'The Brightest Sun' by Ilaria Capalbo

Now based in Stockholm, the Italian bassist, cellist and composer Ilaria Capalbo has firmly established herself within Sweden's jazz landscape.

Since her 'Invisible Atlas' debut alongside pianist Stefano Falcone in 2018, Capalbo has affirmed herself as a thoughtful and highly creative artist and collaborator going on to deliver the debut release from KÓSMOS (alongside Falcone and drummer Giuseppe D'Alessandro) and serving as bassist to saxophonist Fredrik Nordström.  On top of that, Capalbo continues to establish herself as a seasoned and devoted live performer engaging with appreciative audiences across Europe.

Typically, the release of Capalbo's latest full-length proves another project demonstrative of the care she consistently pours into her music.  More than just an album that delves into the unbridled joy of motherhood, the bassist strives for a more visceral recounting of the experience of pregnancy - capturing everything from the miracle to the mayhem and the frantic in between that becomes all too commonplace for early motherhood.  And it's an approach that finds 'The Brightest Sun' to be a staggeringly engaging and beautiful piece of work.

The notion of the "story" has long proved to be an endearing character trait for Capalbo when approaching her music: from her assessment of the importance of life's invisible forces as detailed in 'Invisible Atlas', the honouring of American pianist Lennie Tristano through KÓSMOS' 'Back Home' or the album 'Karthago' that details the legendary Dido who fled tyranny to found her own city in northwest Africa named Carthage (from the Latin, Karthago).

The idea that the story is everything is an elegant and nuanced way to regard life and sincerity when it comes to music-making.  

Always knowing just how to connect and bring the best out of her collaborators, 'The Brightest Sun' finds Capalbo backed by a quartet of familiar names and faces - Nordström, saxophone in hand, continues the pair's lineage of collaboration as does 'Karthago' collaborator, guitarist, Andreas Hourdakis; saxophonist Thomas Backman and drummer Henrik Jäderberg round out the ensemble and aid in the realisation of Capalbo's narrative.

Comprised of seven compositions, Capalbo (credited for double- and electric-bass as well as effects) expertly interweaves emotions that veer from spiritual contemplation to chaotic discordance to hallowed intimacy.  As an album, 'The Brightest Light' doesn't settle for sentimentality and boldly opts to embrace the dichotomy and contradictions attached to motherhood.

'The Brightest Light' is a joyous masterpiece and - in true Ilaria Capalbo fashion - it's a beautifully-told story.

'Light of Day' by Richard Spaven

The union between Richard Spaven and Edition Records was announced earlier this year to great excitement.  Already a fantastic twelve months for Edition which has included new music from Petter Eldh, N∆BOU, Dave Holland and Miho Hazama, 'Light of Day' finds the London-based drummer once again donning the signature black baseball cap, scooping up the drumsticks and getting back to work delivering his fantastic sixth full-length release.

From serving as a product of London's broken beat 90s scene to helping pioneer the city's contemporary jazz renaissance, Richard Spaven's twenty-plus year career has seen him cultivate an incredible catalog of music as both a key collaborator and solo artist in his own right.

With past releases through Jazz Re:Freshed, Soul Has No Tempo, !K7 Records and Spaven's own Fine Line Records, Spaven's music has adeptly straddled that line of spiritual jazz influences working in sublime harmony alongside electronic and broken beat stylings.

Establishing his affections for club culture through his contribution to Jazz Re:Freshed's revered 5ive series, the cult favourite established his musical mission statement early and established the template that would ultimately define his versatility going forward.  Boasting incomparable contributions to projects by Seravince ('Hear to See'), Robert Mitchell 3IO ('The Embrace'), Ntjam Rosie ('Breaking Cycles') and Ambient Jazz Ensemble ('Aura'), Spaven's phenomenal output has long cemented him as not just a pioneer but a genuine North Star.

