Search "nas+life+is+good" 235 Items

Sacred Skin is back! Their sophomore album Born in Fire hits turntables everywhere September 2024. Pre-order now to reserve your copy! This latest effort builds off the band’s full-length debut (2022’s The Decline of Pleasure) and takes their sound to a completely new level. Painting a blackened, dystopian vision of life in modern-day Los Angeles, Born in Fire is a movie soundtrack inspired by a forgotten era. Anthemic pop music steeped in romanticism and melancholy and drenched in layers upon layers of new wave nostalgia. For fans of ’80s soundtracks, Tangerine Dream, INXS, Depeche Mode, and New Order.

Midnight Mannequin Records is proud to present this deluxe pressing of Born in Fire on 2xLP colored vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket, complete with OBI strip.

Bay Area post-punk outfit Topographies deliver their sophomore LP, Interior Spring, via Dark Entries. Formed in 2018 in San Francisco by Justin Oronos, Jeremie Ruest, and Gray Tolhurst, Topographies link the icy riffs and gloomy atmosphere of early coldwave with the textural depth and warmth of classic shoegaze, emerging with a style that’s both contemporary and timeless. On Interior Spring, Topographies explore themes of guilt, inherited trauma, and recovery. The meaning of its title is triplicate: a submerged river carrying hope, an anxiously wound clock, and a season where wildflowers bloom on the graves of the past. While the work of Tolhurst’s father - Laurence Tolhurst from The Cure - provides a clear influence, Topographies expertly channel acts like Asylum Party or The Chameleons on anthemic pearls like “Night Sea” and “Chain of Days”. Tolhurst’s lyrics draw on his own experience in recovery from substance abuse to examine the cycle of use and hopelessness that characterizes addiction. Through these ten songs, the group hopes to present the idea that freedom is not an escape but an embrace of the quotidian beauty of human life.

Plastic Estate is a contemporary synth-pop act from Wales, UK.

With an onus placed on atmosphere and refinement, the duo evoke a rich palette of romance and lustre with their polished marque of pop music.

They have garnered support from the likes of Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, KEXP and BBC Radio, and played sold-out shows with the likes of LA Priest, Home Counties, and Real Lies, as well as playing at large regional festivals like Ritual Union and Sŵn Festival.

Having previously released a 7” and LP with Avant! Records, they are now releasing their second album on 11th October with new tracks gaining critical acclaim being added to BBC Radio Wales’s ‘Welsh A-List’.
Their sophomore album hails a new era for the act; moving away from darker sonic roots, their sound has progressed to a brighter, more polished aesthetic with fresh influences from the ‘Hi-Fi luxury’ of West Coast Sound, and the gloss of 2010s Chillwave.

What’s more, ‘Code d’Amour’ makes you wonder: What is Pop today?

For many years it has been synonymous with melody, harmony and emotions. These days it seems to be still about emotions but not very good ones, probably because the world is as ugly as it’s ever been, have you noticed?

But what about the fundamental role of popular music which is to represent and at the same time to celebrate and enforce the ties of social living? What about the good times?

Yes, there is a lot to be changed and to fight for but good vibes are not just for recreational use, they can literally build a sense of community among people. If you are looking for that kind of sound right now, you should look no further.

FFO: Talk Talk, Blue Nile, Spandau Ballet, Ian Broudie’s Care, Small Black, Alan Palomo of Neon Indian, Wild Nothing.

At the top of 2020, after a year of traversing the globe in support of 2019’s Run Fast Sleep Naked, Nick Murphy began creating music that simply felt good. Though the singer had retired his billionstreaming Chet Faker project four years prior, the new songs he was working on in his New York City studio had an energy reminiscent of his earlier work. Reviving the project “wasn’t on my radar” at the time, Murphy admits, but the next thing he knew, he had a full album. The result is Hotel Surrender, a radiant 10-track LP full of swaggering bass lines and electrifying melodies that reintroduces Chet Faker to the world – and to Murphy himself. Like his debut LP, 2014’s Built on Glass, Murphy wrote and produced Hotel Surrender solely on his own, finishing most of the songs before COVID-19 hit in March 2020. He admits that before Hotel Surrender, he had never approached his process with such ease. This time, as the album title suggests, he surrendered to the music. “There was this, like, unconsciousness—not thinking, but just feeling, letting it come out and letting it steer itself,” Murphy says. “The great lesson for me was that I could write from a place of joy. I was also just being kind to myself. None of this music was hurting, it just felt good. It made me feel better, and it helped me be better.”

