News – Page 12 – 7th Level Music

Ela Minus releases new remix EP and tour dates.

Earlier this year, Colombian artist Ela Minus released her new album, DÍA, via Domino. The album has garnered widespread praise, landing on several mid-year best of lists, including Billboard, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, and SPaste, with the latter raving, “the state of electronica as we know it is fuller because Ela Minus is making music within it. DÍA is unforgettable.”

Today, she releases QQQQ (Remixes) and announces a fall North American Tour. Tickets go on sale this Friday and will be available here. The five track QQQQ (Remixes) EP reworks the “haunted techno stomper,” (PAPER) “QQQQ,” into “Apocalypto” and extended club mixes by South Florida electronic producer Nick León, who recently released his debut album, A Tropical Entropy, of which Ela featured on the lead single, “Ghost Orchid.” The EP also includes club and live edits by Ela alongside the song’s original mix. Of the EP, Ela says: “Nick’s remixes feel like a collaboration. It’s the first time I’ve had so much input on a remix of my music. We were sending versions back and forth. Two came out of the process: A straight-on extended club mix (which the original was always calling for) and then a beat-less version which we called ‘Apocalypto remix‘. I’ve also recorded a live version of the song. After playing it live, the shows ignited something new in it, or in me when I play it, so I recorded a new live version included in this EP.”

Purchase/Stream QQQQ (Remixes)

Watch the Visualizer for “QQQQ” (Nick León Apocalypto Mix)

Beginning this week, Ela will play a run of UK/EU festival dates, with today’s newly announced tour kicking off in October and wrapping in Colombia in November. A full list of dates is below. As previously announced, Synth History is launching an ongoing and in depth docu-series on Ela’s story and music. Preview the first episode here, second here, and third episode here. A short film presented by Synth History will be released digitally this year.

Ela recently launched www.forthebirds.xyz, a platform where fans can write to Ela, and she writes back, covering personal and technical topics or whatever approach grabs her interest. Purchase/Stream DÍA

QQQQ (Remixes) Tracklist
1. QQQQ (Nick León Apocalypto Mix)
2. QQQQ (Nick León Extended Club Mix)
3. QQQQ – Club Edit
4. QQQQ – Live Edit
5. QQQQ

Ela Minus Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Wed. Aug. 6 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Deseo Club
Sat. Aug. 9 – Barcelona, ES @ Brunch Electronik Festival
Sun. Aug. 10 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
Fri. Aug. 15 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival
Fri. Aug. 22 – Lincoln, UK @ Lost Village
Fri. Aug. 29 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Sat. Aug. 30 – Terni, IT @ Letz Festival
Sat. Oct. 11 – Bologna, IT @ Robot Festival
Sat. Oct. 18 – Miami, FL @ III Points Festival
Thu. Oct. 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere (Hall)
Fri. Oct. 24 – Chicago, IL @ Outset
Tue. Oct. 28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
Wed. Oct. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
Thu. Nov. 6 – Caracas, VE @ TBA
Fri. Nov. 7 – Medellín, CO @ TBA
Sat. Nov. 8 – Cali, CO @ TBA
Sun. Nov. 9 – Bogotá, CO @ TBA

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[Thanks to Matt at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Sunflowers release chaotic “Chameleon Kid” ahead of full album due this November.

Today, noise-punk explorers Sunflowers announce their first release through Fuzz Club Records. A jagged, blown-out descent into psychological free-fall, ‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’ will be released on November 7th and finds the band refining their chaotic signature while letting go of structure altogether. It’s a record that refuses to look away from the madness of modern existence — choosing instead to laugh, scream, and contort itself into something stranger, louder, and far more unstable.

Sunflowers make noise like it’s a language of survival. Their sound blends blistering punk energy with layers of distortion, experimental chaos, and existential release — always teetering between catharsis and collapse. They are not here to comfort you. They are here to rip the floor out from under you. Their music is a living organism—loud, messy, and mutating in real time. Nevermore-so on this latest outing.

Today they share a first look at the album with the track “Chameleon Kid”. It sets the tone with a high-voltage rejection of social camouflage: a breakneck garage punk anthem for the misfits, channelling the chaos of identity in a world that demands conformity. It’s raw, noisy, and unapologetically wired, a middle-finger to social norms.

