The result is an album, bookended by Verocai’s strings, that relaxes into a groove: sunlit, sublime, masterful. Behind everything is Hiatus’ familiar sense of musical adventure, their knack for making the complex sound simple, or in their own words “wondercore”. 

Simon’s experiment with an odd rhythm in groups of 5 becomes a cascading jam called “Rose Water.” Bender and Simon’s trading of single notes, back and forth, to make a melody becomes “All The Words We Don’t Say.” Nai’s cheeky take on sex-obsessed, three-minute pop hits becomes “Chivalry Is Not Dead,” a song about the bizarre mating rituals of leopard slugs (they turn fluorescent) and seahorses (they lock tails and dance). 

The album ends with the delicate “Blood and Marrow,” a Bender bassline to which Nai and Perrin improvised, that Simon pegs as his favourite: “It’s a classic Hiatus studio song that’s got beautiful exploration and mystery.” Mood Valiant is an act of love, of courage, of altered perspective, of sister-and-brotherhood.

By rights, it will become essential modern listening - a thought-provoking and utterly compelling collection of tracks, delivered with understated yet captivating style.

In the past three years,박혜진 Park Hye Jin has moved from Seoul to Melbourne to London to Los Angeles. Before I Die, her first full-length, which she made entirely during the pandemic, excavates the feelings of isolation and vulnerability triggered by those transitions: the injustice of feeling wronged, the ache of familial longing, the loss of her sense of self. 

Where 2018’s breakthrough EP If U Want It and 2020’s How Can I EP focused on dreamy house production with forays into experimental club, juke, and techno, Before I Die expands into trap, industrial techno, and downtempo alongside her typical atmospheric house productions. She also incorporates more storytelling into her lyrics this time, using Korean to illuminate specific incidents and English to convey her feelings in broad strokes. 

Overall an incredible album, which explores the contours of an emotional journey in space and time.

Arriving under the banner of Marie Davidson and L’Oeil nu, a trio formed of three old-time friends and long-term collaborators with shared roots in Montreal’s DIY scene: Marie, Pierre Guerineau and Asaël R. Robitaille (the former two are also husband and wife, and partners in the group Essaie pas). 

Drawn to the idea of the eternal return, they deliver a forward-facing, innovative pop record that builds on the classic tenets of Marie’s music to create something that strikes out towards a broader audience. With dark humour and interpolated musical influences - from Fleetwood Mac to Kraftwerk, and jazz classics such as Billie Holiday and Chet Baker - they spin each of its entries in wildly imaginative directions.

Fragments is a series of 12 sonic affirmations, featuring some of the hardest and most hip-shaking grooves that Green has ever created. The ballads are perfectly placed throughout; they capture a world in flux and glow with hope. Coaxing the ideas out initially took some hard work. The constantly-touring Green creates best while on the move; the global shutdown forced him to stand still.

Musical themes began to arise through Green’s exploration of modular synthesis, recordings he had made of harpist Lara Somogyi, his work with arranger and string player Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, his own playing of the Fender Rhodes and more, as the album was created, recorded and mixed by Green over the past two years. The album also came into focus as he sought refuge on solo adventures into nature, away from the shutdowns and wild fires and into the blazing California desert.

 Blockhead has produced much of Aesop Rock's best work across several albums, in addition to production work for DJ Signify and Joanna Erdos, amongst others.

Actress has been something of a force of nature within electronic music and club culture. His latest album Karma & Desire brings out the different iterations of his sound into something more introspective. Where his previous solo album AZD (2017) focused on the life-as-chrome and machinic selfhood, this album is trying to think in terms of organic viscerality through ideas of reincarnation and karmic action.

Cinematic Orchestra stalwarts Jason Swinscoe and Dominic Smith have ensnared contributions from Moses Sumney, Roots Manuva, Heidi Vogel, Grey Reverend, Dorian Concept, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Taiwah on an album mixed by Tom ‘I’ve got a Grammy’ Elmhirst. Evocative warm guitar notes float and land gently. Powerful and sorrowful vocals release delicately placed notes and sublime harmonies. Orchestrated strings soar around smooth jazzy moods and electronics to swim in a wondrous sea of glory.