Jeff Parker announces third ETA IVtet album, Happy Today

10 April 2026

There’s wonderful news from incredibly talented, versatile and prolific guitarist and composer Jeff Parker, who has recently announced Happy Today, a brand new album with his ETA IVtet. The quartet, comprising Jay Bellerose on drums, Anna Butterss on bass, and Josh Johnson on saxophone, has been building its sound for years, originally forming out of Parker’s long-running Monday night sessions at the now-closed ETA in Los Angeles. Happy Today stretches across two long-form pieces, and it was recorded live at Lodge Room in LA last August. The album is also tied to a difficult period in Parker’s life, something he speaks about:

“2025 was a very difficult year for me and my family. Dealing with being displaced from the Eaton fires for eight months, and the kind of toll that instability took on my family’s mental health and general outlook, coupled with Donald Trump being back in office and basically making life miserable for everyone… There was a lot of sadness and despair. But feeling the sense of community that we created with our concert, and later hearing the recording, seeing the beautiful footage that had been shot and the photographs of such joy to be back in that space and to be making music again: It was a very happy moment. So I called the record Happy Today. It’s meant to be a statement of joy.”

Even with the dark elements surrounding it, there’s a warmth to the album, and it feels open, human, and uplifting.

Happy Today arrives on May 15th through International Anthem and Nonesuch Records and alongside the album, a concert film by Charlie Weinmann is set to follow later in May, capturing the same performance that became the record.

An excerpt from the utterly delightful and stunning ‘Like Swimwear (Part One)’ is now streaming and serves as the first taste of what’s coming. Take a listen now.

Hannah Peel & Beibei Wang preview upcoming album, The Endless Dance, with new single ‘Awaken The Insects’

07 April 2026

Photo: Raphaël Neal

Two exceptional virtuosos, Northern Irish composer and producer Hannah Peel and Chinese percussionist Beibei Wang make for a pairing that feels like it was meant to be. The two first met while working on Manchester Collective’s 2023 album NEON, and later performed a fully improvised show at Kings Place in London. “We wanted to create a different type of world through imagination,” Peel explains. Comes May 22nd, Peel and Wang will release their collaborative debut album, The Endless Dance, an album informed by the strength of ancient concepts as well Taoism. “We appreciate and value what we’re doing in the moment – this is very Taoism,” says Wang. “We don’t worry about the result, we don’t stress about so much preparation. We don’t resolve the chords; we let them go on and on, letting them flow, and letting nature guide us.” On The Endless Dance, their boundless sonic vision and curiosity is on full display, and it’s clear they are having fun playing music together. As Wang describes: “Two women talking in totally different languages that had a wonderful chat.”

The pair enlisted the help of producer Mike Lindsay [LUMP, Tunng, Guy Garvey, Jon Hopkins], who had total freedom to bring in new ideas and also brought both artist’s knack for improvisation to the fore. “Mike loves elements that are nuanced, like breath or the noises in a room,” says Peel. “It was important to find a producer who could pull together something human and connected, that you could dance to, or you could put on while traveling to new destinations.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Peel and Wang have recently shared the second single, ‘Awaken The Insects’. Brilliant and infectious, on the track Wang raps in a rhythmic duet with bamboo clappers known as Kuai Ban, which are traditionally used in China to accompany rhythmic storytelling performances. Throughout the song, she recites a tongue-twister she had learnt as a child. “As soon as I showed it to my Chinese friends, they could not stop laughing” says Wang. “It’s just so silly, and I didn’t know I could do it.” Listen to it below.

The Endless Dance is out on May 22nd through Real World Records

Cocanha set to release third album, Flame Folclòre, in May

06 April 2026

Photo: Amic Bedel

Formed in Toulouse in 2014, Cocanha have been instrumental in bringing new energy into French traditional music. Singing in Occitan, Caroline Dufau and Lila Fraysse, who make up the band, work with a stripped-back combination of voice and percussion. They have announced the release of their third album, Flame Folclòre, arriving on May 15th through Bongo Joe. Produced by Raül Refree, the album keeps their core sound but reflects a change in how they now operate as a duo, following the departure of former member Maud Herrera. As Fraysse explains, they had to “adapt the way we performed, and rethink our roles, the vocals and instrumentation.” It’s also their first album made up of their own original songs, rather than reworking traditional material.