Much of Spaven's strengths rest in the fact that his music is far from a high-energy amalgamation of varying sonic landscapes but more of a measured and almost intricate assessment.  As typified throughout 'Light of Day', Spaven ingeniously captures warm and intimate settings as masterfully as his ability to command a packed dance floor.

With a sound aesthetic that calls back to Spaven's debut album - the masterpiece that is 'Whole Other*' (2014) - 'Light of Day' finds its happy place within the intimacy of its multi-layered textures.  Songs like the album's closer 'Magnolia', which is beautifully paced, creates such a transcendent backdrop that the song stays with you long after its final note.  Conversely, the hip-hop inspired 'Finders' features rapper and frequent Spaven collaborator, Wildchild, whose impassioned verses juxtapose perfectly with James Copus' flugel horn solo. 

Featuring an inspired list of collaborators including album co-pilot in pianist Oli Rockberger, the line-up further boasts guitarist Stuart McCallum and bassist Petter Eldh who all contribute perfectly in conveying the drummer's over-arching musical vision.

Incapable of ever delivering a misstep, Richard Spaven's debut for Edition Records yields the results listeners would undoubtedly have been hoping for.  As his first record release with a major label, 'Light of Day' feels less like a new chapter and more like a continuation of Spaven's long established musical identity.

'The New Atomic' by Ferg's Imaginary Big Band

"Undermine the pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks.  Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don't let them take you alive."

The above words may famously be credited to punk's Sid Vicious but they no less apply to Leeds-based musician Fergus Quill.

If it wasn't already known, let us confirm it now... Fergus Quill is a disruptor.

Thankfully, not in a bad way though.  Not in the way the detonated atomic bomb from the cover of his latest project would suggest.  In a good way.  A great way really.

Whether it be via Ferg's Imaginary Big Band, the Fergus Quill Trio or through Fergus Quill's Electric Noise Ensemble, if there is a rule book, he'll tear it up, if there's instructions, he'll ignore them.  And what more could we want from any of our modern-day luminaries!?

As pertains 'The New Atomic' - the latest project from Ferg's Imaginary Big Band - the album continues in the band's lineage of improv-heavy composition and large-scale collaboration.  While openly committed to carrying on the legacy of big band projects, Quill is just as committed to steering his collective into previously unexplored territories.  Even going as far as to stretching the capabilities of what people could even expect from a big band.

With rotating members throughout the project's inception, and featuring tracks with up to thirty performers at any one time, Ferg's Imaginary Big Band joyously recontextualises their sound with each go-round.

Stemming from recording sessions that initially took place in late-2024 and that generated more than five hours of recorded music, 'The New Atomic' offers up the first glimpse of those three-day sessions... Much like Japan's Soil & "Pimp" Sessions referred to their high-octane levels of jazz as "death jazz", for Quill, his myriad of experiences, styles and passions seem to organically spawn a style of jazz matching the energy of Tokyo’s finest but still having cultivated punk levels of outright rebellion.  A concept perfectly captured through the album's opening number 'J Surfing on the Saturn' which, at nine minutes in length, navigates a mind-blowing narrative with explosive twists and turns and captivates immediately.

While 'The New Atomic' will undoubtedly be defined by its insatiable energy and explosion of meticulous yet free-flowing chaos, it's also an album that further boasts a quaint level of sensitivity, namely through songs like 'Same Sky' and 'I Shall Not Be Moved'.

Incredibly engaging and beaming with creativity and imagination, Fergus Quill's quest to reinvent the big band aesthetic has taken a considerably large step forward.

'Sowden House' by Freyja Garbett

In one of the most ambitious and imaginative projects we've uncovered for some time, Freyja Garbett unveils her fairly sensational sophomore album, 'Sowden House'.

Released through the fairly apt hub of creative brilliance that is Earshift Music, the Sydney-based pianist, band leader and composer presents an album that immerses itself within orchestral arrangements, cinematic scope and vibrant mesmeric storytelling as it seeks to unpack the long-standing history - any mystery - attached to John Sowden House.

