Brighton-based Swedish songwriter, poet and multi-instrumentalist Nina Winder-Lind debut solo album 'Wild Love'.

Best known as a member of the electrifying 'Hagstone rock' four-piece The New Eves, Winder-Lind's solo work channels the same raw intensity and liberatory spirit while revealing a more intimate, deeply personal side to her songwriting. Expanding on the world introduced through her 2023 EP 'The Spirit Is Carnal' and first poetry collection 'Rod Ska Jag Leva' (2025), 'Wild Love' is an ambitious and emotionally expansive body of work from one of the most enthralling new voices in music today.

Though connected to the fierce communal energy of The New Eves , 'Wild Love' inhabits its own distinct emotional landscape. Across eleven songs, Winder-Lind brings together the wealth of her experiences and passions and reflects them back outwards, distilled with shimmering intensity. The album spells out a liberatory vision which she refuses to compromise, one rooted in emotional honesty, ecstatic expression and unfettered selfhood.

Female experience is a constant thread throughout the record, with songs paying tribute to "foremothers" and girls alike in a society that still attempts to pigeonhole women into narrow roles. Yet 'Wild Love' reaches beyond resistance alone. More than anything, the album radiates untrammelled animal energy: an overwhelming sense of aliveness, movement and emotional abandon.

TRACK LISTING

1. Street Hassle
2. Girls 
3. Headfirst 
4. This Is Our Life 
5. Grandma and Robert De Niro
6. HYMN 
7. You're not an Angel 
8. Everything Is About You 
9. Love You So 
10. When the Cranes 
11. Foremothers

Faux Poly release its first vinyl record release since 2023: NINA, a rising UKG / dubwise prodigy, arrives with "Internal Makeup". Bristol-based NINA has steadily built a reputation as a forward-thinking solo artist, dropping highly sought-after records with a distinct sound and craftsmanship that set him apart from other sub-chasers. Just one year in, NINA has released on labels such as Innamind Recordings, 20/20 LDN, and Locus Sound. This new chapter is a pure distillation of that journey - a sound informed by dub, garage, grime, and soundsystem pressure.

"Internal Makeup" features four bass-driven club tools that are minimal, weighty and focussed on bass. Opening with “The World Is On Fire”, the only 4x4 track on the record, NINA sets the mood with a cavernous dub techno jam and spaced out vocals. The rest of the record - including the Rowl collaboration “When I Come” - hits firmly in UK bass territory, with stripped compositions that focus on bass-weight and a strong Bristol influence.

Words from NINA: 'This EP came together slowly and surely over the space of about a year. I wanted to encapsulate my true sound which can be extremely versatile which is why there is a bit of everything on there, from techno to garage to dubstep.'

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Wrapped in a club-ready patina, vacuum sealed bass pressure that traverses house and garage from this Bristol low end engineer. Tidy.

TRACK LISTING

A1. The World Is On Fire
A2. When I Come (w/ Rowl)
B1. Sleigh
B2. Helicopters

The hauntingly beautiful 'On Leaving' from Nina Nastasia arrived perfectly formed and long overdue, finding the hugely talented, NYC-based singer-songwriter at her best. Nina Nastasia's rare gift of a voice is an intimate, winged presence with the ability to either freeze or melt your heart, that can powerfully soar and twist, or brush ultra-gently against you, suddenly summoning goose bumps. Mojo commented on its ability to "suck the air out of the room". Simultaneously tough and fragile, her songs crackle and smolder with an intimate emotional honesty and a dark undertow.

Marking its 20th anniversary in 2026, 'On Leaving' is available on vinyl again for the first time in nearly two decades. Remastered for vinyl by Josh Bonati in 2025, this 'On Leaving' reissue is pressed onto limited edition Clear Glass colored vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. Jim’s Room 
2. Brad Haunts a Party 
3. Our Day Trip 
4. Counting Up Your Bones
5. Dumb I Am 
6. Why Don’t You Stay Home 
7. The Old Woman 
8. Treehouse Song
9. Lee 
10. Settling Song 
11. Bird of Cuzco 
12. If We Go to the West 

Recording once more with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Nina Nastasia engaged Los Angeles instrumentalist and arranger Paul Bryan to adapt her songs into a score for a small orchestra. Featuring drummer Jay Bellerose and Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker, 'Outlaster' is aided by, all in all, a dream band.

