1. ECOSTRIKE – ‘Together’

Southern Floridian vegan straight edge band ECOSTRIKE will be releasing their latest LP ‘A Truth We Still Believe‘ July 24th via Triple B Records, ‘Together‘ marks our first sampling of what’s to come. The single is practically made for this coronavirus, protest filled, politically divisive era, the sound owing much in part to bands like Earth Crisis and Shelter. If that’s your cup of tea, give ‘Together‘ a go right this second!

Sarah Medeiros

  1. Arca – ‘Afterwards’ (Feat. Björk)

Arca is back and so are the collaborations with Icelandic goddess Björk! The Venezuelan electronic producer put out her fourth studio album entitled ‘KiCk i‘ this past week, featuring collaborations with Sophie, Shygirl, and Rosalía, but it’s her work with Björk on ‘Afterwards‘ that we must talk about. Four minutes of glossy, elegant, glass breaking vocals from Björk along with Arca’s crunchy production and own haunting vocals about halfway in make for a match made in an eclectic heaven.

Sarah Medeiros

  1. NKOS  – ‘BOW (Brave Old World)’

NKOS is an international ‘conspiracy’, consisting of Flavio Manieri, Chris Shape, Nancy Natali & Marcus Billeri, and recently unveiled their dystopic, audiovisual treat  ‘BOW (Brave Old World)‘. Most may assume that this blend of “new-wave, post-punk, trip-hop, electro and anything in-between” was written during the current COVID-19 lockdown, but this is not the case, since the truth according to NKOS is that the track ‘was made out of endless phone calls and file sharing links between Flavio and Chris Shape, as well as recording sessions scattered over the years with the full band starting from as early as 2014‘.

Nancy Natali delivers a stunning vocal performance on this professionally produced gem, while the video written, filmed and directed by Zidrunas Ilgauscas is a more than ideal companion for this anthem.

Judging by this, we simply cannot wait for their debut album ‘From Dust To Life‘ to drop in October via Beatbuzz Records.

Christos Doukakis

  1. Bill Callahan – ‘Pigeons’

Bill Callahan (Smog) released today the first track ‘Pigeons‘ from his upcoming album ‘Gold Record‘ (out September 4th via Drag City). The track’s opening verse ‘Hello, I am Johnny Cash‘ sets the mood for this story-telling, velvet narration from one of the most prolific singers-songwriters of the last 3 decades. Yes, Callahan unleashes an optimistic indie folk gem, with some gentle horns to dive into his ‘magic world’. Pure greatness!

Christos Doukakis

  1. Sofie – ‘Guest’

Hope you are ready for some synth-heavy, 80s vibes; Sofie Fatouretchi (an integral member of the growing Boiler Room team and an NTS Radio resident DJ), releasing music under the Sofie moniker, is a Vienna-based musician and ‘Guest’ is the latest video from her just released debut album ‘Cult Survivor‘ out on never disappointing Stones Throw Records.

The old VHS visualizer, is ideally combined with the peerless, nostalgic, overflowing vibes… On repeat!

Christos Doukakis

Compiled by Sarah Medeiros & Christos Doukakis