As mui zyu, Hong Kong British artist Eva Liu searches for a portal, wandering between nothing and everything in her pursuit of peace. On her second full-length album nothing or something to die for she looks outward, embracing the chaos with each tentative step.

mui zyu's debut album Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century saw her explore her heritage, as she dived inward to find acceptance and healing. Now, instead of searching for answers from the inside, Liu raises her head to look at the world around her. As she attempts to understand the complexities and significance of human existence, she observes apathy alongside overwhelming chaos; the technological advancements of connection with the lack of meaningful bonds and the frustrations of upholding standards set by others. nothing or something to die for tries to decipher these juxtaposing truths, holding both the weight of those trying to destroy the world with the utter futility of it all.

Working with co-producer and fellow Dama Scout band member Luciano Rossi, the sonic world of nothing or something to die for encapsulates both the fleeting tranquility of serenity and the dissonance in chasing it. After all, our reality can change in an instant. Like the psychedelic tones of Ryuichi Sakamoto's Thousand Knives, the urgent techno-pop of Miharu Koshis Parallelisme or the eerie wanderings of Angelo Badalamenti's work for Twin Peaks, nothing or something to die for expertly toes the line between disorder and clarity.

Lead-single “the mould,” which is inspired by moving on from the past and pushing against the grain to attain inner peace. “Missing the dread, obsessed with it,” Liu sings over a shifty instrumental, carried by blocky drum machines, sharp guitars, and woozy synthesizers.

The track is accompanied by a psychedelically youthful video inspired by creepy ‘90s kids shows, directed by 3D artist and Dama Scout member Danny Grant. Creatively toying with VR sculpting techniques, the otherworldly visuals came to life as Grant intentionally misused the high-end VFX software Houdini. It plays into the song’s wonkiness, heightening its empowering transcendence.

On the track, Eva Liu shares: "'the mould’ is a frosted glacial sweetie about the many meanings of mould. mould is very cool, and the right kind can give you super powers. unfortunately though, it’s less than ideal to be squeezed in to a mould that doesn’t fit snuggly. so i’m at the bottom of the rotten jelly bowl trying to work out what mould is the good kind, and what is the bad kind, and maybe realising none of it really matters at all, as long as i can get out of this steep, slippery bowl. this also marks a new approach for my writing indicative of the whole record in a kind of anti-overture-y way."

TRACK LISTING

Satan Marriage
The Mould
Everything To Die For
Donna Like Parasites
The Rules Of What An Earthling Can Be
Please Be Okay (feat. Miss Grit)
Telephone Congee I
Speak Up, Sponge
What’s The Password Baby Bird?
Hopefulness, Hopefulness
Telephone Congee Ii
Sparky (feat. Lei, E)
In The Dot (feat. Pickle Darling)
Cool As A Cucumber
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For fans of: Nick Hackim, D’angelo, Dijon. "Steven is the sound of me holding a mirror up to and critically reflecting on who I am: the good, the bad, the ugly. It's about trying to understand the multitudes within me." - S. Raekwon. Steven Raekwon Reynolds performs as S. Raekwon, but his second LP is simply called Steven. Across ten tracks of furious and subtly strumming guitars, plodding bass riffs, and whispering revelations, S. Raekwon's newest album strips back sonic and personal layers to present his most vulnerable, yet authentic self.

Born in Buffalo and now based in the East Village of New York City, Steven wrote, produced, engineered, and mixed everything on the record, in addition to playing every instrument except the drums. He packed up a rental car with all his gear and returned to his fiancée's parents' home in Southern Illinois, where they rode out the pandemic and where he recorded half of Where I'm at Now. The house proved to be a nontraditional recording space, but one that provided plenty of physical space as well as spiritual room for experimentation.

Steven and drummer Mario Malachi, longtime friends since their days at college in Cleveland, Ohio, spent a week in July 2023 transforming the living room into a make-shift studio, rearranging furniture, sitting face-to-face in front of a mic, and taping songs in single takes. It was a new way of working together, with no demoing or pre-production; Mario hadn't even heard the songs before getting there, which created a sense of spontaneity and improvisation. Where his debut explored his past - longing for a connection to his father and the Black side of his family and wrestling with his identity while being raised in a household by a single, white mother - Steven looks inward. Steven is loosely structured in three parts: Part 1 is fast and energetic, exploring the concepts of rage, anger, jealousy. Part 2 is slow and dynamic, with themes of ugliness, disappointment, embarrassment. Part 3 is something gentler, a moment of contentment and clarity. Steven is a portrait of strengths and weaknesses, flaws and fulfillments. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Steven’s Smile
2. Old Thing
3. Winners & Losers
4. The Fight
5. The Camel
6. If There’s No God…
7. Does The Song Still Sound The Same?
8. It’s Nothing
9. What Love Makes You Do
10. Katherine’s Song 

The third album from Omaha, NE-based songwriter, Anna McClellan entitled I saw first light obliquely relates a tumultuous year in the life of its composer. Moving, geographically, from the heart of New York City to a bucolic retreat upstate, and finally back to her midwestern hometown of Omaha, NE, Anna also traversed emotional states - from the restless frenzy of urban life, to the enforced, depressive rumination of the country. Her vision - one artist's reckoning with her forebears and coevals, along with her ongoing obligation to use art as a tool for connection and understanding - coalesced, upon her return to Nebraska, with the help of local friends, into the album.

Anna McClellan began performing original songs in her hometown of Omaha, NE at the age of seventeen and has been actively recording and touring ever since. Her debut, Fire Flames, earned her an opening slot on a Frankie Cosmos tour. Through the doors that tour opened, McClellan eventually met Father/Daughter Records which led to the release of her second full-length record, Yes and No, in 2018. After a stint in NYC, several subsequent tours and meandering, Anna returned to Omaha and recorded I saw first light, her latest effort for Father/Daughter. The album was recorded over two weeks with a multitude of local cohorts, and it documents Anna’s journey from the Midwest to the east coast and back again, probing both the roots of her creative impetus and her ongoing commitment to social issues. The process of composing and recording I saw first light has both reformed and renewed her dedication to exploration, be it inward or external, and to her own boundless creative energy

TRACK LISTING

1. Con S Sewer
2. Raisin
3. Desperate
4. Feel You
5. To Prove
6. Pace Of The Universe
7. Celery, Gone 
8. Trying Too Hard 
9. Veronica, No Wind.