This album is a work of lush sophistication that, with no loss of distinction or economy, transcends the reach of Nastasia's famed sparseness. The orchestra takes a more formal approach with Bryan's powerfully affecting score – hearkening back to the likes of Gil Evans and the late Phil Ochs – burnishing the record with lustrous horns and reeds and a dynamic string ensemble.

After being out of print for more than a decade, 'Outlaster' is finally available on vinyl again. Remastered for vinyl by Josh Bonati in 2025, this 'Outlaster' reissue is pressed onto limited edition Burgundy colored vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cry, Cry, Baby 
2. Moves Away 
3. You’re a Holy Man 
4. You Can Take Your Time 
5. This Familiar Way 
6. What’s Out There 
7. A Kind of Courage 
8. Wakes 
9. One Way Out 
10. Outlaster

A collection of songs written by Nina Nastasia and Jim White of The Dirty Three. Nina's rare gift of a voice produces hook-laden songs about love, longing and loss, whilst Jim White’s songwriting – made famous by working with the likes of Will Oldham, Nick Cave and Smog – produces a rare songwriting talent, creating a duel and duet between two iconic artists.

After being out-of-print for nearly two decades, 'You Follow Me' is finally available on vinyl again. Remastered for vinyl by Josh Bonati in 2025, this 'You Follow Me' reissue is pressed onto limited edition Transparent Yellow colored vinyl.

TRACK LISTING

1. I’ve Been Out Walking 
2. I Write Down Lists 
3. Odd Said The Doe
4. The Day I Would Bury You 
5. Our Discussion 
6. In The Evening 
7. There Is No Train 
8. Late Night 
9. How Will You Love Me 
10. I Come After You

Recorded in New York in 1967, Silk & Soul is Nina Simone’s second album for RCA. The album features "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free", which would become a Civil Rights anthem, "It Be’s That Way Sometimes", written by her brother Sam Waymon, and "The Turning Point", a song that seems to be about a child making a new friend, but turns out to question the origins of racism. Ms Simone also takes on Dusty Springfield by covering "The Look Of Love", which was originally featured in the 1966 James Bond spoof Casino Royale and is greatly inspired by Mozart in the fugue-like "Consummation".

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. It Be's That Way Sometime
2. The Look Of Love
3. Go To Hell
4. Love O' Love
5. Cherish

SIDE B
1. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
2. Turn Me On
3. The Turning Point
4. Some Say
5. Consummation

16 track compilation of the great singer, songwriter, musical arranger, and civil rights activist Nina Simone.

Blending soulful blues and timeless jazz, this collection showcases Nina Simone's rare gift for uniting longing, resilience, and raw emotional truth. From the quiet ache of "Willow Weep for Me" to the soaring power of "Sinnerman," each track reflects the fierce, searching spirit that defined her artistry.

TRACK LISTING

Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl
I Love To Love
Love Me Or Leave Me
Mood Indigo
Fine And Mellow
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
Sinnerman / My Baby Just Cares For Me
Can't Get Out Of This Mood
Willow Weep For Me
You've Been Gone Too Long
Exactly Like You
Work Song
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Gin House Blues
Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair

Fifteen years after 'Personal Jesus', Nina Hagen returns to her great passion for gospel music with 'HiGHWAY TO HEAVEN'. Together with producer Warner Poland, her band, and friends such as Nana Mouskouri and Gitte Hænning, she reinterprets classics—from Mahalia Jackson to Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Kitty Wells. 

The album combines Southern gospel, Americana, reggae, and punk: from the powerful reworking of 'Somebody Prayed for Me' to the Americana version of 'Never Grow Old' and a German version of 'Everybody Wanna Go to Heaven'.  'HiGHWAY TO HEAVEN' is a lively, genre-defying gospel-rock-pop album, full of joy, spirituality, and Nina Hagen's unmistakable personality. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Everybody`s Gonna Have A Wonderful Time Up There 
2. Never Grow Old Ft Nana Mouskouri 
3. Walk With Me Jesus
4. Trouble Of The World
5. Somebody Prayed For Me
6. Needed Time
7. Hand It Over Ft Daniel Welbat
8. Let’s Be Happy
9. There´s A Highway To Heaven Ft Gitte Hænning 
10. Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
11. Dust On The Bible
12. Dry Bones
13. Alle Wollen In Den Himmel 
14. Gospel Ship 

"Nina Simone Sings The Blues" from 1967 can rightfully be called a true classic in both Soul and Blues genres. The album is a showcase for the intensity of Nina’s soulful croon and demanding piano skills, accompanied by a marvelous backing band.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE A
1. Do I Move You?
2. Day And Night
3. In The Dark
4. Real Real
5. My Man's Gone Now
6. Backlash Blues

SIDE B
1. I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl
2. Buck
3. Since I Fell For You
4. The House Of The Rising Sun
5. Blues For Mama

A collection of some of Simone's best ever recordings, originally released in 2017.

