New music - w23
New Horizons in Sound: From Scottish Folk to Jazz Fusion - Your Essential Guide to This Week's Releases
From the misty shores of Scotland to the vibrant streets of Melbourne, these fine new releases challenge, comfort, and captivate - proving that in 2025, musical boundaries continue to blur in the most fascinating ways.
Jacob Alon – In Limerence
LABEL: Island GENRE: Indie Folk
Jacob Alon’s debut, In Limerance, is a masterclass in indie folk that feels both ancient and startlingly fresh. Released in 2025 on the independent label Fallow Fields, the record is a tapestry woven from the threads of Scottish folklore, personal vulnerability, and a touch of the mystical. Alon, a 24-year-old singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland, has been quietly creating ripples in the folk scene with a voice that curls around melodies like smoke and lyrics that turn everyday detritus—dead birds, broken shells—into icons of beauty and loss.
From the first notes, In Limerance signals its intent: this is not your grandad’s folk. The guitar work, shaped by Alon’s idiosyncratic technique (one hand manicured, the other talon-like), gives the music a tactile, almost corporeal intimacy. Critics from the BBC and NME have called Alon’s sound “otherworldly,” “delicate,” and “raw,” and it’s hard to argue with that when listening to tracks like “Unzipping Nested Layers,” where metaphors peel back emotional armor with surgical precision.
The production is minimalist but never sparse. Each song is draped in a misty atmosphere, conjuring the damp woodlands and overcast beaches of Alon’s hometown. The arrangements are anchored by acoustic guitar but fleshed out with subtle strings, field recordings, and the occasional spectral harmony. Alon’s lyrics are a clinic in poetic economy—never a wasted word, every line a breadcrumb leading deeper into their world. There’s a Nick Drake influence here, but Alon’s voice is more tremulous, more fragile, as if it might dissolve into the ether at any moment.
What sets In Limerance apart in the crowded indie folk landscape is its emotional honesty. There’s no artifice, no forced quirk. Alon’s songs feel like confessions whispered across a campfire, or the kind of stories you only tell when the rain is drumming on the roof and no one else is listening. The album’s title, referencing the intoxicating, obsessive crushes of youth, is apt—these songs linger, looping in your mind like the memory of a first heartbreak.
For anyone who’s ever found solace in the melancholy of Elliott Smith or the gentle surrealism of Vashti Bunyan, Alon’s music will feel like coming home after a long journey. The genre is best described as indie folk, with a strong undercurrent of alternative and psych-folk.
Recommendations for Further Listening: If In Limerance leaves you hungry for more, try Nick Drake’s Pink Moon for kindred fingerpicking guitar and poetic melancholy, or Laura Marling’s Once I Was an Eagle for a modern take on introspective folk. Fans might also enjoy the spectral folk of Julie Byrne or the experimental edge of Big Thief.
Deradoorian – Ready For Heaven
LABEL: Fire Records GENRE: Pop
Angel Deradoorian’s Ready For Heaven is a labyrinthine journey through art-pop, post-punk, and experimental soundscapes. The former Dirty Projectors member continues her solo evolution here, blending skittering drumbeats, apparitional piano, and a restless creative energy that’s as alluring as it is unsettling.
This album doesn’t just wear its influences on its sleeve—it stitches them into the fabric of every track. Early singles like “Digital Gravestone” and “Set Me Free” set the tone: pulsing synths, mechanistic percussion, and a voice that can pivot from icy deadpan to euphoric disco runs in a heartbeat. “No No Yes Yes,” perhaps the album’s most infectious cut, rides a mutant-disco groove with a bassline that could make even the most stoic listener nod along. Deradoorian’s vocals are the secret weapon, shifting between detached and devotional, always keeping the listener guessing.
Lyrically, Ready For Heaven is a meditation on late-stage capitalism’s spiritual malaise, but Deradoorian sidesteps polemic in favor of the somatic and intuitive. The result is an album that feels both timely and timeless, as if it’s tuning into a frequency just outside normal human hearing. There’s a sense of searching, of restlessness, that runs through every track—a hunger for meaning in a world that often feels hollowed out.
Critics from Far Out Magazine praise Deradoorian’s ability to conjure “a cavernous pool of pop expanse,” where every sonic element is in conversation with the others. The production is lush but never overstuffed, allowing each instrument room to breathe. The result is an album that feels like a mirage—always shifting, never quite what you expect.