Flame Folclòre engages directly with the history surrounding folk music, including its associations and how it has been used in the past. Fraysse explains that they “wanted to understand where the uneasiness around folklore and folk groups came from. This uneasiness has a history.” She adds, “Our folk traditions were trapped within a reactionary and conservative image that they are still trying to shake off.” Fraysse describes the record as “our way of reclaiming this territory, promoting a vision of folk that is subversive and liberating.”

Ahead of the album’s release, Cocanha have shared the first single, ‘Clam’. An enthralling and ecstatic introduction to Flame Folclòre, ‘Clam’ has a stop-start rhythm and lyrically addresses the long state-backed suppression of the Occitan language, spoken in Southern France, as well as parts of Italy and Spain. Listen to it below.

Bex Burch unveils new collaborative project, notes 001

03 April 2026

Bex Burch has become a vital presence in the contemporary UK scene over the past decade, first turning heads with Vula Viel before going on to collaborate widely and refine her singular approach to rhythm and form and what she describes as “messy minimalism”. The gifted composer, percussionist, producer and instrument maker stepped fully into her own name with her solo debut There Is Only Love And Fear, a record shaped by time spent with International Anthem Recording Company, and one that landed among our Album Picks of 2023.

She is back with a wonderful new project, notes 001, sprouted from an invitation from KORG’s Berlin-based team. Written in four parts and performed solo in a single live take, the piece sees Burch working with phase8, an eight-voice acoustic synthesiser developed by Korg. notes 001 was recorded in May 2025, and continues her exploration of repetition, texture and environment, while also laying the groundwork for a much longer arc, part of a durational work she will develop over the next 43 years. “phase8 was a voice and a duo partner with creative input that informed the music,” Burch explained. “This piece is about listening – to nature, to machine, to my own creativity.” That sense of dialogue, between artist and instrument and also environment and structure, runs through the entire work.

notes 001 will see the light of day on May 10th and ahead of it Burch has unveiled its celestial and gentle opening track, ‘Hello again’. Serving as a beautiful introduction to notes 001, ‘Hello Again’ weaves together  kalimba, voice and phase8 in a delicate and shifting polyrhythmic flow. Take a listen below.

Listen to Poppy Ackroyd’s second single ‘For Those Who Wait’

30 March 2026

Last month, Poppy Ackroyd announced the release of her new album Liminal. An eagerly anticipated release, it sees her bringing piano and violin together again, with every sound on the record being drawn from these two instruments. The tremendously talented multi-instrumentalist and composer shared then the beautiful and wholly enveloping ‘The Unknown’ and she has now unleashed a sublime new single, ‘For Those Who Wait’. Beginning in a calm and reflective way, the track gradually builds with new sounds into a more open, powerful, and freeing second half. ‘For Those Who Wait’ comes with an accompanying video directed by Tom Elliott and you can watch it below.

Liminal is out on June 5th through One Little Independent Records

 

How to See Know and Fall drop third single off upcoming debut album Ecologies

28 March 2026

Photo: Angela Washko

How to See Know and Fall is the new project of Jesse Stiles and Brian Shankar Adler, and it feels like a perfect musical pairing. Adler’s background in percussion and composition and Stiles’ work in electronic music and sound design complete each other, each bringing out something stronger in the other. They have a debut album on the way, Ecologies, releasing on April 3rd through Adhyâropa Records. Originally created as a remote collaboration during lockdown and later expanded through live performances, Ecologies moves freely between rhythm-driven sections, melodic fragments, and more abstract passages, with a strong focus on texture and the interaction between acoustic and electronic sound. Across nine instrumental tracks, the interplay between acoustic percussion and electronics stays at the centre throughout, shifting in intensity and shape from track to track.

Preceding the album’s release next week, How to See Know and Fall have recently shared the bewitching third single, ‘Rynchops albicollis’. Novelist, poet, and friend of the band Jesse Ball titled all the tracks on Ecologies and wrote an accompanying manifesto, featuring a section dedicated to each song. About ‘Rynchops albicollis’, he wrote:

“Refuse the hegemony of pitch. When that goes, all manner of sound can be heard.”

‘Rynchops albicollis’ comes paired with a video and you can watch it below.