TRACK LISTING

Studio:
A1 My Baby Just Cares For Me
A2 Don't Smoke In Bed
A3 Mood Indigo
A4 Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
A5 Little Girl Blue
A6 Chilly Winds Don't Blow
A7 I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl
B1 I Loves You, Porgy
B2 Gin House Blues
B3 For All We Know
B4 Forbidden Fruit
B5 Plain Gold Ring
B6 Love Me Or Leave Me Alone
B7 Children Go Where I Send You

Live:
C1 Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair
C2 The Other Woman
C3 Summertime
C4 Cotton Eyed Joe
C5 Wild Is The Wind
C6 Trouble In Mind
C7 Just In Time
D1 Ain't Got No / I Got Life
D2 Backlash Blues
D3 Mississippi Goddam
D4 Four Women
D5 Do What You Gotta Do
D6 My Baby Just Cares For Me

‘Songs for Nina and Johanna’ is the beautiful new album from James Yorkston, this time featuring not one but two of Sweden’s most recognisable female vocalists. Recorded in Stockholm with Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Johanna Söderberg (First Aid Kit) and members of The Second Hand Orchestra, these are songs about family, love and parenthood. Tender and heart-breaking yet overwhelmingly life-affirming, ‘Songs for Nina and Johanna’ is a vital addition to the James Yorkston catalogue.

Songs for Nina and Johanna is the beautiful new album from James Yorkston, his sixteenth on Domino and his third to be recorded in Stockholm in conjunction with members of The Second Hand Orchestra. Nina Persson (The Cardigans), who teamed up with James on his previous critically-acclaimed album, The Great White Sea Eagle, this time divides singing duties with Johanna Söderberg (First Aid Kit), the two of them singing separately with James on five and four tracks respectively.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I've always been a huge fan of the otherworldly vocals of Nina Persson and this gorgeous LP from James Yorkston features both Nina and Johanna from First Aid Kit singing alongside Yorkston's perfectly pitched syrupy drawl. It's beautifully written and performed even more beautifully than you'd expect. A wonderfully warm, evocative study in collaboration.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
1. I Can Change
2. Oh Light, Oh Light
3. A Moment Longer
4. Love / Luck
5. Where's The Time?

Side B
6. Rabbit
7. Love That Tree
8. Oh Sparrow, Up Yours
9. I Spooked The Neighbours
10. With Me, With You

Dinked Edition Bonus CD EP: “Reimaginations” By The Second Hand Orchestra
1. Time Was Short (5 1/2 Min To Be Exact)
2. With You, With Me (in Swedish)
3. A Moment Longer (Lina Langendorf Solo Saxophone)
4. Where’s The Time? (Instrumental)

It began with a cassette tape entitled 'Pleased To Meet You' gifted to us at Sessa's Fasching, Stockholm show by Yann Dardenne, the multi-tasking tour manager/sound engineer/producer/merch stall worker and co-owner of Seloki Records

On first listen, the selection of underground Brazilian artists from the Seloki's roster was superb, however, one song stopped us in our tracks. The hauntingly captivating ' GOSTO MEIO DOCE' by Nina Maia and Francisca Barreto, gave us a taste of Nina's ethereal, addictive voice and we knew we needed to hear more.

Born in Minas Gerais but now based in Sao Paulo, the 22-year-old has already packed a lot into a relatively short space of time. The singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer, has already collaborated on the soundtracks for six Brazilian feature films, including a track with the vocalists Maria Gadu, Iza, and Liniker. But things enter a new exciting era with this, her remarkable debut album entitled 'INTEIRA', which translates to English as 'whole'. As much inspired by Billie Eilish and Rosalia, as Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta and not sounding like other records coming out of Brazil, 'INTEIRA' is unique. Though rich in its Brazilian heritage, inspired by samba cancao, MPB, and the Clube da Esquina movement, it also channels influence from bands such as Portishead and Massive Attack, mixed with jazz, contemporary leftfield and electronic pop artists.