A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Garbett's debut release came in the form of the electro-acoustic wonder that was 'MAYA' in 2019.  As driven by the works of contemporary jazz luminaries, hip-hop influences and a passion for improvisation, the captivating project presented Garbett's kaleidoscope of sound beautifully packaging a stellar introduction across a ten track debut.

The concept behind 'Sowden House' initially found life following Garbett's invitation to helm the score for a virtual reality experience that would have placed players inside the notorious abode.  While the game never did find an official release, Garbett's compositions have since evolved into the formation of her own full-length work created with the same intention of unpacking the house's mysteries through memories attached to various rooms.

To bring the uninitiated up-to-speed, John Sowden House is located in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, and is said to have its exterior modelled on either a Mayan temple or the open mouth of a shark.  Designed by Lloyd Wright and built in 1926, the house was indeed noted for its elaborate architecture, its predilection in hosting soirees within Hollywood's artistic circles and, perhaps most famously, its perceived connection to the murder of Elizabeth Short.  George Hodel, a physician who owned the house from 1945 to 1950, was named by his son as having tortured and murdered Short in the house's basement.  Although a murder that was never solved, the notion of the Black Dahlia killing (as it would become known) has ascended to its own level of urban mythology.

Where Garbett soars is within the album's nuance.  The entire project lives within the understanding of the intricate complexity that the John Sowden House is steeped in.  While the mystery elements that surround the house are understandably played up the most, Garbett also affords the house and its architecture its due reverence as well.

As defined by its decadence just as much as its mystery, for a long time the house catered for the Hollywood elite as it played host to a number of closed door soirees.  Of course, there's the opulence of the house itself - details adeptly captured through compositions including 'Trophy Room' and 'Dream Hall'... And that brings us right back to the uneasy and disconcerting mystique that surrounds the house in the shadow of the Black Dahlia killing.

'Tomb Entrance' and 'Echo Chamber' remind us of the spirit of Elizabeth Short that looms heavily over the entire album and it's a thread that is treated with sensitivity throughout.

Freyja Garbett has created an exquisite piece of work that balances these various fragile elements and paints as vivid a depiction of John Sowden House as the VR project could ever have hoped to achieve.  Striking a remarkable balance between more orchestral laden pieces which work beautifully alongside the more groove driven numbers, Garbett confidently delivers a project that invites listeners to walk the John Sowden House halls, confront its ghosts and revel within its lingering unease for themselves. 

'Nomad Sessions Vol.1' by EYM Trio

 

 "Jazz without borders."

That's the mantra that adorns the banner of the EYM Trio's website serving as an apt introduction to the group's ideals and intentions.

While - in this contemporary day and age - the natural assumption might be that the words refer to a musical gumbo style of jazz fusion, EYM seem notably drawn specifically to the notion of geographical borders.

With hundreds of globe-trotting performances under their belt, the Lyon-based trio have proven themselves committed to taking their music to as many far-ranging and wonderful places that they possibly can.  In fact, their ongoing project - now the subject of their latest release, 'Nomad Sessions' - brilliantly brings together performances and recordings over several years that have taken our adventure-bound trio from the streets of Manhattan, New York, to a beach in Pantai Ngrenehan, Indonesia, a hotel rooftop in Cartagena, Columbia, and a street in Old Bangalore, India.

And while the presentation of these recordings now as a full-length album is an unbridled treat, the videos are just as compulsory to the project to get a sense and flavour of the varying environments and cultures the EYM Trio inhabit through each performance - the transition into night while the trio perform in the middle of the Agafay Desert in Morocco is a surreal and extraordinary sight.

Filmed guerrilla-style with loaned and borrowed equipment and instruments where needed, or whatever they could get their hands on at the time, the EYM Trio have offered up some beautiful performances, elegantly filmed and recorded and all demonstrative of their passion towards each other and their music.