The accompanying video, directed by the band’s longtime collaborator Carolina Bonzinho, brings the track’s themes of identity and adaptation to life through experimental, and surreal animated visuals. Described by Bonzinho as “a wandering of camouflages”, the video expands on the shapeshifting energy of the song.

“Chameleon Kid” official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8_tn_wQg7E
Other streaming links: http://sunflowers.lnk.to/chameleonkid

Sunflowers is a band from Porto, Portugal, that’s never afraid to evolve. Formed in 2014 by the duo of Carlos de Jesus and Carolina Brandão, the lineup expanded when Frederico Ferreira joined in 2018, further solidifying the unique chemistry that has become a hallmark of their sound. Just ask anyone who’s seen them live.

Their electrifying stage presence and primal intensity quickly caught the attention of the Portuguese underground, and before long, they were on a relentless tour, spreading their chaos across Europe like the plague in 1346. Their blend of punk, noise, and experimental rock has always pushed the boundaries of conventional genres—combining ferocious energy with introspective, often existential themes. “There’s always something to evolve within our sound,” says Carlos. “We’ve never been the kind of band to cosplay ourselves. We’re always reaching for what’s next.”

Their fifth full-length album, ‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’ began as a collection of demos — raw, impulsive recordings laid down without any pressure or overthinking. But when the band listened back, they realized something was already there: something vivid, imperfect, and very much alive. “There was a tension and looseness in those early takes that we couldn’t — and didn’t want to — recreate in a ‘proper’ session,” says guitarist and vocalist Carlos de Jesus. “So we followed it, rather than trying to control it.”

That instinct led to a process that was both intuitive and relentless. There was no roadmap, no template — only a commitment to capturing the noise and nerve of the moment. Drummer and vocalist Carolina Brandão adds: “We were just reacting to life — to stress, to joy, to absurdity. All of that made it in.”

Across eight tracks, ‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’ pinballs between noise rock, punk, warped psych, and a sort of mangled pop sensibility. It’s loud and sharp-edged, but with moments of eerie restraint — like falling through a trapdoor into calm, then being hurled back into chaos. Feedback wails like sirens, drums slam, and the bass throbs like a pulse trying to keep steady. It’s a sound that’s constantly falling apart and reassembling in real time.

The title isn’t just tongue-in-cheek — it’s an existential shrug with teeth. A sarcastic trophy for surviving the disintegration. It’s the voice in your head that says, “Congrats, you made it… now what?” And while the album drips with anxiety and tension, it never gives in to despair. There’s a sardonic, almost playful undercurrent running through the whole thing — like dancing in the wreckage just to prove you’re still alive.

Lyrically, the record leans into the absurdity of trying to function in a collapsing world. It’s about burnout and performance, about identity and dissociation, about watching your reflection glitch in real time. But it’s also about the ecstatic joy that sometimes erupts through the cracks — the unfiltered scream, the moment of surrender that becomes its own liberation. “Sometimes the only sane reaction is to scream,” says Carolina. “But screaming can be joyful too. It’s a release.”

‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations! ‘is both a culmination and a reset: the sound of a band doing what they do best while completely reimagining what that even means. It’s raw, it’s restless, and it doesn’t sit still for a second. Sunflowers have never played it safe — and on this album, they don’t even pretend to. It’s music for the overwhelmed, the overcooked, and the perpetually undone. It’s a celebration of the fall. And if you’re going down, you might as well go down loud.

‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’, will be out on Fuzz Club Records on November 7th, 2025. Pre-order HERE.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

pôt-pot release a “Sextape” from their upcoming debut album, “Warsaw 480km,” out September 19th.

oday Lisbon-based Irish quintet pôt-pot share a second look at their forthcoming debut album ‘Warsaw 480km’, set for release on September 19th via Felte.

The band infuse the propulsive grooves of krautrock with a phosphorescent psych-rock radiance, all underscored by harmonium drones, hypnotic vocal harmonies, and deep layers of rough-hewn texture.

Following first single “WRSW”, today they share a second glimpse at the record with an understated track about trust, entitled “Sextape“. The track highlights several of pôt-pot’s many strengths: melodious bass and laid-back drums create the framework for controlled feedback and honeyed vocals that are massive in their presence, yet still buoyant as a cloud above the steady pulse and swirls of vibrant, harmonic grace.