The album led to a nomination in Paulista Association of Art Critics (APCA) award's 'Breakthrough Artist' category, who also listed 'INTEIRA' as one of the 50 best albums of 2024. It also received support from Bandcamp Weekly and Jamz Supernova on BBC 6 Music. Released digitally by Seloki Records in Brazil in 2024, Mr Bongo in partnership with Seloki Records now present this new, deluxe worldwide edition that includes four additional songs. These comprise the brand-new exquisite 'MANHA', as well as an original twist on Vinicius de Moraes' classic 'Serenata Do Adeus'. Elsewhere you'll find a live recording showcasing Nina's remarkable energy on stage courtesy of 'DE DENTRO' and 'GOSTO MEIO DOCE' with the amazing musician/vocalist Francisca Barreto, where our whole story began. Here at Mr Bongo, we are honoured to release music by such a remarkable new talent - one whose musical trajectory is most certainly about to soar.

TRACK LISTING

Caricatura
Kao
Mar Adentro
Sua
Menininha
Amargo
Salto De Fe
Inteira
Manha
Gosto Meio Doce
Serenata Do Adeus
De Dentro (Live)

"Disiniblud", the thrilling new collaborative album project from the composers/producers/multi-instrumentalists Rachika Nayar and Nina Keith.

Rachika and Nina meet on complementary but seemingly disparate musical grounds. On her 2022 breakout LP 'Heaven Come Crashing', Rachika departed from her usual ambient guitar in favor of maximalist synths, sub-bass, and flickers of Amen breaks. Her distinct fusion of post-rock and electronica earned her accolades as Pitchfork's Best New Music, on several best of the year lists (The New York Times, Stereogum, Fader, GQ, Bandcamp, etc), and as the opening act on tour with M83. Nina, meanwhile, is best known for her self-trained approach to composition, as evident on her 2019 debut 'MARANASATI 19111' and its delicate medley of cello, piano, clarinet, and flute, used to explore a personal history marked by community tragedy and paranormal incidents.

On 'Disiniblud', the two’s self-described “wordless conversation,” orbits such themes as mortality, reinvention through destruction, and sublimating fractured histories into music—all resulting in a work that suggests sweeping transformation can come from embracing old wounds with childlike wonder. Nina envisions this as she and Rachika's younger selves packing a satchel, holding hands, and daring one another to run away into a place of "wounds and wonder," only to discover an unforeseeable magic in an amalgam of post-rock, glitchy indie electronica, ambient, and pop genres in this co-created realm.

'Disiniblud' features guest appearances from Julianna Barwick, Tujiko Noriko, Cassandra Croft, ASPIDISTRAFLY, Katie Dey, June McDoom and Ponytail's Willy Siegel.

TRACK LISTING

1. Give-upping (ft. Julianna Barwick)
2. Blue Rags, Raging Wind (ft. Amigone)
3. Serpentine (ft. Cassandra Croft)
4. No More To See (ft. June McDoom)
5. [it Could Happen]
6. It's Change (ft. Willy Siegel, Katie Dey & Julianna Barwick)
7. Traces In The Window (ft. ASPIDISTRAFLY)
8. Whole30 Fight Club
9. Disiniblud
10. [as Is Most (bimbo It Out)]
11. My Flickering Gift To You (ft. Tujiko Noriko)

When Nina Hagen does something, she does it with full conviction. And when she released 'Personal Jesus' in 2010, she surprised us with an album that dives uncompromisingly into the world of gospel. Since her return to the Christian faith, she has expressed her religious devotion in 'Personal Jesus' by combining gospel with a mixture of blues, rock, soul and funk - powerful, passionate and without irony.

Her version of 'Personal Jesus' (originally by Depeche Mode) in particular attracted attention: where the original remains cool and minimalist, Hagen turned it into a moving gospel anthem full of spiritual ecstasy.

Now, 15 years later, 'Personal Jesus' is being released on vinyl for the first time - as an anniversary edition on colored vinyl. As a special highlight, this edition contains the previously unreleased bonus track 'I Was Born to Preach the  Gospel', which is the first track on the b side of the vinyl and fits seamlessly into the album as if it had always been part of it.