Comprised of pianist Elie Dufour, double-bassist Yann Phayphet and drummer Marc Michel, the Trio have clocked up a series of albums since their debut release in 2014 indicative of their inspirations, influences and travels.

With past releases having cultivated the trio's affections for global soundscapes with an impressive list of collaborators pulled together across their albums to date including Egyptian oud player Mohamed Abozekry, accordion player Marian Badoï from Romania, vocalists Mirande Shah and Varijashree Venugopal from India and Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman, 'Nomad Sessions' proves to be the result of a long gestating mythos for EYM.

And it all comes together so perfectly - steeped in sincerity, rooted in curiosity and realised through an admirable determination, the acoustic and adaptable nature of their music means that Dufour, Phayphet and Michel consistently create compelling and nuanced projects that display the impassioned and spirited nature of 'No Madness' or the sensitivity of 'Song for Anilou' featuring frequent collaborator Venugopal. 

'Nomad Sessions' proves an inspired project and one that helps reinforce the universal language that music speaks as it transcends language, geography and borders.  An enthralling and intimate piece of work that is as much about the shared human experience as it is about jazz.

'Watch Out For The Horse Behind You' by Lisathe

It's probably still too soon in the year to talk about what an exceptional 2026 La Sape Records are having.  With Standing Circle's release on the imminent horizon, the progressive and imaginative Melbourne-based label have bestowed sensational projects on listeners in the last twelve months including single releases from Iwuda and David Versace as well as the synth-heavy 'Action Reaction' by Horatio Luna and the sublime GODTET alongside The Sydney Symphony Orchestra for the full-length collaboration.

Now championing the sophomore album release from Lasathe, 'Watch Out For The Horse Behind You' continues the instrumental trio's penchant for musical soundscapes that have become their signature make-up.

Comprised of a powerhouse trio of Sydney-based artists, the Lisathe three feature guitarist Ollie Thorpe (Ray Beadle, The Whitlams Black Stump, Peter Garrett), bassist Brendan Clark (Hayley Mary, Aaron Blakey, John Harkins Trio) and drummer Miles Thomas (Lisa Caruso, Freyja Garbett, We Will Intersect).

There's something about the scope that Lisathe aim for that is particularly captivating about their music.  Not scope as in expansive multi-person ensembles - although their ability to interweave an exquisite tapestry of intricate sound is an absolute pleasure to hear unfold across a full album - but it's scope as in landscape.  While it's not uncommon for jazz acts to use their music as a way of conveying intriguing narrative aspects into their compositions, for Lisathe, the joy of music isn't in the stories they're able to tell but within the imagery they're able to conjure for listeners.

Initially offering up their formal introductions courtesy of the band's self-titled debut in 2019, Lisathe sought inspiration from the works of Icelandic composers including Björk, Jófríður Ákadóttir and Skúli Sverrisson presenting a series of inspired reimaginings.

Seven years later, however, Lisathe trade the stark and austere beauty of Iceland for the sun-drenched familiarity of their Australian homeland.  And in that regard, 'Watch Out For The Horse Behind You' serves as an affectionate and loving homage to the country's vast natural splendour.  Guitarist Ollie Thorpe's affections for blues-tinged Americana translates beautifully through the understated twang of 'Scam Daddy' and 'Hood' or the more transcendent numbers like 'Dream' and 'Light Lowers'.  'Hay' may very well deliver as the album's centrepiece however as it's a track that teams with elegant vibrancy and showcases the trio on outstanding form.

Rather than present a literal portrait of Australia, Lisathe instead capture the feeling of it.  Displaying a confidence and poise throughout the album, 'Watch Out For The Horse Behind You' revels in the tiny detail - the subtle shifts of textures from one song to the next, the immersive quality of the project and its ability to resonate as a project that is as evocative as it is deeply personal.

'Secret Garden' by Secret Garden

Whilst serving as a natural hub for centre-stage Italian and European talent, A.MA Records have also been responsible for putting together some projects of super group proportions.

