by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly recap of this week's new music. We're sharing our favorite releases of the week in the form of albums, singles, and music videos along with the "further listening" section of new and notable releases from around the web. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music we've included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.

*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of top-notch quality too.

THE CRADLE | “Eyes So Clear”

For all the experimental craft and sonic wonder The Cradle has conjured up over the years, from glitchy sound collages to orchestral pop and sunburnt shoegaze, there’s something different about “Eyes So Clear”. The latest single from Paco Cathcart’s upcoming album, Laughing In My Sleep (due out next month via NNA Tapes), sounds like a lost nugget of a bygone era. This song is “AM Gold” and sounds like a hit if we’ve ever heard one. Joined together once again with Palberta’s Lily Konigsberg on vocals, the duo’s harmonies swarm together to endcap the hooks, pairing together in perfection as the cyclical composition gentle crashes, putting an emphasis on each phrasing. It’s flat out beautiful. We should all be talking more about this record.

HELVETIA | “How Does It Feel?”

Portland’s Helvetia have been building one of our generation’s finest discographies for the past fifteen years, continuously gifting the world with forward thinking albums that squiggle and skronk at all the right moments. In all that time, Jason Albertini has become a master of his craft, and on “How Does It Feel?,” the last single to be released before This Devastating Map is out in the world (via Joyful Noise on August 7th), he’s able to boil down the magic of the project into just over sixty seconds. The song, described as a letter to depression personified as a friend, slinks with a massive bass line and fuzzy drums, as Albertini questions mental stability with an elastic melody that dips around the blissfully tape-y mix.

J. ZUNZ | “Four Women And Darkness”

“Four Women And Darkness” is a haunting presence of tranquility from the upcoming J. Zunz record, Hibiscus. Due out in August via Rocket Recordings, the solo project of Lorena Quintanilla (best known as half of the Mexican duo Lorelle Meets The Obsolete) which began in 2017 continues to explore textures and landscapes beyond her main project’s psych wanderings. Opting for minimal electronic atmospherics, “Four Women And Darkness” opens to mumble with a faint pulse, like shadows in the mist. When the ominious bass comes throbbing in, the pulse doesn’t change, the song doesn’t explode, it just delves deeper into its own tension. It’s dark synth-wave with an experimental edge, still flooded with sound but built on restraint.

MARLOWE | “Otherworld”

We’re going to keep saying it for anyone listening, Marlowe, the pairing of North Carolina MC Solemn Brigham and producer L’Orange, are about to release one of the year’s best hip-hop albums. Marlowe 2 is out in early August via Mello Music Group, and much like the duo’s last record, it’s an ever shifting playground for Brigham to flex the diversity of his lyricism and the elastic nature of his delivery. His words, often poetic and acerbic, dart around the dusty L’Orange samples, perhaps shown best on latest single “Otherworld,” with its beat consistently breaking in new directions. Brigham bullies the beat, adapting his ever smooth flow, offering his creative reflections, “used to swear the night would never flip me now we staying late / when I was a wretch ain’t no one try to sing amazing grace / I just hope I beam up on the fade away.”

NEUROTIC FICTION | “Romance” EP

Surprise! Bristol, UK post-punk and garage pop band Neurotic Fiction just released Romance, a fantastic new EP via Specialist Subject Records. The goods news is that it’s an essential eight and a half minutes of music that builds and improves on their debut album, Pulp Music. The bad news is the band say its “quite likely” their last release. If it’s true, the quartet are going out sounding their absolute best, with four quick yet impactful songs rumble of tight rhythms and big punchy riffs that jangle and howl. It’s post-punk with a hefty dose of sunshine pop in the vein of Primo!, Shopping, or Melenas. Each song is a deliberate blend of locked in grooves, inescapable melodies, and just enough discordance to keep raw and jagged.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (July 20th - July 26th)