Now, The Crying Nudes are back with DJ, another strangely compact release that appeared with very little warning. Teased on the band’s Instagram only yesterday, the new album features eight tracks packed into less than thirteen minutes. Once again, it arrives through World Music, the elusive London label run by Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland.

Even shorter than their 2024 self titled release, DJ disappears almost as quickly as it begins, and that is definitely part of its charm. These gorgeous songs feel like thoughts or memories caught on tape, blending subtle dream pop melodies with touches of country and folk, all wrapped in a sparse yet beautiful guitar atmosphere. The tracks are simply named after numbers, an approach we already encountered on lucre, Blunt’s collaborative EP with Elias Rønnenfelt. The only exception is the third song, “when i dance i raise the dead”. Naturally, everything is written without capital letters, perfectly in keeping with the band’s understated world. And as always with The Crying Nudes, the result is completely haunting. Stream DJ below.