Commenting on the track, lead vocalist Mark Waldron-Hyden comments: “This song came from a spontaneous jam between all of us, not written by myself like the other tracks. Elaine named it half as a joke when we first saved the phone recording and despite efforts to rename, nothing else stuck.

What was lovely about this track was that the lads wrote their parts but gave me full control to orchestrate the song as I wished, and trusted me with the bits they wrote to make a full track, which really meant a lot to me. I guess the song title stayed as it’s essentially a song that came from an intimate trust between us, which lines up with what should be involved in making a sextape I suppose — intimate trust between parties that whatever each person brings to the scenario will be treated with respect, but that’s me taking a retrospective look on things.

The lyrics also stem from themes of trust between people — a quiet, unspoken understanding of each other’s idiosyncrasies “You don’t have to say what you are, I already know” repeated over and over.”

“Sextape” lyric video:https://youtu.be/-dmeCKTVjzc
‘Warsaw 480km’ album pre-save links:https://felte.lnk.to/pot-pot

Evolved primarily from demos by multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Mark Waldron-Hyden during a period of grief and personal upheaval, the album came to life through a series of live, full-band studio sessions that document an exceptional array of talents, unified in an embrace of raw catharsis with a sweetly sinister edge.

A defining element of ‘Warsaw 480km’ is its impressive range of influences and atmospheric topographies. As Waldron-Hyden describes, “I wrote the first batch of songs while not really living in one place, so I think they have a kind of transient feel to them – developing them with the band helped me process an era in which I was emotionally freewheeling, so they remind me equally of the beautiful experience we shared as a creative unit and the difficult times that inspired them.” Lead single, “WRSW”, exemplifies this complexity, as its rugged rhythmic backbone carries tremolo guitars, woozy harmonium, and a half-spoken, Lou Reed-indebted vocal line in which the verse and chorus beautifully blur together.

Above all, Warsaw 480km is an album that achieves its richness and aura from deliberate economy, as Waldron-Hyden explains, “Ollie [Oliver Smith] and Sara [Sara Leslie] are experts at getting the most out of one pedal, a shitty amp, and a guitar they borrowed, a result of innate talent and years of experience; they use some modulation for dronier passages, but it’s their playing styles and understanding of ‘the vibe’ that are the secret ingredients.” This kind of intuitive connection and collaboration is incredibly rare, and with these ten pieces, pôt-pot accomplish something truly rapturous as they alchemize deep pain into a luminous reverie.

pôt-pot are Elaine Malone (she/her), Sara Leslie (she/her), Mykle “Ollie” Oliver Smith (he/him), Joe Armitage (he/him) and Mark Waldron-Hyden (he/him).

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Ganser share “Stripe” from their upcoming “Animal Hospital” album.

Next month, Chicago’s Ganser will release their third LP Animal Hospital (due out August 29th on felte). Produced by Liars’ Angus Angrew, the album has been previewed with two singles, “Black Sand” and “Discount Diamonds,” which have earned an enthusiastic critical response, earning praise from outlets like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, FADER, Stereogum, Alternative Press, and BrooklynVegan.

Today, the band are sharing a third single from the LP, a track entitled “stripe,” along with a video created by band member Alicia Gaines.

Recorded at Jamdek Studios by Doug Malone (with additional recording by Nick Broste at Electrical Audio) and producer Andrew (Liars) between January and March of 2025, Animal Hospital is a masterwork of Ganser’s long-honed craft. Songs from the album began life as notes scratched as far back as 2020, though “stripe” dates back even further, having first been demoed in 2001), as Gaines explains.

This one dates back to October 2001, one of my earliest experiences recording with a computer after years of suffering through noisy cassette recorders and 4-track machines. It’s a testament to the durability of digital recording that much of the instrumentation that made it onto the album is from the original demo session. The lyrics and melody, added this year, describe everyone living in their own narrative– where what can be perceived as wrong or right can vary from individual to individual, and how in reality the truth is sometimes more of an evolving idea than a fixed concept, for better or worse. A compass points true until you follow it far enough to get lost.

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No Joy announces new album out August 08, 2025 – “Bugland.”

