| The Early began in northern New Jersey in 2004 as a band of high school buddies coming of age at the apex of indie rock and fixated on the “post-rock” sounds of Do Make Say Think, Jim O’Rourke and Tortoise. Since then the group has had multiple reincarnations, most recently in the two-piece of Alex Lewis (guitars, synthesizers) and Jake Nussbaum (drums, electronics). Reunited in Philadelphia in 2019, Alex and Jake have spent the past six years reinventing their shared musical language, infusing the textural grandeur of post-rock with the communicational intimacy of jazz improvisation and the patient grooves of minimalism and electronica. |
| Their latest releases with Island House Recordings, Cusp, anEP (featuring a track with friend Patrick Shiroishi) and the full-length I Want To Be Ready represent a new plateau in the band’s explorations. [following 2023’s Impatient (Ruination) and 2024’s Squashed Dragons, a collaboration with Philadelphia improvisers Totally Automatic.] |
| I Want To Be Ready’s title draws inspiration from choreographer and dancer Danielle Goldman, whose book by the same name describes improvisation as a state of “readiness” for whatever is to come. “A skilled improviser,” she writes, “will be intimately familiar with her habitual ways of moving, as well as the shifting social norms that give those movements meaning. Then, on a moment-to-moment basis, she figures out how to move.” |
| The Early’s new music grows out of those negotiations. Some pieces unfold totally spontaneously, others are arranged with lush layers and effects that create a container for the unexpected. Each piece wrestles with the limitations of a shared musical language that seems to ossify at the same time as it evolves. |
| I Want To Be Ready is also a conscious response to the band’s previous full-length Impatient, released in 2023. That album grappled with the band’s frustrations for the world through an imposed slowness, an attempt to acknowledge our own impatience and create some kind of balm for it. I Want To Be Ready is perhaps a more honest kind of reckoning: a desire, a humble aspiration to get their shit together for whatever’s ahead. |
https://theearly.bandcamp.com/album/cusp-ep
After years of shaping the UK underground from behind the scenes, Alex Nut steps out with his first official solo EP, serving up an intoxicating blend of Spiritual Jazz, Deep House, Dub, Hip Hop and analog electronics. Best known as a DJ, broadcaster, curator and co-founder of Eglo Records, (initially making noise alongside the likes of Floating Points, Steven Julien, and Fatima) his fingerprints can be found all over the UK’s underground, championing the evolution of Jazz, Soul, House, and Broken Beat .
Alex’s debut solo release ‘Present Under Construction EP’ is rooted in a deep musical language and future-facing energy, it captures a moment of creative transformation and exploration. Built up over a few years from rough sketches made on an old MPC2000XL, the tracks were revisited, reshaped and eventually brought to life in the studio with longtime friend and collaborator Sam Crowe (Cleo Sol, Lianne La Havas). The record’s lead track ‘andthenitstarted’ features saxophonist James Mollison (Ezra Collective, Nala Sinephro) and includes remixes from Detroit House legend Patrice Scott and fellow Eglo Records alumni Last Nubian.
Ben Quad have announced an upcoming headline tour in support of their new album ‘Wisher’ out now via Pure Noise Records. Dates will span 25 cities and kick off on March 7 Atlanta, GA. Support comes from Riley!, Aren’t We Amphibians and Footballhead. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 5 at 10am local time.
The band recently completed a US tour supporting labelmates KOYO and will tour the UK and Europe in February with Arm’s Length.. A full list of upcoming tour dates can be found below.
