Back catalogue: Classical

Review: Six years after their fan-favourite album Kites, Submotion Orchestra is back with the equally impressive 'Five Points' EP which was recorded over two months at Taz Modi's new studio in Sussex. If finds the band blend electronica, jazz, soul and ambient music in a fresh and distinctive way. After revisiting their past with Unplugged collections and the vinyl release of their debut album Finest Hour, this project is where the band now moves forward with a refreshed perspective. The EP, which features Ruby Wood's fragile vocals and live instrumentation, explores new sonic landscapes and pushes their sound further than ever before as a great taste of the full length to come.

Review: Emerging from the ether in July 2024, Surfacing is the third collaborative long player from ASC and Sam KDC. Producers known for their ability to create and set moods with comparatively abstract ambient soundscapes, their latest is no exception. A collection of work which opts for an un-rushed approach to creating big feelings and moments from relatively consistent sounds and noises. Not much seems to happen, until you realise how much has been happening. In many ways, it's a maximalist thing - attempting to pick apart tracks like 'Mirage' and 'Shimmer' reveals the density of these sonics. Walls of sound that are acoustically and melodically light enough to float on air, yet actually so thick they swallow the listener hole, with little hope of escape until the final refrains fade.

Review: Reimer Eising, aka Kettel, and Lennard van der Last, aka Secede, had already been lifelong friends by the time they began working on When Can. The Dutch producers wanted to create a seamless listening experience that would unfold and develop as a film does, using cinematic-leaning sounds to achieve their big idea. The whole thing feels like a narrative, a beginning-middle-end, which is doubly impressive when you learn there was no grand plan to begin with. Just two pals exploring what might come next. Originally released in 2012 - hark!, those heady, innocent days - what's perhaps even more astounding than the picturesque, immersive soundscapes here, is the fact this is the first time When Can has made it onto vinyl. Having said that, 12 years ago was another time and place, not least in terms of music sales, so let's not dwell on what everyone was thinking by not bringing this out on wax sooner. Instead, savour every moment of the rich, dreamy electronica.

Review: Luke Sanger returns to Balmat for brand new album Dew Point Harmonics, which directly follows on from the producer's acclaimed Languid Gongue in 2021. A thirteen-tracker of dense but fibreglassy electronic mood pieces, the Norfolk native nudges us into a series but emotive but individually unique set of corners, vectorising a multiplicitous, abstract sound-space. After the opening arp-sequences of 'Solid Steps' and 'Flutter Env', we move into the more roughshod concrete of 'Poppers' then swerve through the dawny plucks and boughs of 'Morning Person' and 'Open Sauce', before finally settling to rest on a patently vibraphonic note, with 'Universal Vibrational Frequences' and. 'Vibraphone Home' not occurring in sequence without coincidence, in our view.