“The decade that made me,” sings Ivan Doroschuk, whistfully. The 1980s were the beginning of his career as an international pop star. His band, Men Without Hats, had mega-success with a song about pogo dancing, accompanied by a video shot on an English farm. Fast forward forty years, and “The Safety Dance” has been repurposed with another Hats hit, “Pop Goes the World,” for a notalgic romp.
“Suden synty” [EN: “The Birth of the Wolf”] finds Suzi Sabotage combining the dancefloor instincts of Shannon and the atmospherics of Kaelan Mikla. Let the music play…
Cosey Fanni Tutti knows something about noise. Whether as a member of the band, Throbbing Gristle, or one pole of the Chris & Cosey/Carter Tutti axis, she has made a firm mark in the inner ears of listeners while shaking the fillings from their teeth.
Her new album, 2t2 (see what she did there?), manipulates noises in the most fantastic ways – and not always with chest-compressing intensity. The recordings draw on electronic distortions and harsh oscillations even when there are subtle, sweet surprises to be found.
2t2 opens with “Curae,” which sounds like something Fever Ray would find affinity with, vocally. The layers are assembled with the technical skills and trade secrets that come from a half-century of experimentation, but the artistic quality is like nothing else on the scene.
“To Be” answers the Bard’s question with a danceable rhythm and layers of cornet, synth, and atmospheric vocals. It demands to be played loud.
“Stound” has distortion in spades, twirled like spaghetti around a fork. It is a stimulating track in the spirit of Chris & Cosey’s “Retrodect.” One of the features of Tutti’s music is that she knows how to build an excellent groove into something entrancing. It is worth the price of admission alone.
“Never the Same” picks up with Tutti’s intonations interacting with her cornet. There is so much atmosphere it has its own stratosphere. The cornet returns on “Stolen Time,” where it is balanced with guitar sounds exfiltrated from a Strange Cargo album. The drifting sounds describe the city at night – it is music to ride in cabs to.
“Respair” goes Western with a harmonica and juddering scrapes. Once Upon a Time in King’s Lynn continues the theme of epic spaces, reimagined under the influence of Ennio Morricone. It’s an unexpected but striking turn.
“Threnody” swirls through space with lamentful harmonics. It’s the kind of track Omnisphere was designed for – cinematic, sweeping, and moody. What tools were actually deployed is undisclosed, but the late night sci-fi vibe is strong.
“Sonance” continues the theme with epic, extra-terrestrial resonance. It would work equally well as the soundtrack for the interior of an abandoned spaceship or a view to the horizon on a desert planet. Tutti’s film work, including Caroline Catz’s biopic about Delia Derbyshire, is a launch pad for these expeditions.
The album concludes with “Limbic,” which references the parts of the brain responsible for emotions. Industrial music – a genre rooted in and named for Tutti’s early work with Throbbing Gristle – always triggered responses. Some reacted with aggression, some with excitement – but indifference was never an option. That, as 2t2 reinforces, is the universal constant.
Sontag Shogun combine the abstract and the natural to create a kind of magical realism in music. They describe their activity as one rooted in memory, but the records of the mind are notoriously difficult to access with accuracy. Through the use of environmental recordings, treated piano and guitar, and other sounds, the trio evoke a past that may have not yet come into being.
This much we do know: in the summer of 2019, the group met up on the island of Kimitoön with Lau Nau. The Finnish multi-instrumentalist is a creative force of nature, herself. Together, caressed by the Baltic wind, they laid the bed for an album that reflects the topography of the space and the calm before a researcher in China unwittingly carried a weaponised virus to the local market. Valo Siroutuu (Beacon Sound) was the result.
There were hours of recordings left unused, however, that exerted a tug on Jesse Perlstein’s imagination. A return was called for – if only through a rework of the field recordings and hard drive archives collected on the trip.
Most of the tracks arranged on Päiväkahvit (Beacon Sound) [EN: Afternoon Coffee] were prepared before the global crisis that unfurled only a few months later. In the intervening time, the material has been reassembled and, in parts, retooled. The result is a mesh of found sounds and studio experiments that recalls the calm of the party’s time on Kimitoön and soothes the soul.
Fans of Virginia Astley and John Foxx’s work with Harold Budd will find plenty to enjoy in the sonic expanses of the album. Lau Nau’s voice is one of the treasures of the North, and the skilful renderings by Sontag Shogun and the remixers expand the breadth of the recordings. The lift provided by Päiväkahvit is for any time of the day.
On the back of last month’s stunning “Cataclysm,” Zanias reveals the next single from her forthcoming album and an entrancing new video.
With a desert backdrop, “Dawn” gives Dune or Wheel of Time vibes. The material surges and flows like the shifting of the sands, while Zanias’ voice has the ethereal quality of a mirage.
The title track from the excellent new Llynks album, “Time Reborn” is a classy and uplifting dance track with EBM and EDM influences. Coproduced with Chyld, it is the result of half a decade of work. Based on sci-fi themes (Hey, S.P.O.C.K, you need to catch up! – Ed.), the song is about new love in a time of planetary takeover.
The Boston-based songstress has long been a favourite of ours, and the wait has been worth it.
(Photo: Heather McGrath)
The LA-based duo of Rosselinni and Anton Floriano return with another banger for the alternative dancefloor. As Will Smith grows more tragic, Die Sexual gain in power. Is there a correlation?
Lifted from Päiväkahvit, this track sits in the playlist somewhere between Sigur Ros and Virginia Astley.
The PR from Beacon Sound notes: “When the trio of Sontag Shogun gathered at Laura Naukkarinen’s home on the Finnish island of Kimitoön in the summer of 2019, they had not the slightest inkling that the world was about to change irretrievably with the onset of a long-predicted pandemic the following year.”
The material on Päiväkahvit draws on material from that visit. It is full of artefacts of a pre-Covid world and the ambience of the North in bloom. “The Vala River” has been reworked by Post-Dukes.
The Korgis’ best song gets an industrial dub makeover, courtesy of the team of Mark Stewart and Adrian Sherwood. Stewart, who died two years ago, left an album in the vault. While we wait for The Fateful Symmetry (released by Mute on 11 July 2025), this will keep us consciously bopping against the New World Order.
Fans of Stewart’s work will be interested to learn about two events timed to the album’s release.
“Taste Is a Form of Censorship” is an exhibition featuring the work of BombArt – Stewart’s collaboration with Peter Harris – and other related material. It takes place at London’s Farsight Gallery, 4 Flitcroft St, London WC2H 8DJ, from 16-18 July 2025. The 16th is a private view, but free tickets are available through eventbrite.co.uk.
“Mad Max Meets Rockaway Park” follows, from 25-27 July 2025, with events at Bristol’s Rockaway Park. The artists taking part include Peter Harris, DJ Milo, Smith & Mighty, Tessa Pollitt, and Janine Rainforth. A screening of the documentary about Stewart, On/Off, is also planned. See rockawaypark.co.uk for details.
Norway’s highasakite return with a slick track designed for the charts. Polished and sleek, it is like a Tom Ford suit in song.