No Joy is the project of Jasamine White-Gluz. First coming to wide attention as a three piece band around the release of their 2011 debut LP Ghost Blonde, the project has morphed into Jasamine’s solo project, and she has consistently evolved in unexpected ways over 4 LPs and a handful of EPs. Her most recent LP, 2020’s Motherhood, which featured Tara McLeod of the prominent early ‘oughts nu metal band Kittie, was perhaps the most critically-acclaimed of No Joy’s career, receiving an 8.0 from Pitchfork who described it as “a shoegaze album with a rare scope and an even rarer sense of fun and imagination.“

Today, No Joy is back with another re-invention and another unexpected collaborator, as she announces her follow up to her 2020 LP. Produced with the much buzzed about Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz, No Joy’s latest album is entitled Bugland and will be released on Hand Drawn Dracula and Sonic Cathedral on August 8th. To mark the announce No Joy is sharing the album’s titled track “Bugland.”

In some ways, Bugland feels more like a collaborative album than a producer/artist relationship, with both Jasamine and Fire-Toolz pushing each other to find new horizons within the other’s sonic world. It takes the adventurous genre mashing of No Joy’s previous album as a starting point, but pushes so far beyond any genre’s accepted confines, and in such imaginative ways, that it feels like it creates something entirely new.

“The collaboration really felt limitless,” says Fire-Toolz (aka Angel Marcloid). “I didn’t have to adhere to a certain vision in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t be Fire-Toolz. I could easily relate to this album because Jasamine and I liked a lot of the same music, and I was able to be creative in ways that were freeing as if I was making my own album.“

The album’s title track was also the genesis of their collaboration, and neatly encapsulates the way their styles have melded. Some of the heavy elements of Motherhood remain, but are tempered by a tapestry of glitchy electronics that make up the track’s constantly shifting arrangement.

White-Gluz says of the track:

This was the first song Fire-Toolz & No Joy produced together, initially without any plan to ever release it. Our production styles melded so well together on this track that we decided we should make a whole album. The song came together super organically, from the Korn-esque bass lines to the earworm vocal, it’s the welcome sign of the album letting you know you’ve officially entered our world.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Making Time Festival announces its 2025 lineup…with over 100 DJs in it.

Making Time ∞ — also known as Making Time Forever — proudly returns to Philadelphia’s Fort Mifflin this fall, Friday, September 19 – Sunday, September 21. Today, the most ambitious DIY event in America announces the lineup for its fifth and most transcendental year yet. Founded 25 years ago by legendary Philadelphia promoter Dave Pianka, this year sees the beloved event series Making Time celebrating its silver anniversary (MTMXXV) and five years of Making Time ∞ at Revolutionary War-era Fort Mifflin.

This year’s lineup is jaw-dropping in its quality and enormity, launching with over 120 acts. Headliners include Four Tet, ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, Boy Harsher, Panda Bear, and Moodymann. Accompanying them are some of the best DJs in the world, including Avalon Emerson, Ben UFO, DJ Nobu, Donato Dozzy, Interplanetary Criminal, Optimo (Espacio), Gerd Janson, D. Dan, Paurro,Lena Willikens, Powder, Badsista, and VTSS, to name just a few.

Live acts encompass a greater margin of this year’s lineup. Full Body2, Maria Sommerville and Milan W. display diverse approaches to dream pop, post-punk, shoegaze, while Moin and YHWH Nailgun bring a more aggressive palette to the fore. Electronic live acts include Aya, James K., Crash Course in Science, Fcukers, Ghost Dubs, and Holy Tongue. On the experimental side are Moor Mother, Voice Actor, and Disiniblud (Rachika Nayar & Nina Keith). Making Time ∞ also boasts a superior ambient offering including live performances from Suzanne Ciani, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Windy & Carl, and Suzanne Kraft.

Some festival favorites are playing bespoke sets: John Talabot will play two sets—a DJ set and a disco set, while Jubilee will throw down a freestyle extravaganza. In addition to the Optimo (Espacio) set, JD Twitch will host a “beatless rave” while Kuniyuki plays both dance and ambient live sets. Loidis and DJ Python team-up for a rare back-to-back DJ session, following the former’s ambient live show under his beloved Huerco S. alias.

