-imagining of the American standard “Portrait of Jennie.” Released on the couple’s third wedding anniversary, “Portrait of Lizzy” is an old-school, Big Band-styled ballad specifically meant for those deeply in love romantic couples to slow dance, cheek-to-cheek, rooted in some soulful and gorgeous performances.

Mathis and Lizzy were married at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club, an institution with a deep connection to Picard’s career and his time at The Juilliard School. Picard has also performed with The Sound Orchestra at Dizzy’s dance parties, including a night celebrating the legendary music of Earth, Wind & Fire. Continuing his relationship with Lincoln Center, Picard will play a solo set on October 9, 2026 at Lincoln Center’s Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio to honor the musical legacy of San Juan Hill.