TRACK LISTING

1. God´s Radar
2. I´ll Live Again
3. Personal Jesus
4. Nobody´s Fault But Mine
5. Down At The Cross
6. Just A Little Talk With Jesus
7. I Am Born To Preach The Gospel
8. Mean Old World
9. Help Me
10. Take Jesus With You
11. On The Battlefield
12. Run On
13. Sometimes I Ring Up Heaven

Nina Nastasia's rare gift of a voice is an intimate, winged presence that is able to either freeze or melt your heart; that can powerfully soar and twist, or brush ultra-gently against you, suddenly summoning goose bumps.

Released in 2003 by Touch and Go Records (and out of print for almost two decades), 'Run to Ruin' is the third album by Nina Nastasia. It was recorded by Steve Albini at Black Box studio in Noyant-la-Gravoyère, France and at Looking Glass studio in New York. Combined with the prodigious talents of her backing band and the sparse but lush arrangements of the instruments, the songs on 'Run to Ruin' evoke haunting scenes of heartache, passion and a slightly seedy world. Nina's voice is at once delicate and intense, neither sweet nor harsh, it conveys an array of emotion moving between joy and sadness with just a moment's pause.

TRACK LISTING

1. We Never Talked
2. I Say That I Will Go
3. Regrets
4. You Her And Me
5. Superstar
6. The Body
7. On Teasing
8. While We Talk

Mountain Music is Nina Nesbitt as fans have never heard her before.

Having risen to fame at a young age with her disarming, candid pop - the Scottish musician is now found in an entirely new realm. It is inspired in part by the two years she spent touring the States in support of her second studio album: the critically acclaimed Top 40, The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change, which has now accrued over a billion streams. These songs are permeated with gorgeous nods to US folk and Americana. It's made all the more extraordinary by the face that, not long ago, Nesbitt was considering quitting music altogether.

Produced by Peter Miles and Nesbitt, mixed and mastered by Miles at his stunning studio MiddleFarm in south Devon, and released via her own label, Apple Tree Records. A playful nod to her 2012 debut EP, TheApple Tree, this marks the start of an exciting new era for Nina Nesbitt. While it might sound strange that Nesbitt was drawn to the music of Appalachia, heard echoing through the vast, verdant mountain ranges of the eastern United States, it makes more sense when you consider how traditional Scottish ballads and hymns are threads in that rich tapestry.

Empathy is one of Nesbitt's greatest strengths. We hear it on "Painkiller", a Joni Mitchell-indebted ballad on which her heart breaks for the men who believe they have to suppress their own feelings. One of the album's standout qualities is, perhaps, the dynamic that Nesbitt creates from one song to the next. Where many folk artists might lean into quiet introspection, she craves the full spectrum of emotion - so ensconced around "Painkiller" you have the tender "On the Run', with its distant shivers of percussion and crystalline piano, but also "Anger". She's in a nostalgic mood on the rousing "Coming Home", a Springsteen-inspired, driving-with-the-top-down journey back to the places and people she loves.

We all lose ourselves sometimes. The trick is learning how to find our way back, pushing those clouds away to see the blue skies beyond. For artist Nina Nesbitt, hard-hitting truths and revelations take precedent on her remarkable, career-best album, Mountain Music. Nesbitt knows exactly who she is, and now, she's ready to tell the world.

TRACK LISTING

Pages
I'm Coming Home
Mansion
On The Run
Painkiller
Anger
Alchemise
Big Things, Small Town
Treachery
Hard Times
What Will Make Me Great
Parachute

Recorded in 1985, after a break from recording and time spent living in Barbados and Liberia, Nina’s Back features a rejuvenated Nina Simone reaching out to a wider musical audience. Featuring a number of memorable original Simone compositions, the band includes horns and backup singers for a recording that’s unique in Nina’s catalog.

TRACK LISTING

Side A

It's Cold Out Here
Porgy
I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive
For A While

Side B

Fodder On Her Wings
Touching And Caring
Saratoga
You Must Have Another Lover

On The Blackened Air (her second album but first for Touch and Go, originally released in 2002), Nina Nastasia and her band are not content to just support a vocal melody; they pry it apart and look down its throat. The stringed and wind instruments (viola, cello, mandolin, accordion, bowed saw, acoustic and electric guitars) reach up out of the songs into rarefied territory. Little stories of Peeping Toms and the police lights they bring with them, grave- yards and impolite family, epigrams against disaster, depression, simple forgetfulness, all delivered so effortlessly that the precision of the delivery registers long after its substance has left its mark. When she sings “I’m not hiding anything / I’m not trying to fool you at all,” in a song titled “That’s All There Is,” it is all the truth.