Los Angeles duo crushed announce their signing to Ghostly International and the first vinyl pressing of their 2023 debut EP, extra life. A love letter to `90s radio, the first collaboration from musicians Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan finds them tuning a shared taste for maximalist dream pop. Open-hearted hooks and melodic riffs move through a haze of breakbeats, spliced sound design, and distortion. Faithful yet fluid in its channeling of golden age alt-rock, Britpop, trip-hop, and electronica, there's a refreshing freedom to the sound, which quickly resonated with fans and critics upon initial release. Pitchfork called it "effortless, widescreen dream pop that's serene without being sentimental," and NPR cited its "deep sense of place and time." The music also struck Ghostly, and the first measure for crushed and their new label home is to give extra life a wider physical release paired with remixes from band favorites Real Lies and DJ Python. The story of crushed is written across midnight transmissions. In the early 2010s, Morell, who fronts the band Temple of Angels (Run For Cover Records), hosted a graveyard shift college radio show and used to play music from Durkan's former band Weekend (Slumberland Records). In 2020, Durkan, having focused on production work (Tamaryn, Young Prisms) following Weekend's run as a formidable shoegaze act, hosted a late-night program on a community radio station in San Francisco. Driving one day, he heard Temple of Angels by chance and was immediately drawn to Morell's voice. He added a song that night to his on-air tracklist. Morell saw it and reached out to thank him and point to that connection made a decade earlier. The exchange sparked a long-distance project. First, they filled an audible moodboard with `90s classics from the likes of Natalie Imbruglia, Sneaker Pimps, and The Sundays. Songs that transported them back to places of comfort and discovery; Morell's memories of a metallic, lavender boombox that dispatched past sounds from a world beyond her Houston suburbia, and Durkan, in his mom's car on the way to band practice. These touchpoints provided a palette for crushed to experiment without expectations, purely for the fun of it. A creative intimacy emerged; stepping outside the reverb walls of her full band, Morell embraced more clarity and a range of emotions in her vocals, while Durkan looked inward as a producer, collaging fragments from their everyday lives: voice memos, piano recordings, even the panting of Morell's late dog on "milksugar." The wistful ballad embodies extra life's feeling as a whole. "I am home again," sings Morell; her refrain cycles above a drum machine beat as Durkan colors their universe with star-lit strums, synth swells, and the crackle of fireworks in the distance. Elsewhere, the duo's uptempo mode is equally effective, like the super-charged duet "coil" or the propulsive opener "waterlily," which sets a cinematic tone for the set. Bold, bright, and replayable, extra life presents crushed as a project of immense promise, two artists unlocking something special within themselves, a space to hold both melancholy and bliss. Durkan adds, "To me, [extra life] is true and pure - in a way I haven't felt about music in a really really long time."

Until now, Art Feynman _ the eccentric alter ego of accomplished producer Luke Temple _ has strictly been a solo act, a way for the artist to explore surprising sonic landscapes without the burdens of identity. Slightly twisted takes on Kosmische Musik, worldbeat, and art pop can all be found scattered across the Art Feynman discography, but with his new album Be Good The Crazy Boys, Feynman fully immerses himself into pools of collective madness Unlike his first two albums, Crazy Boys was recorded live in the studio with a full band, a first for Feynman, capturing a spirit of restless anxiety that recalls the most frenetic work by Talking Heads, or Oingo Boingo at their darkest. Despite these callbacks, the collection remains firmly rooted in modern concerns, with songs about fearing the end of the world and struggling with Fomo _ narratives that would be relatable if they didn't sound so completely unhinged. With Be Good The Crazy Boys, Art Feynman proves to be more than just a character. He represents the part of the modern collective consciousness that's struggling to maintain balance in a toxic, chaotic world. In less skilled hands, that concept could result in a very somber listen. Fortunately, when Art Feynman gets his hands on the chaos of the modern age, it simply makes you want to dance.

Haunted Plasma, powerhouse of futuristic synth in symbiosis with the super violence of kosmische black metal, release their debut album in May 2024

The phenomenal three-piece band includes members of Oranssi Pazuzu, K-X-P, Grave Pleasures and Aavikko

Svart Records is proud to release the debut album, I, from Haunted Plasma, a powerhouse of futuristic synth in symbiosis with the super violent atmospherics of kosmische Black Metal. Haunted Plasma is “man meets machine” in a cybernetic wasteland, set to a conceptual backdrop of William Gibson and Phillip K. Dick style mind-melt. The highly evolved creatives at the heart of Haunted Plasma’s sound, cite Terry Riley, Massive Attack, a contemporary take on Krautrock hypnosis, psychedelic Black Metal and 90s Techno, resulting in an orgy of mutant sound.



The phantoms at the beating nucleus of this unearthly machine are Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu, Grave Pleasures), Timo Kaukolampi (K-X-P, Op:l Bastards) and Tomi Leppänen (Circle, Aavikko, K-X-P), transmitting a music form evolved from a life of redefining sonic boundaries in their respective projects. Also featuring guest vocals from Mat McNerney (Hexvessel, Carpenter Brut, Grave Pleasures/Beastmilk), Pauliina Lindell (Vuono, Dust Mountain) and Ringa Manner (Ruusut, The Hearing). Haunted Plasma promises an extraterrestrial experience from some of the foremost contemporary musicians at the heart of the Finnish heavy and avant-garde musical underworld.



Haunted Plasma reveals:

“We are liberated futurists, embracing free-form and natural composition, mirroring the merciless forces of cosmic creation. We have a motto to stay true to our feelings, to spawn a sound that’s never been heard before. Servants of music. Energizing, radical and pure”

The first single from Haunted Plasma’s cascading debut, Reverse Engineer, is a creepy, slowly erupting, synthetic nightmare, of a downloaded being waking up in the wrong future. Ghostly vocals demand the listener to “give us what we want” in an Orwellian glimpse into the current dystopia we live in, where information is controlled, and thoughts are bought and sold. As McNerney intones the words “technology of power” he describes the threat of a malevolent and omnipresent artificial intelligence, as much as describing the oppressive and electromagnetic sonar pulse of Haunted Plasma’s sound itself. Psychedelic guitar hypnosis from Vanhanen snakes around Kaukolampi’s molten and morphing synths, while Leppänen’s uncanny man/machine rhythms pull our strings and animate their other-worldly mechanisms. Have a look at the official visualiser of "Reverse Engineer" on the Svart YouTube channel here

Culminating in the full-blown fast Krautrock of the final self-titled track, oozing with blistering noise elements and enigmatic vocals from Ringa Manner, the album's journey reaches its zenith, taking you to unknown territories on a Kubrikian space trip. I is a rare record of talented musicians coming together to create a completely new sound, which is entirely their own, boldly glowing, where no light has shone before. From the dreamy psychedelia of Echoes to the discombobulated Spectral Embrace, Haunted Plasma is a willful force of deliberate sound contortion.

