Topshelf US Vinilo y CD

Review: Subsonic Eye are enthralled by nature. On their 2021 album, Nature of Things, the Singaporean five-piece explored the tolls of human indulgence through raw tonality and zippy jangle pop, poignantly celebrating the spirits of a natural world fast disappearing. But on their fourth full-length All Around You, Subsonic Eye expand this relationship to nature with a renewed appreciation for its coexistence with urban cities. The hectic character of urban life refracts through snappy, invigorating hooks, prisms of entrancing tone layered with singer Nur Wahidah's restless, velvety lilt. All Around You's lead track 'Yearning' unravels the band's religious dedication to the idea that nature is all around us, that we are whole with it. Sung over a nimble guitar melody and tension-building rhythm, 'dunk my head into waters/wake me up fully new now' arrives in direct reference to Wahidah's newfound perspective that we over indulgent humans can still find a harmonious balance with nature. The ten songs that comprise All Around You also comprise a space to sit with the complex feelings inspired by this intense world we inhabit. Rather than succumb to doom, Subsonic Eye relish the opportunity to meditate on these uncomfortable emotions to find their way to the ultimate realisation that beauty is all around us.

Review: Japanese math rock band Tricot hailed from Kyoto and formed back in 2010. The trio featured vocalist and guitarist Ikumi "Ikkyu" Nakajima, guitarist Motoko "Motifour" Kida, and bassist Hiromi "Hirohiro" Sagane and they soon became synonymous with intricately constructed rhythms. They are prolific, too, having put out seven albums so far and A N D is their second from March 2015. It came on their own label Bakuretsu Records and now gets reissued on black and pink vinyl. Its meticulously and tightly woven grooves still stand up almost a decade on.

Review: Kyoto four-piece Tricot deliver an extremely pleasing album in the form of T H E, their debut studio album and an incendiary, wayward project in the realm of sugary math rock via pop. The band have remained hard at this formula for years, but it's T H E that really cements their sound, thanks to time ensuring the polishing of its constituent parts - be it the breathy, knife-edge vocals of singer Ikkyu Nakajima; stop-start counterpoints, rhythms and harmonies; and themes of struggle relating to instant gratification, projection and the creative process.