The unique geography of Revolutionary War-era Fort Mifflin has allowed each zone, or stage, to develop its own personality. There’s the RA Majestic Zone, a wide-open space perfect for dancing or hanging with friends by the river. The Transcendental Zone, situated on a straightaway in front of former soldiers’ barracks, begins with live acts in the afternoon and ends with peak-time DJ sets. The Lot Radio livestreams from a stage that takes on infectious “free party” energy. The casemates, which have been used over centuries as munitions storage and a jail, are now an indoor club and chill-out room. This year, a new zone called Option + 5 launches in a canopy of trees next to the Delaware River, promising a transcendental forest rave. Returning once again are longtime Making Time collaborators Klip Collective who will project visuals on various structures all weekend.

The motto for MTMXXV is “choose transcendence.” For over 25 years, Making Time has been about partying your ass off and transcending the mundanity of the everyday, the average, the mediocre. If that means laughing with Laraaji during a meditation session, zoning out to plaintive folk songs of Joanne Robertson, or head banging to Blawan, it’s all here at Fort Mifflin this fall. Anyone looking for an overview of the best in underground dance, ambient, guitar, and experimental music should have Making Time ∞ on their calendar.

Three-day passes for Making Time ∞ 2025 are available to purchase now for $235 (plus taxes and fees). Tickets with no service fees are available at the following locations: The Lot Radio in Brooklyn, Middle Child & Middle Child Clubhouse in Philadelphia.

PURCHASE TICKETS FOR MAKING TIME ∞ 2025

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Swordes embraces manic love on her new single – “Boyfriend La La La.”

In the Summer of 2021, Swordes made her debut playing at the many warehouse raves and parties of Brooklyn, New York’s underground scene. Fearless, pop leaning, and addicted to melody, her live set is hardware synths, drum machines, and an emotive, operatic vocal. There’s no computer in sight.

Swordes is a multimedia artist and producer beginning to forge a singular path through Brooklyn’s underground with brooding, poetic lyricism and hypnotic, hardware-driven electronic music. Hailing from Honolulu and now based in NYC, she emerged from Parsons’ fine art program only to reject academia and carve her own sonic language. Since her 2021, she has captivated crowds with visceral, computer-free live sets that embrace experimental electronic, alt-pop, glitchy club, hyperpop and forward-thinking femme energy.

Her new single “Boyfriend La La La” is a chaotic power play—equal parts baby talk, club weapon and surrealist performance art. Playing a character of a stereotypical manic pixie dream girl/crazy girlfriend, Swordes chants obsessive mantras over infectious basslines and cartoonish 808 beats with a chorus that feels like a cursed nursery rhyme. It’s part pop fantasy, part manic delusion—and totally addictive.

“I love being a crazy girlfriend. There’s nothing wrong with that,” she says in character. “Here’s a quote from my boyfriend: ‘I’m her muse. Who wouldn’t be crazy about me?’”

Check out the new single here.

It’s the first taste of her upcoming debut album out later this year—an eclectic, cinematic body of work blending pop vocals with the club inspired sounds of late 90s dance music — written, produced, and mixed entirely by Swordes. Known for her raw, hardware synth live sets and bold visual world, she’s already caught the attention of Versace (SS25 runway sync), PAPER, and FLAUNT. Viral on TikTok (25k followers + 575k likes), with a growing cult fanbase, Swordes is building something that lives between fashion, noise, pop, and performance.

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[Thanks to George at Terrorbird Media.]

Chicago’s Constellation Performing Arts organization announces its first Sound & Gravity festival September 10-14, 2025.

Today, Constellation Performing Arts announces the inaugural Sound & Gravity, taking place September 10-14, 2025 at beloved Chicago venues Constellation, Hungry Brain, Judson & Moore, Beat Kitchen, Guild Row, and Rockwell on the River. Sound & Gravity is a new and ambitious event that promises to be a unique adventure for music enthusiasts. Featuring 48 acts, this immersive experience showcases a diverse range of musical genres, including jazz, experimental, contemporary classical, and indie music, reflecting the eclectic programming ethos of Constellation Performing Arts, its organizing entity.

Performers include Bill Callahan, Mdou Moctar, Body/Head, Helado Negro, Mary Lattimore, Irreversible Entanglements, Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, ganavya, Tarbaby, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, Julianna Barwick, Mary Halvorson, Steve Gunn, Olivia Block&Lea Bertucci, William Tyler, Elias Rønnenfelt, Glenn Kotche, and more, plus additional surprise sets curated by ElectricalAudio.