Whether you want to give in to Haunted Plasma’s sound or not, you are being watched, you are being recorded and your every move is monitored. Haunted Plasma will enter your system on the 31st of May 2024. Turn on your phantom circuits and be prepared for an interdimensional excursion into Haunted Plasma’s alien dreams.

Hotly-tipped musician and singer Arlo Parks is hotly-tipped for a reason. Collapsed In Sunbeams is a pop album with an irreverent twinge; Parks’ lyricism is poignant as she recounts the mundanities of daily life — a slightly bungled kiss, an argument on a busy street, seeing your crush with somebody else — with a certain romantic awe, delivered in an irresistible mode recalling a youthful Macy Gray, backed by indie rock instrumentation which hinges on the simple and emotive. The soaring chorus hook of ‘Caroline’ is endlessly catchy, and while the LP is loaded with hit after hit, the whole thing demands repeated listens for all the tinier details.

A dramatic encounter between the elite group led by Shuya Okino and a legendary drummer. Connecting the past and present of Japanese jazz and illuminating the future that is an extension of it.

●kyoto Jazz Sextet is an acoustic jazz unit started in 2015 by Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive, a DJ/music producer unit that is active worldwide. With the concept of expressing the "current state of jazz" rather than just a nostalgic hobby, he has released two albums so far: "mission" (2015) and "unity" (2017).

●Fully featuring Takeo Moriyama, the pinnacle of Japanese jazz drumming. The two performed together for the first time as headliners at Tokyo Crossover/Jazz Festival 2021 held at Shinkiba ageHa@STUDIO Coast on November 20, 2021. The audience was overwhelmed by the spirited collaboration that transcended generations.

●In addition to Moriyama's representative repertoire, which is popular among club jazz listeners, the album includes a new song "Father Forest" written by Shuya Okino. The all-analog recording and cutting from a half-inch analog tape master create a robust and dynamic sound.

Kyoto Jazz Sextet Shinpei Ruike trumpet Ken Kurihara tenor saxophone Yusuke Hirado piano Yoshihito"P"Koizumi. bass Shuya Okino (vision, sound effect on Watarase) featuring Takeo Moriyama drums

Produced by Shuya Okino (Kyoto Jazz Massive) Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Akihito Yoshikawa (studio Dedé)

■Live information Kyoto Jazz Sextet feat. Takeo Moriyama 3rd Album "succession" LP Release Live Friday, September 20, 2024 @cotton Club

For live inquiries: Extra Freedom info@extra-freedom.co.jp

At once a hazy relic and a digital snapshot of the human experience, Your Day Will Come is the debut album from Chanel Beads, arriving April 19 via Jagjaguwar. The remarkable project announces the arrival of New York-based musician Shane Lavers as a new force in experimental music, capturing the many contradictions of modern existence and the strange infiniteness of the digital world. The songs feel like a memory in which you can't distinguish between what actually happened or what was a false reproduction in your mind - although the burning emotion remains intact. Lavers pushed himself to strip his own sense of ego from “Your Day Will Come”. Throughout, Lavers weaves in contributions from his live bandmates, singer-songwriter Maya McGrory (Colle) and experimental instrumentalist Zachary Paul, who offer their own layers of feeling. As McGrory offers a more full-bodied tone and Lavers often sings with his higher-pitched head voice, the two collaborators meet in the middle; it's an intermingling of identities or a subconscious pining for androgyny. In this slippery space, different perspectives merge together, and there's a sense of empathy and humility that arises from the blending of these voices. These days, Chanel Beads live shows see all three performers weaving together in absolute catharsis. This catharsis is pushed to its peak on "Idea June," which sees McGrory taking over lead vocals to project Lavers' lyrics. As McGrory sings, "The waves wash onto my shore," in a voice that's both earnest and digitally processed, it's as though she's speaking as a separate embodiment of Lavers. In under two minutes, the track of clunky acoustic guitar and gutting strings lands somewhere between detachment and kinship. Similar to the off-kilter structure of "Police Scanner," these songs are strangely affecting in their unfinished and liminal forms. Lavers, who is drawn to poor MP3 rips and transitional moments in DJ mixes, knows that these inexact musical artifacts evoke human imperfection. The title of Your Day Will Come could be read as a promise of the arrival of good karma, or it could be a reminder of one's mortality, said out of spite. Yet as Lavers unpacks the haunting feelings of the past that he must release in order to move into his future, he reminds us that grief and hope might be closer than they seem to the naked eye.