A generation-plus of young troubadours pine for things they never has to lose, as if sadness and depression were inevitable consequences of being alive. Nina Nastasia’s music is an antidote to all of that. The Blackened Air is a darkish record not just in title, but by examining everything without caving in to decadence or solipsism, it is a rejuvenating experience. It is informed, without affect, unique, and succinct. Above all, it is beautiful to hear and a pleasure to have in one’s home.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Run, All You...
I Go With Him This Is What It Is Oh, My Stars All For You
So Little
Desert Fly
Ugly Face
Side B
In The Graveyard Ocean
Rosemary
The Same Day Been So Long
The Very Next Day Little Angel
That’s All There Is

The Newport Jazz Festival had always brought the best out in Nina Simone. When she took to that famous stage on July 2, 1966, the audience was treated to the full range of her artistry—from the opener, a breathtaking version of “You’ve Got To Learn” to an electrifying performance of her signature protest anthem “Mississippi Goddam”. Unwilling to let her leave the stage, and after sustained applause, her fans were rewarded with the show-stopping encore, “Music For Lovers”. This previously-unknown and unreleased recording showcasing Nina’s exceptional performance makes it clear why hearing Nina Simone in concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Liner notes are by Shana L. Redmond, scholar and author. 

TRACK LISTING

You’ve Got To Learn
I Loves You Porgy
Intro To Blues For Mama
Blues For Mama (hey Lawdy Mama)
Be My Husband
Mississippi Goddamn
Music For Lovers

Throughout her career, Nina’s music has inspired audiences of all ages, races, and nationalities. In recent years, social media savvy youth have taken a particular interest in the works of Miss Simone. From the evergreen, feel good track aptly named "Feeling Good" to the mysteriously romantic remake of "I Put A Spell On You" and so many more, Nina’s music is being used in everything from major brand commercials to the everyday user on social networks to convey a feeling and a mood.

Created with the newest generation of Nina Simone fans in mind, Great Women of Song, features the best of the best. Miss Simone's most loved and notable hits assembled in one package. The album is the gift that will keep on giving.

TRACK LISTING

1. Feeling Good (2:54)
2. I Put A Spell On You (2:35)
3. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (2:46)
4. Ne Me Quitte Pas (3:34)
5. Tell Me More And More And Then Some (3:07)
6. Lilac Wine (4:13)
7. Take Care Of Business (2:05)
8. See-Line Woman (2:35)
9. Four Women (4:24)
10. Wild Is The Wind (6:56)
11. I Loves You, Porgy (2:30)
12. Mississippi Goddam (4:56)

James Yorkston, Nina Persson and The Second Hand Orchestra release The Great White Sea Eagle, the follow up to James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra’s The Wide, Wide River - a Guardian Top 10 Folk Album of 2021.

The record didn’t start life as a follow up; in early 2021, Yorkston began visiting his studio in Cellardyke, Fife and for the first time, starting writing songs on the piano as opposed to his usual guitar as he gazed upon the sea outside his window.

After sending the first five or six songs to Karl-Jonas Winqvist (the ringleader/conductor of TSHO), they began to discuss working on the music together. With Yorkston’s shift from guitar to piano, they thought about what other changes they could make to their process which led to the involvement of a guest singer and the legendary Nina Persson (The Cardigans) was brought into the fold.

They followed the same methodology as The Wide, Wide River – apart from James, Nina and KJ, none of The Second Hand Orchestra had heard the music prior to entering the studio – and the arrangements were made up on the spot. Yorkston summarises: “Everyone who was playing in The Second Hand Orchestra, in their own way they are all unique and colourful players. There was no-one there who didn’t know what to do. I would bring them the songs, we would start one - I would play it, and second time round people would start singing and playing, and by the time we had done it three or four times we would hit record and we would be ready to go. And the thing that they all had was the ability to give each other space and to come up with their parts based on what other people were playing naturally was a very quick process, and they were all so open, nobody was egotistical. Everything was just happy. I love the wildness in it.”

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's the second cracking Dinked release for the week and sees The Cardigans' Nina Persson team up with the endlessly talented James Yorkston and The Secondhand Orchestra for a beautiful LP brimming with brittle guitars and twinkling piano, all topped with those instantly recognisable vocal talents. A very welcome meeting of minds.