The 2025 inaugural edition takes place in the vibrant Bricktown/Avondale area of Chicago, known for its burgeoning creative industries. Capitalizing on the neighborhood’s walkability with all venues a 5-15 minute walk from each other, Sound & Gravity offers attendees the opportunity to experience the local culture during five days of cutting-edge performances.

Sound & Gravity also serves as a fundraiser for Constellation Performing Arts, a not-for-profit organization that has become a cornerstone of Chicago’s forward-thinking music scene. Founded in 2013 by musician and presenter Mike Reed, who also launched and produced the PitchforkMusicFestival until its final iteration in 2024, the venue has filled a crucial void in Chicago’s cultural landscape by providing a reliable, high-end platform for avant-garde and experimental music. Of the festival, Reed says: “Sound & Gravity extends Constellation’s mission, offering a concentrated dose of the venue’s innovative spirit across multiple locations in one of the city’s most creative neighborhoods.”

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, May 7 at 11am CT, and can be purchased here. Ticket options include an all-eventfour-day pass at $240, a single-day pass at $95, and a Wednesday opening night pass at $45.

Sound & Gravity 2025 Lineup:
Bill Callahan • Mdou Moctar • Body/Head • Helado Negro • Mary Lattimore • Irreversible Entanglements • Jeff Parker Expansion Trio • Tarbaby • The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis • Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore • Mary Halvorson: Amaryllis • Steve Gunn • William Tyler • Elias Rønnenfelt • Glenn Kotche • Rafiq Bhatia • Saccata Quartet • Third Coast Percussion • Chicago Underground Duo • Darius Jones Trio • Sam Prekop • Eucademix • ganavya • Geologist • Nabihah Iqbal • Hannah Cohen • Jeremiah Chiu • Ken Vandermark Edition Redux • Anna Webber’s Simple Trio • Cooper Moore • Fred Moten & Brandon Lopez • Glyders • Maria Somerville • Olivia Block & Lea Bertucci • Zoh Amba Sun Ensemble • JJJJJerome Ellis • Lia Kohl/Macie Stewart/Whitney Johnson • Luke Stewart’s Chicago Quartet • Magic Tuber Stringband • Nadah El Shazly • James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg • Edsel Axle • Ana Everling • Hanging Hearts • Michael Zerang’s Puzzle House • Mute Duo • sinonó • Andreas Røysum Ensemble w/ Marvin Tate

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Shrunken Elvis presents new single – “An Odd Outlet.”

Shrunken Elvis is a Nashville-based trio born from long European drives, cold winter jam sessions, and a mutual love of genre-defying sound exploration. The group unites three seasoned musicians—Spencer Cullum, Sean Thompson, and Rich Ruth—each bringing a distinct musical background to a shared creative space that prizes intuition over ambition.

Cullum, a pedal steel guitarist originally from East London, has recorded with artists like Angel Olsen, Lambchop, Miranda Lambert, and Billy Strings, while also releasing two solo LPs of folk-psych compositions on UK label Full Time Hobby. Thompson, a Nashville native, emerged from the city’s DIY scene playing in his first band Gnarwhal, and later helping to form other bands including Promised Land Sound. He’s toured and recorded with Margo Price, Skyway Man, Erin Rae, and others. Known for his immersive solo project Rich Ruth (Third Man Records), Michael Ruth blends spiritual jazz, ambient, and synth-infused post-rock into meditative and expansive compositions.

Now all based in Nashville, the trio thrives within the city’s supportive and exploratory music community. That environment has allowed them to forge a path that veers from Music City’s more traditional output, offering space to experiment and innovate freely. You can hear the fruits beared from this path on the upcoming self-titled album Shrunken Elvis, announced today for a September 5th release via Western Vinyl. Pre-order the albumhere.

The stunning first single “An Old Outlet”is a track that zeros in on the junction point between genres such as kosmische, jazz fusion, electronic, and ambient — collective loves of the three members. Check it out on YouTube.

