If you’ve ever tried to catch a seagull mid-flight with a butterfly net, you’ll understand the elusive joy that Funky Blackman's "The Beach" EP serves up. Not that there are any feathered friends involved, directly. But the feeling? Yeah, it’s there, a fleeting, beautiful awkwardness. https://open.spotify.com/album/5Sk7pagwbS02FPhsKKAzOb?si=QYWmoCruQv2lw3xMISpLJQ This isn’t some synthesized shoreline; forget the stock wave sounds. This is a memory, maybe yours, maybe his, re-assembled. He’s...

Harris Rafferty makes his latest statement with "Burnin’", a track that arrives with the subtle grace of a brick thrown through a conservatory window. Listening to this, I was immediately struck by the sheer kinetic output of the Lancashire artist; it feels less like a studio recording and more like being strapped into a roller coaster that has not been inspected for safety since...