Scratched Hearts and Scuffed Souls

Music to stop your brain from melting, your soul from catching fire and your hearts from burning like the fires of Hades

1979 : U-Ziq

Best for : The solitary and lonely

In the venn diagram of electronic music U-ziq has always operated somewhere where ambient interconnects with Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) and even, on rare occasions, synth pop. '1979' is biased towards ambience. It's music for the head, not the heart.

Why does that matter?

It matters because if you come to this with mistaken expectations, it will mean nothing to you. Whereas dance music brings people together in celebration, ambient music feels as if it's coming from an empty space. The tune, rhythm and beat to dance music welcomes you into the party whereas an ambient piece keeps you waiting outside the door. Dance music is for mass enjoyment. Ambient music such as 'Yemas' can feel like the mysteries of an unfamiliar religion. You can lose yourself in dance music, transported by the DJ out of your world. Ambient music only gives you what you want to take. You have to put the effort in to collect your winnings.

U-Ziq does both very well. It's a significant skill to bring the sounds in your head out into the open for others to appreciate. That's only half the story though. If you want the best from the ambient tracks here, you need to create the space to receive it, whether that's chemically, through sleep deprivation or by finding a way to still a busy mind. That's how the brooding, stirring qualities of 'Majadahonda At Dawn' and the 'so ambient it may not be music' feel of 'The Next Room' will find a way through.

Out of preference I prefer U-ziq when he brings melody into play and throws you a line that allows you to be pulled into his world. That's what he does on 'Radox'. You'll find similar lifelines in the cascading but fragmentary melody to 'Clari 1' and in the fizzing beat of 'Houzz 14' that nudges your toes into tapping mode. Something special occurs in 'Billowy'. In the wake of what's come before its swelling ebb and flow will catch you by surprise, your critical faculties momentarily disarmed. Then, it's magical.

It's a lengthy album, lasting for an hour. That's enough time to truly sink into it and savour its textures. Both elements play their part. Like a functioning organ that you may be unable to see or feel, this album feels necessary.

Taster Track : Billowy

The First Take : David Boulter

Best for : Inspiring reveries

There's no one better at making music that stops you in your tracks, and presses the pause button on life for a moment. And the surprise is that it's not music wielding a sledgehammer to attract your attention, but something that is as gentle and comforting as a hug from your Mum.

David Boulter has built a track record of albums that have transported you to a nostalgic place and time, to childhood memories of Yarmouth and Whitby. 'The First Take' is less based around one place but it still conjures up a sense of somewhere you know, but somewhere that's personal to you rather than exclusive to Boulter. That's the effect of the birdsong on 'The High Tor', for example.

His hallmark is melodious ambience. They're not tunes that would be easy to hum, but they contain phrases that will remain in your head as sonic triggers for some time. The pieces here are the sound of deja vue. They are simultaneously intangible but real.

His musical palette seems broader than before, less reliant on electronic atmospheres. Its presence grows stronger as the album proceeds. One track is enough to pique your interest, 11 tracks are enough to change the way you feel and think about your life. Flute and guitar are more prominent, and that nudges the album towards folk. You can hear that clearly on 'Where It Began'

'The First Take' is an album where music such as 'The Cherry Tree' sparks profound feelings rather than passionate ones. His compositions are like water, quietly finding their own shape. They have a stillness like a mirror lake with great depths. They trigger understanding, acceptance, and a warm feeling that all is well with your world. You can feel optimistic and safe. They take you into your head where you can be alone without feeling lonely.

The music box 'Vision On' feel to 'Clouds and Colours' is immediately nostalgic. 'Morphine' is more detached but quietly hypnotic. 'Home' has a quietly cheery tone. It's the opposite of a misery memoir, making it a place you want to be.

This is an album that brings peace and tranquility into your world.

