Nate Mercereau announces new album, Fantastic Thoughts, and shares title track

29 July 2026

Photo: Juniper Mercereau

LA-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and composer Nate Mercereau has announced the release of a new album titled Fantastic Thoughts. Over the years, Mercereau has become a vital presence within a remarkable community of musicians and across a wide range of genres. Alongside his own releases, he has collaborated extensively with Carlos Niño adn Surya Botofasina, contributed to André 3000’s acclaimed New Blue Sun, and worked as a producer, songwriter and musician with artists including Sade, Lizzo, Leon Bridges, Jay-Z, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd and many others. Mercereau has also continued to develop his own approach to composition and improvisation through a wide range of solo and collaborative releases, including digi-squires with Sam Gendel, the trio albums Subtle Movements and Free, Dancing . . . with Surya Botofasina, Carlos Niño and Idris Ackamoor, and his ongoing contributions to Carlos Niño & Friends releases since 2020. Across this incredible and diverse body of work, he has been expanding his approach to the guitar, placing the instrument at the heart of his compositions.

Mercereau’s forthcoming record is a celebration of imagination, creative freedom and the possibilities that emerge when musical ideas are are allowed to unfold. Fantastic Thoughts finds Mercereau exploring what he calls “Active New Reality Progressive Fusion”, a space where composition, improvisation, experimentation and feeling come together. A record full of ideas and influences, it draws from disparate genres, including progressive rock, jazz fusion, electronic experimentation and beyond. Mercereau explains:

“I am in the musical lineage of the great progressive rock band Yes and Jon Anderson, specifically Jon Anderson’s transcendent impressionistic lyrical YES energy, the blazing connectivity of The Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin, the heart fire of Jimi Hendrix, the continued exploration of Carlos Santana through all sounds and eras and genres, the experimentation of Robert Fripp and King Crimson, the imagination of Jon Hassell, the playfulness of Squarepusher, the earnestness of Steve Vai, the personal language of Lightning Bolt, the musical sweetness and memorable melody of the Pat Metheny Group and Lyle Mays, the orchestration of Stravinsky and Zappa, the lyrical guitar playing of Jeff Beck, the possibilities of Brian Eno, the heart-fire originator Tisziji Muñoz … among everything else I’ve ever heard or felt, these things stand out to me right now as other music I am related to.”

Fantastic Thoughts arrives on September 11th through Leaving Records and ahead of it, Mercereau has unveiled the album’s radiant and jubilant title track. Here it is.

Bibio & ⁨Dorian Concept share collaborative single, ‘Shame’

28 July 2026

Bibio has teamed up with Dorian Concept for a brand new collaborative single, ‘Shame’, out now through Warp. A long-time favourite of ours, Stephen Wilkinson has spent the last two decades constantly exploring new paths, moving between folk, electronic, ambient and experimental sounds. On ‘Shame’, he joins forces with Dorian Concept, the project of composer, producer, and keyboardist Oliver Johnson, for a synth-driven track built around bubbling analogue sounds and a playful electronic energy. There’s no word yet on whether this is a standalone release or the first glimpse of a new project but we’ll keep our eyes peeled. ‘Shame’ comes with an accompanying video made by the pair, and you can watch it below.

Marvin Tate teams up with LeRoy Bach for collaborative album, Controlled Burn

25 July 2026

Photo: Lucy E. Mueller

Chicago poet, performer and multidisciplinary artist Marvin Tate has a new collaborative album on the way with longtime creative partner LeRoy Bach. A singular presence in Chicago’s creative community for more than three decades, Tate has long blurred the boundaries between poetry, music and performance, weaving together spoken word, improvisation, humour and personal storytelling into works that defy easy categorization. Entitled Controlled Burn, the forthcoming record finds Tate embracing a more intimate setting built from a series of improvised studio sessions and live performances with Bach. This marks a change for Tate, whose recent work has often embraced the energy of larger ensemble performances. Other than Bach, who occasionally expanded the arrangements through overdubs, Controlled Burn also features contributions from drummer Quin Kirchner and a cameo from Ben LaMar Gay, but as Tate put it, the record remains connected to “the days when the sound of my feet hitting the pavement is my only accompaniment.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Tate has unveiled two singles, ‘First You Hear’, and more recently ‘Hold Me’, both serving as an exciting taste of what’s to come. Take a listen below.


iiisa to release debut solo full length tanto te he querido

24 July 2026

Photo: Leslie Mok

isabel crespo pardo is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist whose practice moves across sound, performance, text and visual art. Now, under the new moniker iiisa, they are ready to release their solo electroacoustic debut album. Entitled tanto te he querido, which translates as “so much i’ve loved you”, the album arrives on October 2nd through Leaving Records and brings together field recordings, poemsongs and familial voices from their home in Costa Rica. Across its ten tracks, iiisa revisits fragments of past compositions and recordings collected over the last decade, reshaping them into an intimate meditation on memory, mortality, intergenerational trauma and hope. The album was created through an ongoing process of recomposition, with crespo pardo recording and producing it during a residency at Pioneer Works, while on tour and in the homes of loved ones. Speaking about their relationship with archival material, iiisa writes:

“Engaging in an ongoing dialogue with archival material has taught me so much.”

They continue:

“I wanted to offer my voice in the way I hear it when I’m alone. I wanted to bring people into the cave of my mind.”

Alongside the announcement, iiisa have also shared the album’s lead single, ‘aún siento la sombra’, a stirring track that confronts the painful conformity that, as they explain, “keeps us powerless”. Listen to it below.

Tyondai Braxton shares fourth single, ‘Vali’, from forthcoming new album, Splayed Werks

24 July 2026

Photo: Ebru Yıldız

Tyondai Braxton continues to build anticipation for his forthcoming album Splayed Werks with the release of another excellent new single. The prodigious composer and producer has unveiled ‘Vali’, the fourth track to be lifted from the record, ahead of its release through Erased Tapes on August 21st. Speaking about the new single, Braxton says:

“‘Vali’ is a simple piece made out of odd ends of samples. It’s another digital and hardware hybrid like a lot of these other pieces on the album.”

Listen to ‘Vali’ below.

megiapa joins International Anthem; announces her debut full-length Intentions

22 July 2026

When there’s a new release on International Anthem, it’s always worth paying attention. Their latest signing is megiapa, and she is set to make her debut full-length with Intentions, arriving on September 25th. Born in Ohio and now based in Los Angeles, megiapa is a producer, vocalist, visual artist and linguist whose music has grown out of years immersed in Chicago’s underground beat scene before finding a new creative home in LA. Blending soulful vocals with adventurous production, Intentions brings together electronic textures, live instrumentation and collaborations with musicians from across both cities. Speaking about the album, megiapa says:

“Fear is a hindrance to our dreams and our goals and the beauty of life. Please dream with me. Please take a moment to reflect. And please be okay with things being uncertain.”

Alongside the album announcement, megiapa has shared the opening track, ‘Open Your Eyes’, a sun-drenched and seductive introduction to the record. “Everything we need is within us,” she says of the track’s message. “We all reflect each other.” The single comes with an accompanying self-directed video and you can watch it below.