Recording their debut album presented a unique challenge: to preserve the energy of their live three-piece dynamic without over-cluttering the arrangements. Their goal wasn’t to make an instrumental album that highlights individual prowess on pedal steel or guitar—but rather to construct a musical terrain where all elements coexist, each voice contributing to something entirely new. Embracing a philosophy of “no goals, just ideas,” the group let the music unfold naturally.

Mixed by Jake Davis (William Tyler) and featuring cover art by UK psych-folk artist Max Kinghorn-Mills (Hollow Hand), the debut Shrunken Elvis record is music made without expectation—but full of purpose. It’s the music they’ve always wanted to make: immersive, intuitive, and deeply alive.

Shrunken Elvis’s music exists in a naive, open-ended state—unconcerned with outcome but guided by deeply honed instincts. Having spent much of their careers as side musicians, this project represents a rare opportunity to create purely for the sake of collaboration and curiosity. Influences range from Alice Coltrane, Michael Rother, and Pat Metheny to KLF, Ashra, and Can—along with visual and cinematic touchstones like ECM album art, Kurosawa, and Bergman. Ideas often emerged in old English pubs on tour and were carried into the studio with quiet urgency.

The group’s origins trace back to a 2022 European tour behind Cullum’s solo record. Long drives crammed into a VW Passat—traversing Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the UK, and Ireland—fostered a kind of creative incubator. With no fixed plans or agenda, the trio began crafting compositions using their compact tour setup of two guitars, pedal steel, and synths.

Their shared listening experiences on those journeys helped shape a collective sonic language, one that transitioned seamlessly into winter recording sessions back in Nashville. Gathered around a small fire heater in a shed studio, they captured that same spirit of spontaneity and collaboration in sound.

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[Thanks to George at Terrorbird Media.]

Nuclear Daisies’ new single brings you “Infinite Joy.”

There’s an obscured beauty and a slithering cool that oozes throughout First Taste of Heaven– It’s raw and driving, powerful and playful, all with direct songwriting that is as revelatory as it is mysterious and compelling. Nuclear Daisies is made up of Austin players Rob Glynn (ex Temple of Angels), Alex Gehring (Ringo Deathstarr) and Robby Williams. Together the three created a record that is literally and figuratively– an eye-opening, DMT-soaked view at a world in chaos– not to mention a new vision for 90’s alternative and big beat for the next generation.

First Taste of Heaven is about life in all its glory and shroud– a post-apocalyptic journey through celebration, love, heartache, pain, acceptance and finally transcendence– physical, spiritual and even supernatural. And though the creation of the record was based on personal trials and tribulations, it also offered escapism from that same harsh reality in the form of catharsis and healing.

“Infinite Joy”, available today announces itself with the snap and the thump of a breakbeat and a snarling bassline, starkly contrasting from Gehring’s breathy, seductive vocals which drive the track. The juxtaposition adds drama to pensive lyrics that mine the dredges of mental health and the road to recovery. “The lyrics perfectly express the depths of depression and the hopelessness that someone can feel to claw their way out of it,” admits Gehring.

Listen / Share / Playlist “Infinite Joy”

Nuclear Daisies tracked First Taste of Heaven at Hungry Dog Sound & Studio in Austin, Texas with Williams at the helm over the course of a year. Their inspiration was less obvious – “I’d say it wasn’t specific productions but more specific vibes that we wanted to emulate,” specifies Williams. “We had clear visions of how we wanted certain songs to not only sound, but feel too– very sci-fi and dystopian. One song we wanted to feel like attending the vampire rave from ‘Blade’– tense, pulsing, but also a little bit dangerous. We wanted a different track to feel like the underground rave at the end of the world from ‘The Matrix’ – just sort of this lawless party of no rules at the end of days. There were also times when Alex would be in the booth and we’d say ‘sing it like you’re crying’ or ‘try it like a dead choir member.’ There are a lot of wild influences in there that come from disparate places and not just conventional ideas.”

First Taste of Heaven is droney, cacophonous, and antagonistic yet serene and with melodic pop sensibilities that hook into you and don’t let go. It’s the follow up to their 2022 S/T debut which featured hit single “Heaven In Your Head”. Nuclear Daisies will soon see its reissue via Portrayal of Guilt Records in addition to the release of First Taste of Heaven on August 1.

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[I’d feel infinite joy if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Bailey at Another Side!]