bobbie – I Could Call You

At the end of the notes for bobbie’s LP Lessons they write, “Lessons is about loving people. Thank you for listening :)” bobbie also writes “Lessons is an artifact of love, curiosity and humility. This is one spec/snapshot into one spirit aka me being real”. It’s strikes me as curious that bobbie uses an all-lower-case name yet is unabashed in asserting their feelings. Most of the songs here are plaintive, not just simple broken-heart stories, more like deeply-realized observations on the frailty of relationships and coming to terms with one’s own entity. You may hear bobbie sing in a whisper, I like to believe the artist is holding back from letting emotions take over. All the songs, guitar, omnichord, synthesizer and vocals are credited to bobbie Shuster while Felix Walworth plays drums and synthesizer. The duo’s collaborative efforts result in gorgeous unique music, satisfyingly hard to slot into a genre. Again, in the sleeve notes we learn bobbie hails from Western Massachusetts and happens to be a baker – which could explain how perfectly balanced this collection of songs are. After all you need to be confident when baking of correctly measuring the ingredients, yet a freehand approach often produces a delicious notable result. Delightful sleeve artwork.

Hunter As A Horse – Lighthouse

Based in the Western Cape, South African musician and vocalist Mia van Wyk spent the last few years self-releasing a diverse series of singles and EPs. Her music has combined electronically-focused songs with intense, melancholic lyrics that are given a darkly cinematic production. After recently signing to Metropolis Records her first Hunter As A Horse single for the label is Lighthouse which Mia says is, “An extremely personal song, weaving together mythology and psychology. It’s about how only the broken can understand each other.” Van Wyk references Carl Jung as an influence and continues, “It’s like if someone who died came back to guide the lost back home. I’m ignoring every warning about how you can’t save someone and declaring that I can. It’s about fearlessly challenging somebody else’s demons.” It’s hardly surprising then that the subject matter of Mia’s songs are informed by a mystical ride through her strange life, death, addiction, astral visions, CPTSD, melancholia, nostalgia and magical thinking.

Sloane Sphepho – Kuyashisa

The 3 cuts on Sloane Sphepho’s EP, There’s A Monk In Brakpan are delightful. So delightful in fact I immediately searched out for more releases from Sloane Sphepho and from Brakpan – a mining town approximately 38 kilometers east of Johannesburg. Brakpan has spent years as South Africa’s favorite punchline, the setting for memes, jokes, and viral “what did I just watch?” videos. It’s shorthand for anything considered loud, rough or vaguely unhinged. Sloane’s music sung in Zulu has a recognizable style if you’re familiar with South African sounds, yet here we have an innovative approach more toward Hip Hop especially on the cut Sivukile. Impressive.

Ora Cogan – The Smoke

Ora Cogan says Hard Hearted Woman, her debut album for Sacred Bones, grew out of a blur of cold-water plunges, long river swims, late-night ruminations on art and politics with friends, and long drives through the rural British Columbia landscape visiting her godmother. The recordings took place in Victoria, her studio in Nanaimo and remotely. The album is a work of devotion to mystery, to community, to the strange power of making art in a fractured world, “It’s the most important part, the magic,” says Cogan. Despite its title, Hard Hearted Woman isn’t about shutting down, rather about hardness as resilience. It’s the shell we grow so our most human, breakable selves can survive. It’s a record for anyone trying to stay open, even when the world makes that feel impossible. Curiously, the video for The Smoke is perfect with assorted vignettes repeated randomly together, while the visuals for Division, another song, appear to be an idea that went astray. All together an enjoyable collection of songs from this gifted artist.

Gildaa – Perséphone

“I was born in the 18th century, but I look young” Says Gildaa. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has a noticeable penchant for extreme makeup perhaps because she also happens to be an actress and dancer. Improvisation is another aspect of this artists performances as she admits to being a satirical poet, part diva and part clown. Camille Constantin Da Silva who uses the alias Gildaa grew up between France and Brazil and she says Bossa Nova, Jazz, and Rumba influence her work. Perséphone is from her self-titled long-player. The artist takes the listener on a fantastic beautiful journey with each track with found and ambient sound permeating throughout recordings. Gildaa almost restrains her magnificent voice at times. There is a lot to indulge in here, especially the excellent production.

Melin Melyn & Rozi Plain – Fantastic Food (Re-Milled)

First of all the distinctive voice of Rozy Plain has to be acknowledged here. I’ve mentioned how much I enjoy Rozy’s talent in previous volumes of LEM so here is a big shout out to her again. The songs on Mill On The Hill: After Dark are reworked or Re-Milled versions from Melin Melyn’s earlier long-player, Mill On The Hill. The Wesh band suggest they make psychedelic country pop, I’ll let you be the judge of that. Enter this album without any expectations or preconceived notions. Ideally, curl up in a favorite cozy armchair with strong cup of tea (with milk of course) and generous platter of genuine Welsh cakes. Ignore the gloomy clouds and drizzle and give your full attention to Melin Melyn and assorted guests. It’ll be good for the soul, I promise.