After the 30th anniversary of Original Love's debut, the new album 'music, Dance & Love' will be the 20th album after 3 years and 9 months since the previous album 'Bless You!'. Includes 'Seppun (M.D.L. Version)' reproduced with Ovall and 'Yasashiite ~ Gentle Hands' with Tendre. A collection of hymns that looks to the future and celebrates the joys of everyday life as the times change after the pandemic.

■Song selection and supervision = Toru Hashimoto x Artwork = Jiro Fujita, and the first volume of the new compilation series "Incense Music" mastered by Calm, a top Japanese artist of jazz ~ chill out ~ Balearic. "Incense Music for Bed Room" 7 inch single cut from!

■side-a, which contains the latest tracks recorded by Hiroto Uyama for the same compilation, is a wonderful cover of Pharoah Sanders' famous song "Moon Child." Side-aa includes the spiritual and mellow masterpiece "Bliss of Landing" from Yoshiharu Takeda's 2018 first album "Aspiration", an up-and-coming composer/keyboardist who has been praised by many artists!

■The first edition of the ultimate lifestyle compilation that proposes domestic and international ambient - jazz - chill out - Balearica - post-classical - jazzy & mellow beats as music for a comfortable life is the time spent in the Bed Room. A compilation of soothing music perfect for. Two 7-inch vinyl titles including the new recordings included in this album have been released, so please enjoy the wonderful music representing the album on vinyl.

■The 7-inch single (imwvr-1029) released at the same time combines haruka nakamura's newly recorded homage to Bill Evans' masterpiece and Nobuyuki NAKAJIMA's cover of Vinicius de Moraes' masterpiece!

★Artists Profile ■Uyama Hiroto https://roph.net/ He became familiar with music from an early age due to the influence of his uncle, who was also a jazz guitarist. Since ``Letter From Yokosuka'' he has been involved in many nujabes works and has performed with them on numerous live shows. In 2008, he released his first album, ``A Son Of The Sun''. After Nujabes passed away in 2010, he became involved in the production of works such as the ``Luv (sic) series'' and ``spiritual state'', and also participated as an artist. After that, in 2013, he launched roph recordings in order to aim for even more pure music. In 2014, he released his second album ``Freedom of the Son'', which was his first in 6 years since his previous album. In addition to featuring Cise Star, Pase Rock, and Fat Jon, who he has been friends with since his days at hydeout productions, the song is a sequel to his first album. In addition, in 2016, they released their third album "Freeform Jazz", two years after their second album. The content strongly emphasizes the Japanese identity and stands out from previous works as a proposal for a new Japanese Free Jazz, and its originality has attracted not only Japanese but also overseas listeners, such as being featured on Hypebeast overseas. It also received many excellent reviews. He is currently working on music for his new album. (From the official website)

■Yoshiharu Takeda Fantastic music that expresses fluctuations, flows, and contours. Yoshiharu Takeda lives in Tokyo and is an up-and-coming composer/arranger/keyboard player and music selector. Around 2000, he studied music theory on his own and started producing music by composing and arranging on the piano and keyboard. His first album “Aspiration” released in 2018 received praise from Calm and Kaoru Inoue, and after listening to the album, Soichiro Suzuki (World Standard) fell in love with his talent and released his second album “Before The Blessing” in 2022 from the label . It beautifully expresses the wildness hidden within sophistication and the movement contained in stillness, further deepening the sound world that only Yoshiharu Takeda can create. It has been highly praised by many music lovers.

After a first mini-album Dr Bolivard which took the form of a funky and electronic tragi-comic self-psychotherapy, a series of interviews with creators on YouTube (Jacques, Myd, L'impératrice...) where he played a zany psychiatrist character asking existential questions, Bolivard is back with a new mini-album which will be released on January 27th 2023: M. Bolivard.

Composed between 2020 and 2022, he gives his impressions of a turbulent period: pandemic, confinements, American and French elections, global warming, war in Ukraine, worsening mental health... Bolivard keeps his black humour and his taste for nonsense while adding a good dose of satire. On the agenda: social anxiety, radicalisation of opinions, narcissism, psychopathy...

Musically, French pop and funk are always mixed with electronic music. Bolivard sings, raps, slams, speaks, above all to tell stories that are more or less crazy, often funny, sometimes disturbing, definitely creative

Avalon Emerson & the Charm is an evolution. Created during an extended break from the hectic blur of her life as a touring DJ, the album is a personal statement of intent from an artist who’s long looked beyond the club for inspiration. It’s also the first time that Emerson has put herself, her emotions and, most notably, her voice fully into the spotlight.

Having spent her entire career working more or less alone, Emerson purposely sought out a small cast of like-minded artists to help bring the album to life. A Chief among them was UK avant-pop savant Bullion, who executive produced the record and, most importantly, shares both Emerson’s predilection for shimmering pop melodies and her boundary- less approach to music-making.

Working together, they cracked open her head and heart alike, creating a space where she could intimately reflect on the people and places she’s loved and left behind.

Love Deluxe is the fourth studio album by the British band Sade, released on October 26, 1992. The album is widely regarded as one of the band’s most critically acclaimed works, featuring a smooth, soulful blend of R&B, jazz, and sophisti-pop, with lyrics that explore themes of love, heartbreak, and introspection. Fronted by the captivating vocals of Sade Adu, the band created an atmospheric, emotionally rich album that remains one of their signature works.

