Exploring the Jackhammer Noise and Clubby Alt-Rock of Ashnymph and This Week's Top New Tracks
Based in the UK cities of London and Brighton
If you enjoy artists like Underworld, MGMT, or Animal Collective
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The pair of releases put out so far by Ashnymph are hard to categorise: the band's own tag of their music as “subconscioussion” doesn’t offer many clues. Their initial track Saltspreader blended a jackhammer industrial beat – guitarist Will Wiffen has sometimes been seen on stage in a tee that features the symbol of the trailblazing band Godflesh – with old-school electronic keys and a guitar riff that vaguely recalls the Stooges’ garage rock perennial I Wanna Be Your Dog, before dissolving into a mass of eerie audio. The desired impact, the trio have suggested, was to evoke motorway travel, “the grinding circulation of vehicles all day long over vast spans … amber lights after dark”.
The subsequent track, Mr Invisible, sits somewhere between club music and experimental rock. On one hand, the cut's tempo, strata of mesmerizing synths, and singing that comes either psychedelically smeared or spellbindingly cyclical in a way that brings back Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman period all indicate the dancefloor. On the other, its intense performance-style shifts, near-anarchic character and fuzz – “making everything sound crunchy is a long-term goal,” the musician stated – distinguish it as clearly a group effort rather than a bedroom-bound producer. They've gigged around the independent music circuit in south London for a short time, “any venue that cranks the volume”.
But the two tracks are vibrant and distinct – from each other and anything else around at the moment – to make you wonder about the band's future direction. Regardless of the form, on the basis of these two singles, it’s sure to be engaging.
This Week’s Best New Tracks
Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I simply must have experiences”, Florence Shaw decides on the group's captivating comeback, but across six minutes – with exhales setting the pace – you feel that she can’t work out why.
Azimuth by Danny L Harle with Caroline Polachek
Welding Evanescence goth drama to classic 90s trance – including the line “and I ask the rain” – the track implies reviving your rave outfits and making your way to a rave, stat.
Robyn – Acne Studios mix
Robyn's composition for the Swedish designer’s SS26 show teases her upcoming ninth album, including driving guitar parts à la Soulwax, Benny Benassi-style thrust and the lyrics “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.
Jordana's Like That
Listeners adored her record Lively Premonition last year and the American artist further demonstrates her impressive hook-crafting ability as she expresses unrequited feelings.
Get a Life by Molly Nilsson
The independent Swedish artist dropped the record Amateur this week, and this cut is remarkable: a electronic guitar part thrusts forward rapidly as Nilsson demands we take control of life.
Artemas – Superstar
Post explorations of tired relationships on his megahit I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its overlooked mixtape Yustyna, the musician of mixed heritage is wretchedly in thrall to his current partner amid icy synth-driven sound.
Jennifer Walton – Miss America
From one of the year’s standout debuts, a delicate electronic ballad about Walton discovering her dad had died in an transit lodge, tracing her uncanny surroundings in softly sung lines: “Strip mall, drug deal, panic attacks.”