Projects like 'OOPARTS' by Egidio Rondinone and 'Hammonday' by DIL Trio saw exciting roll calls of A.MA artists and affiliates delivering standout releases while donning their collective team cowl.

A.MA's latest presentation comes from the well-versed trio of Enrico Bracco, Francesco Poeti and Armando Sciommeri under the unifying - and compelling - guise of Secret Garden.

Initially delivering his inaugural release for the Italian label through his 'Flying in a Box' full-length in 2022, guitarist Enrico Bracco has long displayed a meticulous approach of presenting the concept of narrative and storytelling as an integral make-up of his music.  Through his range of past album releases and the scores and compositions he has helmed for his extensive film and theatre work, Bracco instinctively detects the long-form narrative that runs in conjunction between imagery and sound displaying a profound perception to his craft.  

Similarly, guitarist and bassist Francesco Poeti regards his music through a similar lens.  Through his custom-made instruments, his affection for improvisation and contemporary jazz and his extensive list of collaborations and ensembles - including his own Francesco Poeti Trio and work alongside Elena Paparusso, Fabio Accardi and Gabriele Coen Sextet - Poeti's progressive vision asserts his inclusion amongst the Secret Garden trio, which is rounded out by the contribution of drummer Armando Sciommeri.   

Another highly experienced and prominent name in Italian jazz, Sciommeri's credentials also run deep with work as part of Gererdo Bartoccini Quartet, Carlo Conti Trio and Silvia Bolognesi Living Quartet.  The trio's ties together run considerably further back than just the Secret Garden project with all three of its members having crossed musical pathways for years - both Sciommeri and Poeti having served as members of Orchestra Mediterranea while Bracco, guitar in hand, served as a member of Sciommeri's ensemble for his full-length 'You and the Night and the Music'.

For their first foray under the Secret Garden moniker, Bracco, Poeti and Sciommeri strike a wonderful balance throughout the album with gentle nudges at times towards elements more associated with each artist.  It's an album that is beautifully paced and elegantly performed with the scintillating 'Blue' serving as the album's definite highlight.  Displaying a wonderful slow-build, the six-minute wonder captures the essence of the trio's intention perfectly delivering a real gem for the project.

The album boasts a further treat with the inclusion of US saxophonist Matt Renzi on pieces that once again really help to accentuate those elements of a glorious New York aesthetic that is also so prevalent to the project.

What Enrico Bracco, Francesco Poeti and Armando Sciommeri have created in Secret Garden proves distinctly special.  For listeners, the more time spent wondering around the trio's carefully cultivated and affectionately maintained soundscape, the rewards will inevitably follow.  The album proves remarkably adept at slowly revealing elements of itself through repeated visits uncovering more of its nuanced beauty each time.

'Rise & Shine' by Veda & The String Machine

Marking the formal introduction of her new and expansive musical project - Veda & The String Machine - Veda Bartringer presents her scintillating new release in 'Rise & Shine'. 

Displaying her vast scope and musical vision through different projects and ensembles must now come as second nature for the Luxembourg guitarist, composer and band leader.  As a highly decorated artist in her own right - accolades which include having earned a Master's Degree from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, being selected as a laureate of the Propulsion program in 2024 and being nominated for Best Newcomer at the Luxembourg Music Awards - Bartringer has long continued her fascination with jazz and the guitar beyond her studies and excitingly has managed to carve a captivating career across Luxembourg and Belgium.

From the Veda Bartringer Trio to the Veda Bartringer Quartet to Ensemble à Plectre municipal d’Esch-sur-Alzette, the progressive guitarist thrives upon the notion of collaboration and the multitude of possibilities afforded to her as a result.  Aside from the larger scale ensembles, Veda has further embraced a selection of more intimate duo projects pairing her guitar alongside fellow guitarist Joël Rabesolo and another alongside vocalist Anna Winkin.  Each new venture affords Bartringer the chance to excitingly hit 'reset', if you will; the idea that she treats subsequent pairings as a way to completely recontextualise her approach to everything including the connection she has to not just her collaborators but also to her very own instrument proves an inspired perspective and vision for her own music.