The Monochrome Set – Map Of The Night Sky

It may not surprise you to know I’ve been a fan of The Monochrome Set since they formed in 1978. Over the years with line-up changes, disbanding and reforming TMS have consistently had a distinctive sound, never conforming to any known genre. Ganesh Seshadri AKA Bid has been the constant member, now he is joined for their 17th album, Lotus Bridge by fellow original Andy Warren on bass, Stephen Gilchrist on drums and Athen Ayren on keyboards and guitar, Alice Healey provides backing vocals. The new LP is based on a dream Bid had, he recounts in sharp detail the myriad of characters and surroundings that appeared in his dream and inspired this new set of stories to unfold. Bid explains, “It seemed to me, as I wrote these lyrics, that this whole story was a metaphor for a crumbling civilization, and whether or not I would leave it behind if I were given the opportunity. The other side of the bridge represents what seems to be an unknown future that I’m being asked to accept without explanation, and the other songs represent a journey back through the past and are a sometimes allegorical re-evaluation of it. I think that I managed to keep to a close narrative thread in the lyrics, and deliberately kept the underlying musical structures in a similar tempo and key. Even old poetry is timeless, if it is about personal experiences”. This new album follows on from Bid’s recently released book of selected lyrics – Strange Young Alien – published by Ventil Verlag in November 2025 – a book that gives invaluable insight into his songwriting process and the more you learn about Bid’s writing process, the more mysterious and intriguing things become. Lotus Bridge has a subtle but quite different feel to previous TMS albums – the core use of electric piano and acoustic guitar, electric guitars often used in wide stereo, and overall a very focused and almost orchestral feel to it. There are also ambient sounds between many of the songs, so that the whole album feels like a connected whole. Even if you are not a diehard TMS fan I’m sure you will enjoy my conversation with Bid from a few years ago.

Omnihell – Kurushimi

Before his latest guise as Omnihell, Julian Ash’s former project was Harsh Symmetry. On his new long-player Extreme Suffering Mr Ash croons over a piano-and-bass-driven groove. Trainspotters will have a fun checking off the influences here, especially in the “broken-hearted” category. It’s worth noting that Kurushimi in Japanese means suffering, pain, agony, distress and many more descriptors. When you take into account the album and song titles, Julian does seem to revel in misery. Yet, at the same time I’m quite sure there is a little twinkle in his eye, not exactly sardonic, but certainly all-knowing. Julian Ash does everything on this LP and the whole collection of songs are thoroughly pleasing. 

Momoko Gill – No Other

Self-taught drummer, producer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and vocalist Momoka Gill has long been one of the UK electronic and jazz scene’s best-kept secrets. She has brought her unique touch to collaborations with Alabaster DePlume, Matthew Herbert, Coby Sey, Tirzah, and Nadeem Din-Gabisi. With Momoko, her self-titled album, Gill emerges into the spotlight with an album that is entirely her own, sculpting her sound through feel and expression rather than tradition. Based in London and having grown up in Japan and the US, Gill channels her breadth of perspective through her musical ideas and storytelling, with a unique voice developed through instinct, collaboration and solitary study. Momoko Gill produced the album and says it is a deeply personal and poetic collection, presented in her own voice.

Index For Working Musik – Going To Heaven On The End Of A String

Bunker Intimations II is the name of the LP, Index For Working Musik say this is the sister record to their second album, Which Direction Goes The Beam. This London-based five-piece were formed in Spain by Max Oscarnold and Nathalia Bruno, who began working together in 2019. They tell us that the 50-minute long collection of recordings was made across an intense three day period in March ‘25 under the duress of a very strict deadline. All tracks were improvised and mixed-down on the spot, a genuine document of a moment in time. The LP is available in vinyl via Tough Love in an edition of 250 in hand-labelled, hand-stamped sleeves. Do take careful note of this one. Unique and accesable.

Daydream – Every Time

Now to a quartet from Glasgow who label themselves as Dreampop-Indie Rock. While I don’t want to bicker about those classifications I do think their music could be described as bloody damn good! What initially began as a songwriting project for Chloe Kaufmann-Trappes has since turned into a four-piece with Dillon Salvi, Loup Havenith and Sam Rafanell-Williams. Their Trace EP deserves your full attention, plus this is a band I would expect are fabulous live. Kudos all round, plus well done to  Chloe, who also happens to be a visual artist for a cool sleeve.

Lauter – Allein In Meiner Welt

“I started out using Elvis song titles as a simple writing exercise. They served as entry points, allowing me to write about more personal themes: the passage of time, solitude, and what remains once the initial momentum – that sense of effortless inevitability – has faded away. I also wanted to incorporate multiple languages, much like the French alternative rock albums I used to listen to as a teenager.” This is Lauter speaking. Without doubt this is a curious one, Allein In Meiner Welt translates from German to Alone In My World, while Lauter from Paris admits “French is missing from the mix this time around – but perhaps that will come another day.” Boris Kohlmayer, based in Paris is Lauter (loud in German). His back catalogue is worth investigating. 

NHOAH – Hillside

Berlin and Vienna based producer, composer and Dj, NHOAH takes us back to, as he says,  “When we were happy, just one more time. Kissing like we used to, loving each other, living the ’80s for a moment, reliving that summer from two years ago for just a day, longing for those wonderful times that nearly break our hearts, when the world felt so much better.” You got to love that. Hillside is an absolute banger that must be played at 11! “Dust off those dancing shoes, relax your body and mind, and surrender to total self-­expression.” NHOAH insists, I couldn’t have said it better. Brilliant!

The photograph is by Jean Juliet-Barre “One size fits all” (from the “Out of the closet” collection) 2008. Digital print on archival paper. Courtesy of Norman B’s collection