Ready For Heaven is art-pop at its most compelling: challenging but never alienating, cerebral yet deeply felt. If you’re looking for music that rewards close listening, that offers new discoveries with every spin, this is your ticket to the labyrinth.
Recommendations for Further Listening: Fans of Ready For Heaven will find much to love in Julia Holter’s Have You In My Wilderness, Jenny Hval’s Blood Bitch, and the experimental pop of Cate Le Bon. For more groove-driven art-pop, try St. Vincent’s MASSEDUCTION or the left-field funk of Tune-Yards.
Don Glori – Paper Can’t Wrap Fire
LABEL: Mr Bongo GENRE: Jazz - Funk
Don Glori’s Paper Can’t Wrap Fire, released on Mr Bongo, is a heady blend of jazz, funk, and soul that moves with the confidence of a street parade and the introspection of a midnight jam session. Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist Gordon Li (aka Don Glori) draws on a deep well of influences, but this album is no mere pastiche—it’s a living, breathing organism of groove and atmosphere.
The album’s title, borrowed from a Chinese proverb, sets the tone: these songs are about truth-seeking, the masks we wear, and the art of letting go. From the rainy-day moodiness of opener “Disaster” to the free-flowing brass and gospel harmonies that snake through the record, every track feels meticulously crafted yet joyfully spontaneous. The basslines strut, the percussion bubbles, and the brass slithers in and out of the mix like a mischievous spirit.
Critics at Obscure Sound call the album “enthralling” and praise its “atmospheric, grooving blend of soul, funk, and jazz.” There’s a sense of community in these recordings—a feeling that you’re eavesdropping on a group of friends who just happen to be world-class musicians. The production is warm and analog, with every note given room to resonate.
What really sets Paper Can’t Wrap Fire apart is its emotional intelligence. Don Glori isn’t just showing off chops; he’s telling stories, exploring the spaces between notes, and inviting listeners to do the same. The album moves effortlessly from introspective ballads to dancefloor-ready jams, never losing its sense of purpose or playfulness. It’s a record that rewards both close listening and casual enjoyment—put it on in the background and it’ll make your day better; give it your full attention and you’ll find layers upon layers to unpack.
Recommendations for Further Listening: If you dig Don Glori’s blend of jazz and funk, check out Emancipator for downtempo grooves, or the classic jazz-funk of Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor. For more contemporary vibes, try Kamaal Williams or the soulful explorations of Alfa Mist. Throw in a bit of Snarky Puppy if you want to keep the party going.
Alan Sparhawk – Alan Sparhawk With Trampled Turtles
LABEL: Sub Pop GENRE: Folk - Rock
Alan Sparhawk’s collaboration with Trampled by Turtles, released on Sub Pop, is a poignant intersection of grief, friendship, and musical kinship. In the wake of his wife and Low bandmate Mimi Parker’s death, Sparhawk found solace in the company of fellow Minnesotans Trampled by Turtles, and together they’ve crafted an album that is as much about healing as it is about loss.
This album is a departure from Sparhawk’s recent experimental work—gone are the harsh electronics and abstracted vocals of White Roses, My God. Instead, we’re treated to a rootsy, bluegrass-inflected Americana that foregrounds acoustic textures, communal harmonies, and the raw timbre of Sparhawk’s voice. The banjo, guitar, and violin interplay is warm and organic, capturing the spirit of a late-night jam among old friends.
Reviews from Pitchfork, The Line of Best Fit, and For Folk’s Sake converge on a single point: this is an album about bearing witness—to pain, to memory, and to the redemptive power of community. Songs like “Screaming Song” are direct in their emotional impact, with lyrics that linger long after the last note fades. The production is unvarnished, almost live-sounding, lending the album a sense of immediacy and presence.
There’s no wallowing here, though. While the album is undeniably mournful, it’s also shot through with hope and gratitude. The chemistry between Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles is palpable, the result of years of mutual respect and admiration in the Minnesota music scene. Each song feels like a conversation between old friends, with Trampled by Turtles' signature string arrangements providing a warm embrace for Sparhawk's contemplative songwriting.
Recommendations for Further Listening: For those moved by this collaborative effort, explore the catalog of Low, particularly their albums Things We Lost in the Fire and I Could Live in Hope. The acoustic-driven sound pairs well with Fleet Foxes' harmonious folk and The Tallest Man on Earth's intimate songwriting. For more genre-bending Americana, try William Tyler's instrumental compositions or Bill Callahan's storytelling prowess.
Check out the FAB 50 playlist on Spotify for all of my recent discoveries!
