Following September’s standalone track “Projections,” the lead single “Garden” is out now. Somerville, known for her ethereal production and unique fusion of folk and ambient music inspired by Connemara, continues to craft atmospheric soundscapes infused with traditional influences. “Garden” embraces a melancholic shoegaze sound, layering bass and guitar beneath her haunting vocals.

The track is accompanied by a video directed by Anna Heisterkamp.

Maria Somerville – Luster:

01 “Réalt”
02 “Projections”
03 “Garden”
04 “Corrib”
05 “Halo”
06 “Spring”
07 “Stonefly”
08 “Flutter”
09 “Trip”
10 “Violet”
11 “Up”
12 “October Moon”

Though Erika de Casier hasn’t released an album since Sensational in 2021, the Danish artist has not been resting. In 2022, she collaborated with Mura Masa. And just last year, she worked with Shygirl, as well as NewJeans, producing “Super Shy,” one of our favorite songs of the last year. 2024 is also off to a great start for de Casier, as she announced today the release of her third album, Still.

On Still, Erika de Casier once again collaborates with co-producer N, and welcomes new contributors such as Jonathan Jull Ludvigsen, Carl Emil Johansen, Niels Kirk, Christian Rhode Lindinger, Nick León, Kirsten Nyhus Janssen, and Tobias Sachse. Blood Orange, Shygirl, and They Hate Change are also credited on the project.

You can already listen to the blissful lead single “Lucky” and meet Erika by the beach in the accompanying video, directed by Jesse May Fisher.

After “Jupiter” shared back in November, Norwegian avant pop artist Jenny Hval returns with another amazing song, “Year Of Love.” The track addresses the art industry, as she sings “In the year of love I signed a deal with the patriarchy.” Both singles are taken from her freshly announced album Classic Objects, which also marks her debut on 4AD.

Like the previous single, “Year Of Love” comes with a great video, which was co-directed by Jenny Hval, Jenny Berger Myhre, and Annie Bielski. “A sense of loss and joy intertwines in a world of disconnected rooms,” they explained about the colorful visuals. “The artist inhabits these rooms. She is frozen in time, space, and mid-vowel. She is aware of her immediate surroundings. She is aware that there is more beyond what she can see. A version of her exists in a compressed, compromised, and objectified state. She is sitting in a room, in a house, in a neighborhood, in the art industry.” Watch below and pre-order Classic Objects.

Three years after Designer, Aldous Harding has just detailed the release of her new album, Warm Chris, that was produced once again by John Parish. She has also shared the lead single, “Lawn,” which comes with a stylish *as usual* video co-directed with Martin Sagadin. Watch the visuals and pre-order Warm Chris via Bandcamp below + check the itinerary of her upcoming tour.

Two years passed since the release of The Practice of Love and Jenny Hval has been quite busy. She released her third novel, Girls Against God, as well as a Lost Girls album with her collaborator Håvard Volden. In the meantime, the Norwegian multitalented artist also signed to 4AD. Today, she unveils her first track on her new label and announces her first North American tour since 2018.

Sophisticated and surrealist, “Jupiter” is an 8 minute long music piece with jazzy, dreamy and drone overtones. “When I wrote the music for this song in 2015, it had no lyrics, and I did not understand where it came from. It was a strange creature that moved from one genre to the next like a slide show and crashed into a chorus full of cymbals,” explains Hval. “Six years later ‘Jupiter’ has become a post-apocalyptic road trip. It begins by the art installation Prada Marfa in Texas, but turns into a game of identification and absurd imagery. The song winds its way through a desert-scape where values, genres, representation and relationships are breaking down. It tickles our death drive and throws us into space.”

The Zia Anger-directed visuals are as trippy as the track and include a psychedelic hot-air balloon ride.

Two years after their excellent albums U.F.O.F. and Two Hands, Big Thief return today with two new tracks, “Little Things” and “Sparrow,” which were both produced by their drummer James Krivchenia. “We all just scattered about the room without headphones, focused and in the music—you could feel that something special was happening,” Krivchenia explained about “Sparrow,” which was recorded in a single take. Listen below.

If the corporate world looks like this, let me sign for it right away. Erika de Casier has unveiled the official slideshow of her new single, “Busy,” in which she impersonates Bianka, CEO of Sensational Corp. These geniuses have even created her a Linkedin profile. The single once again dusts off 90s and 2000s R&B, 2-step and UK garage with an ethereal approach. Watch below (photos by Clarissa Connelly + slideshow by Erika de Casier) and pre-order Sensational via Bandcamp.

Ethereal and retro-futurist R&B singer-songwriter and producer Erika de Casier has announced the follow up to her aptly named debut album Essentials. Sensational is her first record out on 4AD and features the previously released singles “No Butterflies, No Nothing” and “Drama“. The exciting news also comes with a new single (read ‘banger’), “Polite”, as well as a self-directed video. This “anti-bad boy tune” was inspired by a terrible date. Relatable. Watch below and pre-order Sensational via Bandcamp or 4AD store.