Which brings us to the release of 'Rise & Shine', officially by Veda & The String Machine.  Comprised of up to nine musicians, there's a tantalising ambition on display here that still finds the guitarist embracing the new challenge with poise and confidence.  

While naturally displaying an affection for a classical aesthetic within 'Rise & Shine', Bartringer's playing elegantly ushers in an understated hint of blues which works beautifully as part of a song like 'Butterfly Tree'.  Amidst the broad and sweeping string-laden backdrop, Bartringer's solemn guitar resonates as a quaint moment of introspection.  

'Rise & Shine' proves very much an album that soars from a similar dichotomy of styles - while songs like 'Lost in a Toy Box' and 'Too Much Coffee' cater to the guitarist's more playful side, pieces like 'Rue de l'Etuve' and 'Farewell' find their respective sweet spot within poignant tones of nostalgia.  It's a characteristic that Bartringer captures so effortlessly well and a compelling way to weave the notion of storytelling into the project as a whole.

While undoubtedly a beautiful and nuanced piece of work, 'Rise & Shine' proves another success within Veda Bartringer's continually expanding catalogue.  As an artist, her ability to continually challenge and reinvent her music remains one of her greatest strengths.

'Two Minds' by Shadowlands

Initially coming together under the Shadowlands moniker for their formal introduction by way of 'Ombres' in 2024, the powerhouse trio of saxophonist Robin Fincker, pianist Kit Downes and vocalist Lauren Kinsella don the collective cowl one more time for their follow-up release in 'Two Minds'.

Through their recontextualising of centuries old Irish folk songs, Fincker, Downes and Kinsella present inspired new perspectives that revel within minimalist - yet deliciously haunting - soundscapes which accentuate a stunning vocal.  While many of the songs tackled across the two Shadowlands albums to date can boast their own litany of reinterpretations over the years, there's an ambition put forward across these albums that offers up an unparalleled distinction.  With a propensity for improvisation alongside folk traditions and jazz aesthetics, the results have generated musically dynamic compositions with Kinsella's vocal immersed within an exquisite mystique.

While the very concept of "Shadowlands" may point to fantasy realms of ghosts, spirits and phantoms, both 'Ombres' and 'Two Minds' prove very much projects about giving new life:  songs that are kept alive and repackaged for new audiences and generations, many of which will be experiencing them for the first time through these releases.  

And in the hands of Fincker, Downes and Kinsella, these prove to be songs treated with the incredible level of sensitivity that each artist's auspicious careers would suggest.  For Robin Fincker, his extensive catalogue of releases has been steeped in versatility - able to showcase work across a litany of projects and ensembles including the Loop Collective, the Charles Mingus-inspired Whahay project or the Deep Ford trio, the French saxophonist has embraced projects that afford the freedom of improvisation, the joy of collaboration and an unhindered approach to music-making.

Similarly, the highly-decorated British pianist Kit Downes has embraced those same challenges when it has come to his own projects.  Through his own collection of ensembles which include ENEMY, Elt, Troyka and Vyamanikal, Downes' dynamic and progressive perspectives have cemented him as one of the UK's most prominent jazz musicians.  And then of course to round out the trio, there's the incomparable Lauren Kinsella who - with releases on Edition Records, WideEarRecords, Diatribe and Two Rivers Records, Kinsella's remarkable and award-winning vocal has graced prestigious stages across the UK, festivals across Europe and projects including the Chris Hyson collaboration as Snowpoet.

Even on paper, the Fincker-Downes-Kinsella pairing is a tantalising prospect but for the Shadowlands project to take on the imagination that both 'Ombres' and 'Two Minds' captures is an unexpected delight.  'Two Minds' proves very much a continuation of its predecessor's ideals and an album that is more about discovery than remembrance.  A spellbinding release.

