North Star Union has released "Echoes of decay", a slice of melodic heavy metal that feels less like a standard studio tracking and more like something dug out of the permafrost. There is a curious quality to Icelandic composer Myrmann’s work here; because he handles all the instrumentation and composition himself at Midgard Studio, the track possesses a singular, frighteningly cohesive nervous system. It...

Clare Easdown’s new single, "Lipstick On My Restraints," doesn't arrive so much as it materializes, spitting glitter and venom in the face of polite society. This is the sound of a patient hijacking the asylum’s PA system, a furious and fiercely glamorous reclamation of a narrative. It’s a track that feels less written and more clawed into existence, forged in the friction between imposed...