Taster Track : Home

(Hickey) : Royel Otis

Best for : Finding indie pop's real deal

There's a big buzz around Royel Otis, but they're not a band that's about to make a big fuss about that. They're from Australia, but if you're thinking of the stereotypical Australian bar band, think again. In their view, drums aren't made to be broken in displays of great force but to carry along the song. Guitars can do more than power chords, they should be propelled by melody. For every louche Michael Hutchence, there's a seductive Kylie.

This is music carried on the waft of a mild spliff, loose, chilled and gently danceable. It has the cosmic feel of forces beyond our control making all the right and inevitable moves. 'She's Got A Gun' has the restraint of a formal line dance in its deliberate manoeuvring around the speakers.

What's striking is how grounded and real it feels. This is indie pop for everyday people, not the attention seekers desperate to stand out in a crowd with their melodramatic and intensely felt emotions.. Some of that is due to the thoughts in the songs being internalised and unvoiced. It feels genuine, and a convincing portrait of a life where you've left childish things behind but have not settled into full maturity.

This is music that contains the elixir of youth, always remembering that youth isn't always a comfortable place to be. 'Who's Your Boyfriend Now' captures the confusion that comes with having your future in front of you but not being able to read the signposts to guide you through it.

From the first notes of 'I Hate This Tune' -you won't, you'll love it - you will be hooked. 'Moody', 'Shut Up', 'She's Got A Gun' are all easy highlights. If you're looking for comparisons, look at the margins of indie pop, at the acts who occupy their own space - Fun!, Bleachers, Stella Donnelly, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Lemon Twigs. Royel Otis have parts of all of these, and none of them.

Royel Otis hit sweet spot after sweet spot in the world of indie pop.

Taster Track : I Hate This Tune

To Be Continued : E R Jurken

Best for : Songs full of brio and panache

ER Jurken provides something a little different. It's enjoyable, but I'm not sure if that's down to the music or his determination for you to like him and enthusiasm for making music.

He's difficult to describe and classify. His light tenor voice suggests that pop is what he's found himself doing. He's not sure how that happened but he's not going to pass up the opportunity to make it work. He's like a busking opera singer, temporarily 'resting' and throwing himself into any number of pop styles. And he will win you over by sheer force of personality and the smiling charm of his performances.

He limbers up with a couple of songs - 'In Monterey' and 'I Do' that capture the essence of bright, sunshine pop. They're like a booster shot of Vitamin C and they will leave you with raised spirits and a smile. They're a little stylised but so catchy that they are hard to resist. I loved the brass of 'In Monterey' and the boundless joy of 'I Do'.

Gradually he moves from glorious pop into something more performance oriented. That's in keeping with the nature of his vocals. In being so out there he calls to mind a baroque version of Sparks. In sounding out of place but giving it all he's got, he calls to mind Deaf School or the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. I couldn't escape the feeling that David Byrnes had escaped Talking Heads' early recording sessions to cast his influence as well.

Lyrically, it doesn't always make sense but it always sounds great. You may feel that the lyrics have tumbled forth and taken him by surprise as well, but he's not going to waste them. Take this line from 'Main Man'

"Holding out and holding court but never holding serve."

I have no idea how it works or how it fits into the song, but it's perfect.

You may feel, as I do, that E.R. Jurken is an acquired taste but he's worth sampling in small doses. It may not be the main course that shifts your musical tastes, but as an amuse bouche it works pretty well.

Taster Track : In Monterey

Toy Club : My Raining Stars

Best for : Testifying to good music and friendship

Thierry Haliniki describes the music he makes as My Raining Stars as where Creation Records meets C86 and Sarah Records. I agree, but this is not a record that is in thrall to the past. It's more a record that is recovering something magical that could otherwise be lost.

At its heart, this record is a collaboration between Haliniak and E-Grand that goes back 35 years to their first band together. They have an understanding that makes something special. E-Grand draws out a pitch perfect feel for what serves Thierry best. His production is restrained and empathic, and the album is fuelled by the spirit of generosity and friendship between them. It's about what is important in life as well as in music.