Love Deluxe marked a return after a four-year hiatus following their previous album, Stronger Than Pride (1988). The band continued to refine their signature smooth, sensual sound while introducing new elements, such as more pronounced soul and trip-hop influences.
The album was both a commercial and critical success, peaking at #3 on the US Billboard 200 and earning platinum certifications in multiple countries. Its success solidified Sade's position as one of the most important and enduring acts in contemporary music.
Lyrically, the album revolves around themes of love in all its forms—romantic, painful, and self-reflective. It balances deep vulnerability with strength, as Sade Adu's mesmerizing voice delivers the poetic lyrics with grace and subtlety.

The album combines elements of smooth jazz, soul, R&B, and ambient music, creating a lush and atmospheric soundscape.
The production is minimalist yet sophisticated, with the band opting for understated instrumentation that allows Sade Adu’s vocals to take center stage. The music is moody and introspective, often using spare arrangements to highlight emotion.
There are hints of early trip-hop in some of the tracks, with slower beats and a focus on deep bass and textured sound design, particularly in songs like "Feel No Pain."

Key Tracks and Highlights:
"No Ordinary Love" – One of Sade’s most iconic songs, this track features a mesmerizing bassline, lush synths, and Sade’s haunting vocals. The song explores the pain and intensity of unrequited love. Its atmospheric production and emotional depth made it one of the standout singles from the album.
"Feel No Pain" – A politically charged track, this song addresses themes of poverty and social struggle, reflecting on the effects of unemployment and hardship on families. It features a groovy bassline and more prominent use of percussion, adding a subtle funk influence to the smooth jazz sound.
"Kiss of Life" – A breezy, upbeat song compared to some of the darker tracks on the album, "Kiss of Life" is a love song that feels light and joyful. The smooth, soulful arrangement and optimistic lyrics make it one of the most uplifting moments on the album.
"Cherish the Day" – A standout track known for its hypnotic guitar riff and understated groove. This song is both romantic and meditative, with Sade’s voice soaring above the dreamy instrumental backdrop, expressing devotion and love.
"Bullet Proof Soul" – One of the more emotionally complex tracks on the album, "Bullet Proof Soul" reflects on the aftermath of heartbreak and the armor people build to protect themselves from further pain. The song’s slow, sultry rhythm and melancholic lyrics add to its emotional weight.
"Pearls" – A powerful, introspective ballad that takes on a more global perspective, dealing with the suffering of women in the developing world. Sade Adu’s voice is filled with emotion as she reflects on themes of sacrifice and hardship. The sparse arrangement, featuring strings and soft percussion, complements the poignancy of the lyrics.
"Like a Tattoo" – This track is a quiet, intimate ballad that deals with memory, regret, and the lasting impact of love. The acoustic guitar and Sade’s delicate vocals give the song a fragile yet beautiful quality.

Love and Heartbreak: Many of the songs, such as "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day," explore the complexities of romantic relationships, touching on themes of devotion, longing, and heartbreak. The lyrics often reflect on love’s power to both uplift and wound.
Resilience and Strength: Tracks like "Bullet Proof Soul" and "Feel No Pain" delve into themes of emotional resilience and survival, both on a personal level (in love and heartbreak) and in the face of societal struggles like poverty.
Global and Social Concerns: "Feel No Pain" and "Pearls" reflect on broader social issues, such as economic inequality and global suffering, adding a layer of socio-political consciousness to the album.
Production and Sound:
The production on Love Deluxe is both sophisticated and restrained. Stuart Matthewman (guitar, saxophone), Paul S. Denman (bass), and Andrew Hale (keyboards) work together to create a cohesive sound that relies on subtle, detailed arrangements.
The use of space in the production is key to the album’s atmosphere. The arrangements are minimal, allowing Sade’s voice to carry much of the emotional weight. This approach highlights the introspective nature of the songs and gives them a cinematic quality.
The instrumentation features a mix of acoustic and electric instruments, often layering guitars, bass, and keyboards to create lush textures. There is also a strong emphasis on rhythm, with percussive elements adding depth to the slower, groove-based tracks.

Upon release, Love Deluxe received widespread critical acclaim, with many praising its emotional depth, elegant production, and Sade Adu’s vocal performance. The album’s timeless quality has made it a favorite among fans and critics alike.
It was lauded for continuing to push the boundaries of sophisti-pop and smooth jazz, blending these genres with elements of trip-hop, R&B, and world music.
The album was commercially successful, selling millions of copies worldwide, and it has since been recognized as one of Sade’s best works. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Legacy and Impact:
Love Deluxe remains one of Sade’s most iconic albums, with tracks like "No Ordinary Love" and "Cherish the Day" becoming staples in their live performances and enduring as fan favorites.
The album’s influence extends beyond the soul and R&B genres, with artists in neo-soul and alternative R&B citing it as an inspiration. The album’s minimalist production, emphasis on mood and texture, and themes of emotional complexity have influenced a generation of artists, including Maxwell, D'Angelo, and The Weeknd.
"No Ordinary Love" has been covered and remixed by numerous artists over the years, further cementing its place in popular culture.

Love Deluxe is a beautifully crafted album that captures Sade at the peak of their creative powers. Its blend of sensuality, introspection, and sophistication makes it one of the defining albums of the early 1990s. With its timeless themes of love and resilience, the album continues to resonate with listeners today and remains a cornerstone in Sade’s illustrious career.