Ben Quad – Upcoming Tour Dates
UK/Europe
w/Arm’s Length
February 5 – Southampton, UK at Engine Rooms
February 6 – London, UK at O2 Academy Islington
February 7 – Manchester, UK at Club Academy
February 9 – Glasgow, UK at G2, The Garage
February 10 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK at The Grove
February 12 – Liverpool, UK at District
February 13 – Leeds, UK at Project House
February 14 – Birmingham, UK at O2 Academy 2
February 15 – Kingston Upon Thames, UK at Fighting Cocks
February 18 – Antwerpen, Belgium
February 19 – Eindhoven, Netherlands at Dynamo
February 20 – Cologne, Germany at Gebäude 9
February 21 – Hamburg, Germany at LOGO
North American ‘Wisher’ Spring Headline Tour
w/ Riley!, Aren’t We Amphibians, Footballhead
March 7 – Atlanta, GA at Aisle 5
March 8 – Durham, NC at The Fruit
March 9 – Richmond, VA at Canal Club
March 10 – Baltimore, MD at Metro Gallery
March 12 – Boston, MA at The Sinclair
March 13 – Philadelphia, PA at Ukie Club
March 14 – Asbury Park, NJ at House of Independents
March 15 – Brooklyn, NY at Elsewhere
March 17 – Buffalo, NY at Rec Room
March 18 – Lakewood, OH at Mahall’s
March 20 – Detroit, MI at The Sanctuary
March 21 – Chicago, IL at Reggies
March 22 – Minneapolis, MN at The Green Room
March 24 – Denver, CO at Meow Wolf
March 27 – Portland, OR at Hawthorne Theatre
March 28 – Seattle, WA at El Corazon
March 29 – Boise, ID at Treefort Music Festival
March 31 – Reno, NV at Holland Project
April 1 – San Jose, CA at The Ritz
April 3 – San Diego, CA at House of Blues
April 4 – Anaheim, CA at Parish at HOB
April 5 – Mesa, AZ at Rosetta
April 8 – Houston, TX at Secret Group
April 9 – San Antonio, TX at The Rock Box
April 10 – Dallas, TX at Three Links
Wisher serves as the follow-up to Ben Quad’s 2022 debut I’m Scared That’s All There Is. While the first record captured the uncertainty of youth and fear of the future, Wisher reflects a more hopeful perspective, with the title symbolizing the part of ourselves that looks ahead to a better future. The new album feels like a response to the band’s earlier work, offering growth and optimism in place of doubt.
Singles off the record include the debut track “It’s Just a Title,” the cathartic song “Painless,” “Very Big In Sheboygan,” and the nostalgic “All Your Luck”. All tracks deal with a variety of themes present throughout the album, including grief and loss, but also optimism for the future.
Hercules & Love Affair today share the official video for “Someone Else Is Calling,” the lead single from Andy Butler’s forthcoming EP of the same name, out December 14 via StrataSonic Records. The EP, created with Paranoid London’s Quinn Whalley and Icelandic vocalist Elín Ey, marks Butler’s long-awaited return to the dancefloor, fusing tactile acid house with classic vocal-house emotion.
Directed and co-starring Tatsumi Milori, the video is a vivid, narrative portrait of Mexico City’s queer community. Shot across Xochimilco, Centro, and intimate indoor spaces, it follows Milori, Elín Ey, and a cast of friends and collaborators through moments of dancing, rehearsing, laughing, and moving through the city together. The result is a storytelling collage that captures the EP’s spirit: ecstatic, shadowy, communal, and deeply human.
“For me, this project just appeared out of nowhere, like I manifested it,” says Milori. “I heard the track for the first time in the shower and immediately started dancing. It’s this dreamy, ethereal vocal over a dark, goth-y beat. Filming in Mexico with a crew of incredible femmes and theys felt like making a little queer family.”
rising alt-metal disruptor Jutes has released the deluxe edition of Dilworth. Building on the sound and storytelling fans have already embraced, the deluxe release pushes the album into an even more intense and immersive direction – showcasing the evolution of this era while adding new depth to its darker, high-voltage core.
The expanded project arrives following the strong momentum of his standout focus tracks “Parasite” and “It Takes Two,” which have resonated powerfully with fans and further cemented this chapter of Jutes’ sonic identity. Both singles showcased Jutes’ ability to blend raw vulnerability with explosive alt-metal energy, setting the stage for the full album’s heavier, more electrifying landscape.