'Ghosts from the Past' by Sarife

Fresh from her scene-stealing appearances on the Angel of Libra's 'Road to Mandalay' released earlier this year, Sarife Afonso unveils her long-in-the-works debut album in 'Ghosts from the Past' through Waterfall Records.

The transition from the Angel of Libra's brand of 60's-inspired, dusty analogue-tinged explosive soul to the smoother R&B and neo-soul aesthetic of her new solo offering is indicative of Sarife's over-arching versatility.

Based in Hamburg, Germany, Sarife's initial forays into music took shape through musical theatre training that found her gracing international stages to significant acclaim.  As a finalist at Los Angeles' World Championship of Performing Arts, Sarife's indelible gifts clearly pointed to a bright future early within her career despite ultimately leading to a transition away from the theatre stages and more towards the singer-songwriter realm.

While undoubtedly adept at tackling any role she would so choose, the allure of Sarife as a solo artist absolutely proved to be the path of greater significance.  Even delving into just a few of the tracks from 'Ghosts from the Past', the honesty and sincerity that Afonso pours into her music - certainly as a vocalist but also as a writer - is definitively evident.  And in many ways, that's what 'Ghosts from the Past' is - an open letter to past feelings, emotions and dynamics that have all helped to shape the young vocalist into the budding artist that Afonso has now become.  It's a sentiment elegantly captured in the album's opening number 'Ghosts' which expertly balances a haunting undertone with an infectious vocal; while a song that exudes optimism, in many ways it's a song that begins with its revelatory conclusion: "I'm no longer haunted by my ghosts".

It's particularly exciting to see the Angels of Libra connection impact the album in positive ways as well - with production throughout by Libra guitarist Dennis Rux (alongside Tobias Held and Laura Hofer), the band score a co-credit when appearing on the album's Latin-tinged closing number, 'Una Última Vez'.  An excellent number that slightly recontextualises the music listeners tend to normally expect from the German soul collective. 

And similarly, 'Ghosts from the Past' achieves that same accomplishment for Afonso herself.  While sounding effortlessly at home on songs that showcase her powerhouse vocal for northern soul stompers, Sarife's debut full-length demonstrates an entirely new perspective for her music that finds her just as comfortable on songs that pay loving homage to artists like Jill Scott and Lalah Hathaway who prove as pivotal to her musical make-up as say Aretha Franklin.  

As a deeply personal project, 'Ghosts from the Past' finds Sarife tackling themes of identity, heartbreak and self doubt with earnestness, emerging with renewed confidence and poise.

:n-the-m:x | June 2026

Welcome to our monthly mix series with each episode spotlighting 10 tracks that we were particularly excited about across various shows on Blue-in-Green:RADIO. This month showcases a selection providing a near 40-minute excursion from psychedelic soul to hip-hop boom-bap to sublime electronica to round out the mix.

Music this month comes courtesy of...

'I Want You, Say You're Mine' by The 7:45s featuring Nicole Battick (LRK Records)

'Love Online' by Acid Slop (Mandarin Dreams)

'Eternal Flow' by BALTHVS (Mixto Records)

'Light Lowers' by Lisathe (La Sape)

'Fly Away' by Lanu featuring Melanie Pain of Nouvelle Vague (Pacific Theatre)

'Problem An Nou' [Dusty from Jazz Liberatorz Remix] by As Valet (Oioji)

'Black Hand Side' [Mama Remix] A Cat Called Fritz & Queen Latifah

'Again' by The Night Service Commute featuring Merel Van Der Meer

'Your Heart Knows Something That Your Brain Does Not' by Arms & Sleepers (Future Archive Recordings)

'Running' by Danny Keane (MVKA)

:n-the-m:x is exclusive to our Mixcloud channel so be sure to check back at the end of every month for future round-ups.