Diving into this Jackhammer Noise and Clubby Alternative Rock of Ashnymph and This Week's Top New Tracks

Originating in the UK cities of London and Brighton
For fans of artists like Underworld, MGMT, or Animal Collective
On the horizon A new EP planned for 2026, currently without a title

The pair of releases put out so far by the group Ashnymph are hard to categorise: their personal label of their work as “subconscioussion” doesn’t offer many clues. Their initial track Saltspreader blended a heavy mechanical drumming – member Will Wiffen has sometimes been seen on stage wearing a T-shirt that displays the emblem of Godflesh, icons of industrial metal – with vintage-sounding synthesisers and a guitar riff that subtly echoes the Stooges’ garage rock perennial I Wanna Be Your Dog, before melting into a barrier of unsettling sound. The planned result, the band has indicated, was to conjure highway journeys, “the grinding circulation of vehicles all day long over vast spans … nighttime orange glows”.

The next release, Mr Invisible, occupies a space between nightclub tunes and unconventional alternative rock. On one hand, the cut's tempo, strata of mesmerizing synths, and vocals that arrive either hallucinogenically distorted or spellbindingly cyclical in a way that brings back Dubnobasswithmyheadman-era Underworld all point towards the club floor. On the other, its intense performance-style shifts, edge-of-chaos quality and overdrive – “achieving a crunchy texture is a personal mission,” the musician stated – distinguish it as clearly a group effort rather than a bedroom-bound producer. They've gigged around south London’s DIY scene for less than a year, “any spot with loud speakers”.

But both are exciting and different enough – from each other and anything else around at the moment – to make you wonder about the band's future direction. Whatever it is, on the basis of these two singles, it’s sure to be engaging.

This Week’s Best New Tracks

Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I really require adventures”​, singer Florence Shaw declares on their enchanting new track, but across six minutes – with breath sounds keeping rhythm – you feel that she can’t work out why.

Danny L Harle's Azimuth featuring Caroline Polachek
Welding Evanescence goth drama to the height of trance music – right down to the lyric “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth hints at dusting off your best Cyberdog wear and dancing the night away, right away.

Robyn – Acne Studios mix
The music by Robyn for the Swedish designer’s SS26 show hints at her next record, including Soulwax-worthy grinding guitar, pulsating rhythms in the Benassi vein and the lyrics “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.

Like That by Jordana
We loved her album Lively Premonition last year and the American artist further demonstrates her impressive hook-crafting ability as she laments her latest hopeless infatuation.

Molly Nilsson – Get a Life
The independent Swedish artist put out her new album Amateur this week, and this cut is incredible: a synth-guitar melody thrusts forward rapidly as Nilsson insists we grab life by the scruff of the neck.

Artemas' Superstar
Post explorations of tired relationships on his hit single I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its accompanying release Yustyna, the musician of mixed heritage is wretchedly in thrall to his current partner amid icy synth-driven sound.

Jennifer Walton's Miss America
Off an impressive first record, a delicate electronic ballad about the artist hearing of her father's passing in an airport hotel, mapping the strange setting in gentle refrains: “Shopping plaza, illegal trade, anxiety episodes.”

John Wolf
John Wolf

A passionate web developer and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in creating user-friendly digital solutions.