“Dilworth is an album that reflects many different parts of my life, past and present,” says Jutes. “It’s dark, passionate, devastating, angry, raunchy, and hopeful. Sonically, I wanted it to feel like an extension of my last album, Sleepyhead. There’s evolution too – I’ve grown more comfortable in the world I’m building – but in a way, it’s a second chapter of the same story. I felt it was important to really cement my own sound in the heavier rock space. Drawing from such diverse inspirations has created something unique that truly feels like my own.”
Alongside the deluxe release, Jutes also premieres the official music video for “Facelift,” a dynamic visual built from footage captured across multiple stops on leg 3 of his Sleepyhead tour. Grainy, energetic, and drenched in a gritty 90s inspired aesthetic, the video channels the raw intensity of his live performances – bringing the song’s emotional weight and alt-metal edge to life through a vintage, lo-fi lens.
“Facelift started as a song I wrote for a Fast and Furious movie fight scene, but they ended up passing on it because the scene was set in Rome and they went with an Italian track instead. The song still went hard, so I decided to start performing it live a couple years later – and now, here we are: it’s officially on my album.”
Avant-garde dark pop artist Samantha Leah invites her audience into a spellbinding new world with her latest single “Acrobat.” Inspired by a real interaction in a cabaret-themed speakeasy, “Acrobat” blurs the line between reverie and reality. The song is filled with hypnotic rhythms, provocative vocals, and shimmering synths that mirror the tension between balance and collapse. This theme is carried through the song’s official music video, out now on YouTube. “Acrobat” is available now on all major streaming platforms.
Premiered by mxdwn, “Acrobat” invites listeners into a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere where fantasy meets temptation. The song creates a sonic encounter that feels intimate and mysterious. “‘Acrobat’ was inspired by a night in a smoky, cabaret-style speakeasy, where I met a hypnotizing bartender who felt like she was performing just for me,” Samantha explains. Blending a lush combination of sultry jazz tones, relaxing R&B melodies, and late-night mystique, the song brings listeners into an illusive world of noir, fairy tale, and magic.
There is a certain solace to be found in minimal music—a contemplative joy that emerges through sustained repetition and subtle variation. Solo Three, the slyly absorbing new album from Michigan-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Erik Hall, embodies that hypnotic charge while boldly reimagining a distinct selection of contemporary classical works.
Solo Three is the third in Hall’s trilogy of releases reinterpreting and reimagining contemporary pieces, beginning with 2020’s Music for 18 Musicians (Steve Reich) and 2023’s Canto Ostinato (Simeon ten Holt), both of which were critically acclaimed.
Solo Three is set for release on January 23rd via Western Vinyl. Today, Hall shares the second single: A bubbling adaptation of electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel’s “A Folk Study.” Check out the piece via YouTube, and pre-order the album here.
“‘A Folk Study’ comes from an era of Laurie Spiegel’s work that used relatively-early electronics as a vehicle for music that is entirely expressive and lifelike, and I’ve always been drawn to that contrast in her recordings,” Erik describes. “As a means to engage with this music that I love, I decided to flip this idea on its head and attempt an overlay of acoustic performances that embody that certain set of limitations; essentially playing like a machine while inherently conveying the swift emotional course of the piece.”
Hall’s affinity for minimalism began decades ago, when as a jazz-studies drummer at the University of Michigan he first encountered Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. The piece altered his trajectory completely. Years later, amid a creative lull, he revisited that formative work by attempting a solo reconstruction. Working alone in his home studio, Hall painstakingly recreated Reich’s intricate, interlocking architecture—supplanting the piece’s orchestral palette with his own keyboards, guitars, and synths—and performing every part himself without loops, programming, or sequencers.
That recording, released on Western Vinyl in 2020, arrived during the fraught early months of lockdown and resonated deeply with listeners. Pitchfork praised it for making “a minimalist standard freshly thrilling to revisit,” and it won the 2021 Libera Award for Best Classical Record. Even Reich himself wrote to congratulate Hall, saying he had “reinvented the piece.”
Brooklyn’s Victoryland, the avant-pop project of Julian McCamman, is excited to share the second single from their upcoming Good English label debut, My Heart Is A Room With No Cameras In It, out January 23, 2026 everywhere digitally and on cassette tapes, which are available for pre-order now. “Fits” is out now with an official glitched out music video, balancing desire and satiating immediate needs over shrill guitars, skronky synths and pangs of hope.