Today New York based singer, songwriter and producer Amber Mark announces details of her long-awaited debut album ‘Three Dimensions Deep’, out January 28th via Emi/pmr Records. The announcement of the album is accompanied by a sultry R&B instant-grat track ‘What It Is’ as well as a huge UK, EU and US spring tour announcement including London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in March

Amber’s debut album arrives almost 4 years after the release of her second EP ‘Conexão’, an extended process that has proved central to its thematic development. The 17 track album can be divided into three main acts that follow the arc of Amber’s personal and musical development; Without, Withheld and Within. Beginning by acknowledging her insecurities and anxieties before reflecting on her time in denial and spent processing them in all the wrong ways, Amber eventually widens her focus by seeking answers to the world’s negativity and trauma on a cosmic scale. Finding peace and a form of inherent spirituality in the world of astrophysics while writing the album led to a fresh perspective on

life and a renewed sense of self. Amber’s debut album is simultaneously a profound concept album and a love letter to herself, richly intertwining messages of self-worth and reflections on the universe beneath a veneer of shimmering pop. In true Amber Mark style, ‘Three Dimensions Deep’ is a kaleidoscopic melting pot of influences and genres, drawing from funk and R&B, soul and hip-hop with international accents influenced by a nomadic childhood spent travelling the world with her late mother.

“Three Dimensions Deep is a musical journey of what questions you begin to ask yourself when you start looking to the universe for answers.” says Amber; “I can only go as deep as the third dimension as that’s how we see the world, but what about when you start looking to the universe within for answers.”

“‘What It Is’ low key is the title track of the album without it actually being the title track” explains Amber; “It comes from going through negative experiences which end up being the gateway to a question I think I’ll be asking for the rest of my life. What is the meaning of life,the universe and everything?”

The three official singles already released from the album ‘Worth It’, ‘Competition’ and ‘Foreign Things’ marked Amber’s first official singles since 2020’s ‘Generous’, though 2020 was still a hugely productive year for Amber. With her hometown of NYC hit hard in the first wave of the pandemic and placed under strict lockdown, Amber turned to her simple home studio to create an acclaimed series of home-produced covers and originals titled ‘Covered-19’, each accompanied by a homemade video and artworks. The series was followed by a collaboration with longtime friend Empress Of on the protest song ‘You’ve Got To Feel’, earning Annie Mac’s Hottest Record, ‘Tune Of The Week’ and a spot on the Radio 1 playlist. Earlier this year Amber was featured on legendary DJ Paul Woolford’s new piano-house track ‘heat’, again snagging Annie Mac’s Hottest Record and a long run across the Radio 1 and 2 playlists. Having already amassed over 300 million streams since the release of her breakout debut EP 3:33AM in 2017, Amber has built a global fanbase eager to hear her debut full length -

K. FLAY INSIDE VOICES / OUTSIDE VOICES - Flay has released a new album, Inside Voices/Outside Voices. The record combines the 10 songs off the "Blood in the Cut" artist's two 2021 EPs, Inside Voices and Outside Voices, and adds two brand-new tunes: "The Muck" and "Good to Drive. "

how do we live in times when nothing seems safe, how do we listen to music when rockets and bullets make the air scream, how do we produce music when the building with our studio is simply no longer there? over the last 2 years, Amas and Konstantin Kost have been trying to produce a techno EP across the borders of the war in ukraine. Konstantin Kost was never able to leave ukraine for this, while we were able to move freely through europe. this ambivalence is part of this album, it is part of every note and every line of the poems that can be heard here. we all associate techno with bass-heavy and dancing through the night, but Odessa is more, it is a journey without being able to travel, an experience without being able to experience, an escape without being able to escape and a life without really being able to live ... neither Amas was able to travel to odessa during this time, nor Konstantin Kost to europe, neither was able to experience the other personally. however, the exchange of music and lyrics has built up a relationship to a country at war, as well as to its people, musicians, women and children. while we were dealing with our everyday problems in germany, the situation in Odessa became increasingly confusing. the constant fear of being drafted and producing videos and images for the album at the same time were extremely ambivalent moments. how do you deal with your counterpart in such moments and what do you say to someone in a situation that we can hardly imagine? we often talked about friends simply disappearing and corrupt officials and soldiers embezzling money and in the next sentence it was straight back to the vinyl production. these conversations were very rational and at the same time extremely surreal. this EP is not meant to be a political EP, it is meant to be a human album and to take away the feeling of powerlessness from the people who were and are involved. this production and its music is a triumph over the destructive and dark side of war, it is meant to show that art is boundless and that people are connected all over the world even in the darkest times. in the first track RED Glow our guest Tanya (musician and djane from Odessa) stoically repeats the words Love and Fear, followed by the words: ?i meet you with red glow, in your eyes i quickly dissolve!? the track is part of everyday life, everywhere you meet this red glow and yet everything has to flow on and yet people still live and dance ... in Nightcall we walk through the streets and follow the call of darkness. the words ?through the night? are used here repetitively like a percussion. but the highs and lows also give us hope and the belief that we will wake up again tomorrow and start a new day. in the dark there is always light, which must be preserved and found. OLD Kings is also the title of the poem we have written, based on the poem Ozymandias by percy bysshe shelley. OLD Kings determine our times and our political systems, seemingly unteachable old men hold the world in a stranglehold and it seems as if there are an infinite number of them. yet we continue to fight against these people, we cannot and do not want to do otherwise ... in Talk TO GOD, Konstantin Kost reads from the well-known ukrainian poem ?a cloud floating behind the sun? by Taras Shevchenko, a famous ukrainian poet and writer. he is considered the founder of modern ukrainian literature and, in part, of the ukrainian language. it is about red fields, the fog and its darkness, as well as the sea and the calmness of the heart in nature, the longing for peace and peace with god. in addition to poetry and music, all photographs and videos are original recordings by Konstantin Kost of his city Odessa. although we cannot visit each other, we still share strong visual impressions of a city that, in all its beauty and resilience, will hopefully soon be open to the world again. the cover is therefore also a picture of the port of odessa, a place where people and goods from all parts oft he world will soon be able to sail in and out again.

