Hey there! Trying something new on Warm Visions: a weekly music newsletter type thing. Technically I did try to do something like this back around the conception of the blog but it fizzled out quick. Now that it seems like the desire for music discovery is trending back in a positive direction, especially with the creeping tentacles of AI wishing to automate your every experience.

In response to this, I thought it might be worthwhile to pick out some exciting new songs I’d heard recently, but also highlight a few older songs that I’d been enjoying around that moment. This of course means I’ll need to stay on top of my game and keep my listening both fresh and informed, while also venturing past the cache of favorite albums I cycle between every year. Or who knows, maybe it would be cool to just share the same Confidence Man, or Björk, or The Sea and Cake song each week just to really hammer it home for you to listen.

I’ll try my best to stay on top of this! And hopefully you enjoy it as well. Also… subscribe!! It’s like Substack, but it’s just me!

Ana Roxanne – “Keepsake” [kranky]
Ana Roxanne is making her return after 2021’s fantastic Because of a Flower with new album Poem 1, out May 1st via kranky. We find Roxanne at her most bare on “Keepsake,” with little effects on her front-and-center voice – which sounds incredible, by the way. She sings alongside echoing but raw piano, suggesting emptiness surrounding her, an abandoned building that’s missed human activity for some time. I can’t wait to hear where else she explores on this upcoming record, especially since her voice has become recognizable despite a slight switch-up in sound.

Beck – “I Only Have Eyes For You” [Capitol]
I’ve been a huge fan of Beck’s version of “I Only Have Eyes For You” since its release in the summer of 2012 when he was a part of Doug Aitken’s SONG 1 installation for the Hirshhorn Museum, where Aitken commissioned various artists to cover the song with visuals displayed across the outside of the museum. The song has not been officially available until now, when Beck included it in his new anthology of rarities album, Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime, which features many different songs that he contributed to soundtracks, or other covers. Although the “official” version of the song differs sonically than the YouTube rip I’ve rinsed on my own for the last 14 years (especially in the vocal take), I’m very grateful that more people will finally hear Beck’s take on potentially the greatest song ever written, as it’s still a fantastic cover.

Elori Saxl & Henry Solomon – “Heart” [True Panther]
I listened to this song for the first time while riding the M15 bus downtown on the first semi-warm day in NYC and everyone was out, plus it was Valentines Day. The snowbanks were steadily melting, so many people emerging from their homes for the first time, kids with their parents running errands. Potentially a perfect song to do some emotional people-watching. The human spirit is still alive out there.

Flore Laurentienne – “Régate” [Secret City]
Sublime, beautiful and moving piece by the Montreal composer and producer. The strings give me heavy flashbacks to Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra’s Promises, which is always a welcome reminder. Flore Laurentienne’s new album Volume III is out April 10th via Secret City.

La Sécurité – “Bingo!” [Mothland]
Kooky Montreal post punkers bring both a sense of doom and humor to their new track “Bingo!,” the title track from their upcoming sophomore album, out June 16th. These days I’m not as enthralled by janky post punk like this after the mid to late 2010s burnt me out, but Montreal has seemed to turn the tide a bit. Corridor’s Mimi is one of my favorite albums of the decade so far, and one of the members had a hand in production on this record. They bring a sense of doom and playfulness, as the bass is totally overridden and menacing while the rest of the track feels like a hodgepodge spaceship attempting to crash land. One of the first RIYLs for the project is Le Tigre, which I can see, but where Le Tigre confronted the Bush administration’s global destruction and laughed and screamed, La Sécurité seems ready to crack skulls while laughing maniacally. Our mind-broken populace have been gaslit for the last time. Bingo!

My New Band Believe – “Numerology” [Rough Trade]
Cameron Picton, formerly of black midi, has dropped another single with his new project My New Band Believe, which funnily enough is not included on their upcoming self-titled debut album. “Numerology” twitches with the precision only a nerd could love, chugging with staccato bursts of guitar, winds and percussion, and sways with a showmanship of a vintage variety show musical guest. There’s a lot of mania to be excited for on this upcoming record I reckon, and I’m definitely intrigued. My New Band Believe is out April 10th via Rough Trade.

Painted Palms – “Too High” [Polyvinyl]
I already had a moment with this song last summer when I was building my chillwave / psychedelic synth pop playlists (you can find the one “Too High” is on HERE), but I spent the entire subway ride from Barclay’s Center to 72nd St on the Q train just listening to this song. Elite Panda Bear “Person Pitch” worship here. Totally sonically overwhelming with so many different elements exploding all at once. The ending lyrics of “I got swept onto the other side, I’m not past the days to get too high, talking about yourself and I don’t care, I’m looking at myself and I’m not there” is a fantastic portrait of malaise and disassociation, despite the energy of the song being so jovial, like a mutant marching band playing down a shifting street.

Placid Angles – “Sun” [Oath]
Over the last week I’ve been greatly enjoying the new album from John Beltran’s Placid Angles project, an alias I’ve definitely not accidentally typed as “Placid Angels” and not been confused after not getting the results I wanted. Either way, the album Canada is a lovely lush listen, with textures that take me back to releases by Lone, some ambient dub in there, a little techno, a little two-step. A nice melange of sounds fusing together. “Sun” in particular feels almost Skee Mask-esque, with beautiful sweeping textures providing the backdrop of some well-timed, mechanical rhythms that eventually defocus into some radical acid sequences, all with a new age-y flute chiming in the background. It’s a really cool track on an album with lots of great moments, including an interesting flip on “Hero,” which I’ll let you discover yourself if you’re a fan of electronic music. 

Visible Cloaks – “Disque (feat. Motion Graphics)” [RVNG Intl.]
Unbelievably, Visible Cloaks are back with their first album since 2017 (!), Paradessence, out May 22nd via RVNG Intl. The first single, “Disque,” immediately sounds like something refreshing to drink, with carbonated bubbles of sound collecting at the top of your sonic palette. Light reflections of sound and interference glint into the mix past that, along with tasteful notes of piano, flute and other synthetic wind instruments on the backend. It’s light, aromatic but not overwhelmingly fragrant. A perfect song for winter’s late afternoon light coming in through a window, accenting freshly polished wooden floors. Very happy to have this duo back in album mode.

Wendy Eisenberg – “Old Myth Dying” [Joyful Noise]
Absolute shredder (aka a guitar virtuoso) Wendy Eisenberg is prepping to release her new, self-titled album April 10th via Joyful Noise. There are a few great tastes out from it already, but its newest is “Old Myth Dying,” a song that really has my hopes up for the record as a whole. I haven’t been able to mesh into Wendy’s world on her last few records, as they’ve been a bit too heady for me. Not to say this track isn’t deep, with its lush string arrangements (shout out More Eaze) and its polyrhythmic guitar patterns, but I just love how all the elements of this song comes together. It feels like the elements of classic 60s/70s folk strung into a modern, jazzy lattice that catches the sunlight as it speckles through the trees. Lots to look forward with this Wendy album – I’m anticipating a big press darling explosion this year. And this is positive manifestation. Let the heads rise up.