“A dance/trance song about the ultimate search for love in the face all of my childish demands,” says McCamman. “Debts rarely get paid, why would love be any different?
Hard dance duo The Saints, formed by Jules van de Sant and Rick de Deken, continue to solidify their position as one of the fastest-emerging names in the genre. Built around their own concept of Holy Madness, the project blends the contrasting identities of both artists, creating a sound and performance style that connects instantly with audiences.
Over the past year, the duo has taken significant steps across Europe. Their appearance at the Defqon.1 Gathering marked an early turning point, introducing them to one of the world’s most dedicated hard dance crowds. They followed this momentum with the premiere of their live show at Rebirth, presenting a new level of staging and musical direction. Additional performances at Intents Mainstage and Supremacy placed the pair in front of large-scale festival audiences, helping broaden their reach even further.
Alongside their festival success, The Saints have built a strong reputation in clubs. Multiple sold-out headline shows in Germany demonstrated their ability to draw loyal crowds, while their performance at Fabrik Madrid showcased their energy on one of Europe’s most respected stages. Their past releases, including “OG Raver” have become key records in their sets and have gained strong support throughout the scene. An official remix for Sub Zero Project added another milestone to their rapidly growing catalogue.
The duo is now preparing for what they describe as their next major chapter. A new live show is currently in development, aiming to expand the visual and emotional storytelling that has become central to their identity. They are also working on several collaborations set for release in 2025, as well as a follow-up track with The Purge titled Maria / I Like It Loud, building on the success of “OG Raver” Their remix for Sub Zero Project also brought the energy around the world and the pair recently recently introduced their new outro “Legacy,” which has been tearing through the festival circuit and quickly becoming one of the standout moments in their live sets.
There has been growing anticipation around unreleased material, with hints that a cover of “Sweet Nothing” may appear in their upcoming run of shows. Industry supporters have noted the speed of their rise, with many calling them one of the most accelerated new acts in the current hard dance landscape. Their track “OG Raver” is already projected by many fans and DJs to perform strongly in the 2025 Top 100.
With a summer tour ahead and bookings on several major stages worldwide, The Saints are entering a defining moment in their career. Their blend of intensity, emotion, and performance continues to resonate with audiences, and both artists describe this period simply as the beginning of what they intend to build.
DUBLIN — Irish composer, pianist, and producer Sarah Power will release her debut EP, In The Shadows, on December 5th, marking her first major step into the spotlight after more than a decade shaping soundtracks and performances from behind the scenes.
Known for her atmospheric blend of felted piano, strings, and subtle electronic textures, Power has spent years crafting music for internationally recognised film and television projects. Her screen credits include work as Assistant Composer on This Town (BBC – Steven Knight), Swift Justice (The New Yorker – Emmy-nominated documentary short), The Boy That Never Was (RTÉ), and The Diplomat (Alibi TV). She recently contributed as Composer / Additional Music on RTÉ’s These Sacred Vows (2025), and served as Composer on Irish Baba and the Canadian feature The Delicate Art of Puppetry. Her production music has also been heard worldwide in programmes such as College Gameday and Top Chef.
Before turning her focus fully to composition, Power toured internationally as a pianist and producer with Irish artist Stephanie Rainey—performing at America’s Got Talent (2024 Quarter-Finals), Electric Picnic, Malahide Castle, The Marquee, the Lord Mayor’s Ball with the Cork Symphony Orchestra, and on a German and Dutch tour supporting Pa Sheehy (Walking on Cars). These experiences now inform the emotional sensitivity and cinematic awareness at the heart of her writing.Recorded between Treehouse Studios in County Wicklow and Power’s home studio in Dublin, In The Shadows is a deeply personal body of work that captures “the space between stillness and movement, intimacy and scale.” Across the EP, tactile piano tones meet layered strings and evolving textures, drawing inspiration from artists such as Hania Rani, Ólafur Arnalds, and Dustin O’Halloran.