In collaboration with Meidosem and Infrastition, Minimal Wave proudly presents Kintsugi, a new album by the highly lauded French group Martin Dupont. The album features lush re-works of their old songs, originally released on their highly sought-after 1980s albums. The French band is known for making beautiful, heady electronic, with striking, poetic vocals. A hard-to-classify group from Marseille with a cult following and some mainstream success, Martin Dupont has inspired some of the luminaries of the contemporary music scene crossing many genres from trip-hop to electro to techno. Kintsugi reassembles their old spirit that is colorful, enthusiastic, and delicate, yet also melancholy and mysterious. A mixture of hot and cold, light and dark. Martin Dupont’s music is considered electronic though they also incorporate guitars and clarinets. They are described by many as New Wave, though their music truly transcends genres. Listen to Kintsugi, a collection of Martin Dupont’s emotive songs that have now been reinvigorated with a larger-than-life presence.

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Oops, Four Flies did it again! Like other rare Italian gems, Berto Pisano’s La Novizia was long thought lost before the FF team rescued, restored and remastered it from the original tapes. And wow, it’s just one of the best things, if not the best thing, about the 1975 film it was written for – an erotic comedy with melodramatic overtones directed by Pisano’s long-time collaborator Giuliano Biagetti (they previously worked together on Interrabang and La Svergognata) and starring a young and mesmerizing Gloria Guida. The film’s low budget meant that Pisano had to make a virtue out of necessity. Rather than using a big orchestra and strings (as is well known, he was a brilliant conductor and string arranger), he relied on a smaller ensemble – almost a chamber ensemble, but with a jazz-like rhythm section – to create sensual late-night soundscapes that exude a downtempo ambience. In a nutshell: smooth, warm, velvety music. The epitome of the lounge sound. At times, whispered, sexy vocals by (the then ubiquitous) Edda Dell’Orso float dreamily over brushed drums, bass, guitars and electric pianos. At others, we find Italian library heavyweights like Alessandro Alessandroni (whose unmistakable whistle can be heard in “Canto Notturno”) and even psychedelic rock influences, as in the acid distorted guitars, furious drums and crazy synths of “Free Dimension”. At yet other times, we’re taken into more easy-listening territory – “Fiore Rosso”, for instance, offers a wonderfully cinematic example of Mediterranean, rather than Brazilian, bossa nova (did they ever thought of using a spinet in Brazil??). The secret to the charm of La Novizia is that it encapsulates the Italian erotic sound of the 70s in all of its nuances, from the morbid, to the prudish, to the naïve. Because yes, this is a record of nuance and musicianship. And while the themes are in themselves simple, the fantastic quality of the writing, arrangement and production is a testament to Berto Pisano’s superb talent, style and professionalism. Finally back to life after decades of obscurity, La Novizia is a thing of beauty – which, as a pretty bright fellow once said, is a joy forever. Don’t miss out on joy.

Spirituals is Santigold's first full-length album since 2016's 99¢, and was mostly recorded during the 2020 lockdown. "All of a sudden there I was with three small children out of school_just-turned-two-year-old twins and a six-year-old_I was cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and changing diapers from morning to night, with three little kids coming in and out of my bed throughout each night like musical chairs. I was losing touch with the artist me, stuck in a part of myself that was too small. I felt the other parts of me were shrinking, disappearing." Santigold struggled but succeeded in defining a space in which she could center herself and collaborate virtually with producers and contributors: Rostam, Boys Noize, Dre Skull, P2J, Nick Zinner, Sbtrkt, JakeOne, Illangelo, Doc McKinney, Psymun, Ricky Blaze, Lido, Ray Brady, and Ryan Olson. "Recording this album was a way back to myself after being stuck in survival mode. It wasn't until I made the space to create that I realized I wasn't only creating music but a lifeline," she says. California was on fire, we were hiding from a plague, the social justice protests were unfolding. "I'd never written lyrics faster in my life. After having total writer's block, they started pouring out. I decided to create the future, to look towards where we are going, to create beauty and pull towards that beauty. I need that for myself, but it's also there for whoever else needs it."

South London’s Lianne La Havas re-entered our musical consciousness at the end of February with her emotionally stirring soul-gem ‘Bittersweet’. This came in conjunction with an Annie Mac Hottest Record, a mind-blowing live show at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Jules Buckley and an incredible Colors session – all of which helped put Lianne firmly back on the cultural map for 2020.

