New music for March/April 2026

From contemporary compositions for the oud, to cathartic post-metal, hypnotic musical cells, ambient minimalism, nostalgic breakcore and rapping through the grieving process.

Rihab Azar

As I said to an audience gathered at Glebe Town Hall last week: in these dark times, it’s beautiful when people come together to celebrate art, music and culture.

This represents the very best of humanity, which exists in opposition to war, violence and oppression.

Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World

Neurosis have left an indelible mark on me. The experience of hearing A Sun That Never Sets in my late teens fundamentally changed my conception of heavy music - the trance-laden repetition; the quiet, minimal passages set against crushingly slow doom. I began to understand the spiritual quality of music alongside its emotional catharsis.

This is the album no one expected. With Scott Kelly having departed the band - due to frankly horrific domestic violence charges - we all thought Neurosis had come to an ignoble end. Thankfully, the band has risen again, and their legacy with it. No one does it like these guys.

Rihab Azar - Dandelion

Dandelion, the new album from London-based Syrian composer & oud player Rihab Azar, is a breath of fresh air. Here, Rihab’s expressive oud is enhanced by tasteful additions of violin, cello and percussion. Having heard countless questionable fusion projects, pulling this off is no small feat.

Of the record, Rihab writes: “The music was written in difficult circumstances and I wanted to find solace in digging deep to reach the sources inside of me that can connect me with strength and enchantment at the same time. I hope you find resonance with this album and enjoy listening to it.”

I certainly did. Dandelion sits as one of the finest contemporary oud albums in recent years - and yes, I wish I had the opportunity to release it.

ZU - Ferrum Sidereum

Another old favourite re-emerges! Zu’s 2009 record Carboniferous is still on regular rotation in my household, and remains of the finest distillations of heavy, rhythmic music. When their subsequent material seemed to skew sharply towards free jazz, improv and noise, I sadly lost interest.

Well, my interest has been regained. Ferrum Sidereum confidently updates and extends the sound of Carboniferous. Yes, we still have plenty of early-Meshuggah style polyrhythmic grooves (performed with heavy bass and baritone sax mind you), but their atmospherics, their dread-laden, molten grooves, and their approach to composition have all been pushed into new territory. It’s an impressive achievement, and I will be studying closely.

Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - The Floating Realm

I’ve been following Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving since their 2011 album Deaden The Fields. The Perth outfit constantly challenge themselves, pushing both their approach to composition as well as their sonic world.

The group’s mastery of atmosphere and dynamics is on full display on their latest release, The Floating Realm. This fully improvised release came from the band’s habit of opening every rehearsal with a free-form jam. One such jam felt particularly cohesive. Thankfully it was captured for our listening pleasure.

Truly, Tangled Thoughts captured something special here: spectral forms appear and disappear, light refracts over shimmering black waters, and alien craft wink amongst the stars. There’s a sense of the underworld seeming to reach up to disturb the plain of the living.

Perhaps you can imagine The Necks at their most futuristic and despairing. It’s a mesmerising record, and a fitting farewell to two wonderful musicians Gracie Smith and Paul Briggs, who depart the band with this release.

feeo - Goodness

A record of beautiful, minimalist and melancholy music from London-based singer feeo (Theodora Laird). While feeo is developing her own sound world with her crisp, clear production, I do get occasional memories of Portishead or Chelsea Wolfe’s more sombre moments.

Spinning this album I feel like I’m surveying the ruins of my city, torn between melancholy and a strange sense of peace. No wonder it speaks to me in this day and age.

feeo’s voice is inviting, intimate and affecting. It is accompanied by sparse instrumentation - a lone synth, glitches, drones, piano lines, solo guitar, field recordings and minimalist percussion.

Oren Ambarchi - Ghosted III

I’ve been circling Oren Ambarchi’s Ghosted series for a few years. The project seems to focus on overlapping rhythms and musical cells which create a wonderfully hypnotic effect. This album features drums, double bass and guitar. It belongs in the sound-universe of The Necks, Steve Reich, Tangents, Dawn Of Midi - which is to say, the good stuff.

If you’re in Sydney - check out his upcoming performance for Vivid (which I will regrettably miss due to travel commitments).

Enduser - Unquiet

A nostalgic-as-heck breakcore record that brings to mind classics from Venetian Snares and Aphex Twin. American electronic producer Lynn Standafer (aka Enduser) has apparently been at this since the early 2000s - so this comes from a place of authenticity rather than nostalgia. Safe to say he’s still got it!

Navy Blue - The Sword & The Soaring

I’ve long been a fan of conscious and experimental rap. Navy Blue hits it out of the park with his new record, The Sword & The Soaring, which circles experiences of grief and loss before resolving in a beautiful finale. This is an album of humanity, poetry and intimacy - qualities I look for across all forms of art. It is the very antithesis of the death and destruction currently engulfing the world.

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Do you have some recommendations to share? Comment below with a link, a description, and why you like it. We’d love to hear from you!

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I also run the Eastern Classical Music label Worlds Within Worlds.

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