The project also represents a significant artistic shift. After years helping to build other people’s stories, Power turns inward—exploring what it means to claim space as a composer in her own right.
“In The Shadows came from a really personal place,” Power says. “I’ve spent years working behind the scenes on other people’s projects, and this EP was my way of stepping out and claiming a bit of space for myself. They’re deeply personal pieces that mark me defining myself as a composer—a quiet record, but a real turning point.”
Closing out the year in a style that is all his own, Sylo today releases the new single “Seraphine.” Now based in Mexico City and allowing the change of paces to shape his new music, the Korean-Canadian alt-R&B artist has a new edge. Sylo co-produced today’s single alongside Bobbing and Cole Williams who are known for their work with Still Woozy, The Hails, Maz and more. Dripping his voice over a bouncing, grooving bassline, Sylo calls out to the spellbinding femme fatale who has him on his knees — Stream / Watch the visualizer.
He shares, “Seraphine, so witchy and mysterious. The beauty in her feminine intuition, something you’ll always chase but can never truly have.”
Beginning in mid-January, Sylo will set out on his headline the harder you try Tour. Along the way, he will be supported by hevel, J.Y.N. and Monét Ngo, and he will make a stop at Chicago’s Tomorrow Never Knows Fest. And in February, Sylo will hop on a handful of dates with Latin R&B phenom Jesse Baez. See all upcoming dates here and below.
Chart-topping songwriter Jaxson Free delivers a stripped down version of his latest single “Get Go” with a new live version recorded on a rooftop in Nashville. “Get Go (Skyline Sessions),” produced by Free himself, is the first of his Skyline Sessions series, which features the BMI Award-winning talent delivering raw performances, accentuated by the atmospheric backdrop. Featuring Jaxson and just an acoustic guitar, the video highlights the North Carolina’s musicianship and soulful vocals.
Nashville-based rock duo Her Leather Jacket is back with another new single: the bold and defiant “FUN”. The new track – produced by Aaron Gillespie (Underoath) – follows up previous single “Death Train feat. Kellin Quinn”, and serves as a reminder to enjoy the time you’re given. Listen to “FUN”, out now via Zodhiac Records, here.
The band shares: “Our song ‘Fun’ is meant to be a cheeky, lighthearted way to shed light on everyday vices that we might all have. If doing all these ‘bad’ things is going to send us to hell… well at least it’ll be fun.”
Her Leather Jacket recently took to the stage at When We Were Young Festival, performing alongside blink-182, Avril Lavigne, Panic! At The Disco, Weezer, and more. The band also opened the Festival at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas with Story Of The Year, The Rocket Summer, and The Cab. Most recently they also joined The Used for a sold out show in Austin.
Fans can look forward to more music and more live performances in 2026 – stay tuned at https://www.herleatherjacket.com/.
Phantom Pink is the hauntingly tender moniker for Los Angeles artist Brayton Walls whose dark, cinematic strain of art-rock captures the beauty in emotional chaos- blending jagged textures with dreamlike melodies.
In October, he released the first single “I’m at the right place at the right time” from his forthcoming full length albumGothika (due 2026). The song – mastered by Joe LaPorta (Beabadoobee, Laufey, Future Islands) – is loosely based on the cult classic thriller, Possession (1981).
This month, he follows with “Czech New Wave” (LISTEN | out 12/12) inspired by the film movement of the same name, it’s a splash of color in a black and white world.
Putting a scuzzy bow on their massive year, Girl Tones release one more single today titled “Leave The City.” Out now via Parallel Vision x Big Loud Rock, the song sees the 2-piece band with stars in their eyes after a year of playing all over the world. Formidable flowers pushing their way through the cracked concrete, Girl Tones are in a grateful state of disbelief. “Leave The City” is meant to be screamed from an open sunroof, taking in the night air — Stream.
The duo shared that, “‘Leave the City’ is about growing pains, it plays on the idea of loving where you are from, but feeling out of place. Navigating between pain and nostalgia in a place that you simultaneously love and hate.”
- Email: neill@outloudculture.com
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