'Toy Club' is an album with its roots in the jangly shoegaze that is alive and kicking in France (and Belgium) at the moment. It's a version of shoegaze that warms the heart rather than wallowing in introspective, sluggish gloom. It results in an upbeat momentum that can be heard in every track here. 'Fine', for example, romps home with the urgent spirit of knowing it's perfect and wanting to be heard.

To English ears, Thierry's vocals are shyly exotic. They're a big part of the album's charm, and they strike home from the opening track, 'Wherever'. These are songs drenched in melody more than reverb . Listen to 'Kind of Light' once, and you'll want to play it again, immediately. 'Till The Time Comes To Leave' is a classic closing big ballad, its fading 'la la la' refrain, staying with you long after the song is over. It's also the sweetest parting from an album destined to be a constant presence in your life for some time.

Thierry hints that this could be his final collaboration with E-Grand. I sincerely hope not.

Taster Track : Fine

Against The Dying of the Light : Jose Gonzale

Best for : Warning songs

If you recall Jose's last album - 2021's 'Local Valley' - you won't find its celebratory air in much evidence here. As detected in the album's title, it's a work that is filled with suppressed rage.

Jose Gonzalez used to feature on the Cafe del Mar compilations you could hear coursing through the beachside bars of Ibiza. This album won't be taken into service there. It's a surprisingly heavy album, weighty despite its delicate but sparse guitars. He's singing, lonely in the dark, a prophet in danger ogf going unheard as time runs out.

He's angry. Take this line from 'For Every Dusk' .

"A core that's rotten is not worth whining for."

It manages both to despair at the world around him and to take aim at those who ineffectually oppose it. He may feel he sinks too far into hopelessness and helplessness because this song also includes the most optimistic, yet scarcely believing, line

"For every dusk, there's a dawn'".

You may feel that a series of warnings with no hope of a remedy makes for a bleak album, and I wouldn't disagree. It's a coherent vision for the most part. Listen to the insistent rhythm of the guitar playing on 'Sheet' and you'll feel that it could come to a sudden stop as time runs out. Hear the insistent refrain of 'Losing Game (Sick)' and there's no escaping the message in the song.

As a listener you won't find much to cling to. There are melodies in the mix but they're subdued and downbeat. Ignorance can help to lift the spirits. If you don't understand the Spanish of 'Ay Querida' and 'Pajarito' you can be deceived into believing they strike a lighter tone. Ultimately there are no concessions made. You may not understand the words in the extended Swedish spoken piece that closes out 'Gymnasten' but you can't mistake its unfriendliness.

As you feel your eyes wandering to the tracklist you begin to anticipate the release promised by the final song, 'Joy (Can't Help But Sing)'. When it comes it's not convincing. Your response might be "Yes. That's great. But what about all that stuff about the world going wrong you mentioned earlier?" It's too little too late.

'Against The Dying of the Light' is a powerful album, much more powerful for being quiet than if he were ranting at volume. But it's not going to leave you in a happy place.

Taster Track : Etyd

EPs and Songs

'Hippo's Circus' is the latest single from Soft Cotton County's forthcoming album 'Silent Avenues'. It's another gorgeous slice of melancholia that takes you by the hand to guide you through delights that include fragile vocals and delicate electronica. It captures the spirit of Saint Etienne at the point where their pristine pop meets ambient softness. That ethereal mix is the right label for the song. The regular mix is a little more substantial, but only in the sense that a gossamer web is more substantial than the wispy cloud overhead. As for the instrumental mix, there can be no better way to be lulled into a state of contented calm. It's a beautiful song.

In the middle of a heatwave, it's tempting to sink into a sweat soaked lethargy. Brother Dynamite are here to remind us that Summer is for fun and friendship. 'Better' bounces into your life, a welcome slice of brass fuelled power pop that's a perfect send off for prom parties. It captures that sense of anything and everything being possible. It sounds as if they had fun making it and you will have fun listening to it.