‘Lianne La Havas’, Lianne’s third album and her first in five years and is an album of startling beauty and insight—made entirely on her own terms which has been quite a journey. In one sense, geographically: La Havas spent a lot of time moving back and forth between the UK and the States working on writing and exploring her own identity. As a result, ‘Lianne La Havas’ feels spacious and luminous. Its sunbaked sounds recall, in places, the Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Milton Nascimento (on “Seven Times”). You might also hear the curveball chords of Joni Mitchell and Jaco Pastorious’s jazz explorations (“Green Papaya”), or the puttering drums and inviting warmth of golden-era Al Green (“Read My Mind”). And throughout the record, there’s a sense of empowerment that has its roots in the crisp ‘90s R&B of Destiny’s Child.

‘Lianne La Havas is ten songs that span the arc of a love relationship. The album’s opener, ‘Bittersweet’ functions as a kind of an overture, setting out what follows, before the giddy, love-struck rush of ‘Read My Mind’. If these first few songs suggest a flower opening its petals, that’s no coincidence: “What plays a big role in the album is the idea of the life cycle of plants and nature—equating this journey with a seasonal thing that blooms, thrives, goes away, and comes back even stronger,” La Havas says. Over the five years it took for the album to come together, she found herself watching the changing foliage outside her window in south London, struck by how she was growing and changing herself—not always comfortably. “A flower has to dry up and die in order to be reborn,” she says. “You have to get to the rock bottom to rebuild yourself.”

After relentless touring and promoting of her first two albums as well as personal and emotional events in her life, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find time, inspiration and confidence to get back in the studio for a follow up. As it came about, the recording process of album number three began in earnest by accident; returning from a glorious, sunny Glastonbury festival performance in June 2019, La Havas and her core band decided to see if they could nail their lithe live version of Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes’ in the studio. “I had the most wonderful, nourishing experience recording that,” she says, “And that’s where I decided: the rest of the album needs to be like this. It’s got to be my band, and I’ve got to do it in London, whenever people have time.” By October, she had all ten songs, and by December, everything was recorded—mainly in London, and also in Bath and New York. In keeping with the album’s intimate feel, everyone who contributed to the record is a trusted collaborator, including long-term songwriting ally Matt Hales, co-producer Beni Giles, and guest co-producer Mura Masa.

The confidence that La Havas has cultivated, both personally and creatively, is audible in the fact that ‘Lianne La Havas’ is a record that feels utterly real—a living, breathing thing. It hasn’t been polished to a squeak in favor of a “clean” recording; La Havas followed her gut on this album, going with what feels good.

Beauty never really goes by the book, and ‘Lianne La Havas’ is a breathtaking example of this. Now thirty years old, she is excited about playing these powerful songs live. “The best part is that I own them, and really believe in them,” she says. “And, you know, it’s me. So I can’t be afraid of doing what I do, and being who I am.”

‘Lianne La Havas’—an exquisite, rich, and tender expression of love, loss, and rebirth that marks a new era for the British artist.

Pasha is a soldier on the front line, fighting those who till the day before were friends from the town next door, probably fighting his own brothers-in-law, Natasha’s brothers, his great love, mother of his children in a senseless war if only wars had a meaning … In the evening when the madness slows down.. Pasha takes his cell phone and talks about the horrors and the desperation but also the infinite gratitude he feels for having had her as a gift in his life. His texts always end with "From Pasha with Love"

"During lockdown we delved deep into the Crazy P vaults to see what might be lurking in there. Plenty of buried treasure to be found, but these 2 little beauties grabbed our attention and seemed to fit well together. The lead track, If Life Could Be This Way, was a jam we had between the 3 of us, the vocal's a bit of a one take wonder from Dani, and we didn't touch it! It featured in our set and was the title of our last tour Nov 2021".

Public Possession proudly presents Aiden Ayers debut album „Venus Copper Rose“. A few words by the artist himself: „ Venus Copper Rose came to me in a dream. The three words are all the same thing, symbols of beauty and material formations of love. Together they are a VCR (videocassette recorder) - a memory machine, a portal into fantasy and myth + a transcriber of dreams. The songs on the album represent the past five years of my life. The oldest of them were written and first recorded in 2017 and the youngest barely made it to the mastering session on time. I am always writing and recording, travelling to and fro, on little islands off the coast of BC, down to the California desert, or in makeshift basement studios throughout Vancouver. Every song has grown up and been captured in a different way - the album is a wild garden of misfits, flowers and weeds. I hope that people feel nourished by this album - I believe that is the ultimate role of music, like another kind of food, light, or love. I hope these songs and this album can help people see the beauty and poetry that flows through their own lives.“

Every once in a while, a record comes along which resonates in a special way, stands the test of time, and brings the same reaction to the dancefloor now as it did all those years ago. 'Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)' is one of those records, a classic in every sense of the word. Originally released in 2000, Defected are, re-releasing this club essential for new and original fans alike in a special, limited edition deluxe remix reissue.

This unique two vinyl pack comes in full colour gatefold sleeve with augmented reality cover that will come to life once you scan the mask image on your phone accompanied by a four page 12” insert written by Spiller detailing the full story of ‘Groovejet’; from original production, early reactions, chart success and new 2021/22 remixes.

The releases features the original versions plus new mixes Purple Disco Machine & Lorenz Rhode, Riva Star, Breakbot & Irfane and Harvey Sutherland. Exclusive to the vinyl are Riva Starr’s Skylight Mix and the Harvey Sutherland Instrumental version.