TRACK LISTING

Side A
Sam & Jeanie McGreagor
An Upturned Crab
Keeping Up With The Grandchildren, Yeah
The Heavy Lyric Police
A Sweetness In You
A Forestful Of Rougues
Side B
Peter Paulo Van Der Heyden
Mary
Hold Out For Love
The Harmony
The Great White Sea Eagle
A Hollow Skeleton Lifts A Heavy Wing

The first new album in over a decade from world-renowned singer-songwriter, Nina Nastasia.

Produced by Steve Albini.

Riderless Horse is my first solo record, and it’s the first record my former partner, Kennan Gudjonsson, didn’t produce.

I haven’t made an album since 2010. I decided to stop pursuing music several years after my sixth record, Outlaster, because of unhappiness, overwhelming chaos, mental illness, and my tragically dysfunctional relationship with Kennan. Creating music had always been a positive outlet during difficult times, but eventually it became a source of absolute misery.

Riderless Horse documents the grief, but it also marks moments of empowerment and a real happiness in discovering my own capability. Steve Albini produced this record with me, and Greg Norman assisted. It was exactly the right environment to work on this record. We all had meals together, cried, laughed, and told stories. It was perfect. It made me realize how much I love writing, playing and recording music.

Terrible things happen. These were some terrible things. So, what to do – learn something valuable, connect with people, move the fuck out of that apartment, remember the humor, find the humour, tell the truth, and make a record. I made a record.

TRACK LISTING

1. Cork And Pour (0:12)
2. Just Stay In Bed (2:12)
3. You Were So Mad (2:53)
4. This Is Love (3:10)
5. Nature (2:57)
6. Lazy Road (2:45)
7. Ask Me (3:41)
8. Blind As Batsies (2:35)
9. The Two Of Us (2:37)
10. Go Away (2:19)
11. The Roundabout (2:09)
12. Trust (3:20)
13. Afterwards (2:34)
14. Creek And Chimes (0:33)

THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERA GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH TIMES, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE YEARFrom award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum. FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVE'Warren has turned this memento, snatched from his idol's piano in a moment of rapture, into a genuine religious artefact.'NICK CAVE'Such a mad, happy book about art and music and obsession. I'm so glad I got to read it.

It made the world feel lighter.'NEIL GAIMAN'In praise of meaning-rich relics and magical things. Totally heartwarming project.'MAX PORTER'A unique study of a fan's devotion, of transcendence and of the artistic vocation - it's got depth and great warmth. It's a beautiful piece of work.'KEVIN BARRYI hadn't opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013.

The last person to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied. The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina Simone's spirit would vanish.

In many ways that thought was more important than the gum itself. On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag.

The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem, his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing in significance with every passing year. Nina Simone's Gum is about how something so small can form beautiful connections between people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality.

It is a celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and love. 'This is such a beautiful f*@king book. Thank you, Warren.

I highly recommend this motherf*@ker.'FLEA'A beautifully written book about the power of music and objects. I powered through it in two days.'COURTNEY BARNETT'A moving, inspiration insight into a beautiful mind.'JIM JARMUSCH'The year's most eccentric and joyful musical memoir.'DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the year)'[Nina Simone's Gum] is a metaphor for [Ellis'] creativity - the blossoming of a small idea into something bigger and bolder - but also a journey inside the impulsive, improvisatory mind of Warren Ellis, his passions, obsessions and superstitions.' OBSERVER'[A] beautiful, strikingly idiosyncratic book - part memoir, part essay, part conceptual art project, all testament to humans at their strangest and best . .

. [Ellis] sees signifiance where others might not.'MOJO'A glorious piece of object fetishism . .

. Marvel as Ellis' collection of eccentric personal mementos morphs into a celebration of the intangible wonder of music.'UNCUT'Wonderful.' THE TIMES'The most peculiar book I've ever read.' CRAIG BROWN, MAIL ON SUNDAY'Delightful . .

. A joy from start to finish.' BIG ISSUE'A joyous work full of love, connection, creativity and gratitude.' THE SPECTATOR'Completely charming and joyful . .

. glorious.' LA REVIEW OF BOOKS'Beautiful . .

. remarkable.' NEW EUROPEAN

Nina Simone: The Montreux Years is released as part of a brand new Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG collection series “The Montreux Years”. The collections will uncover legendary performances by the world’s most iconic artists alongside rare and never-before-released recordings from the festival’s rich 55-year history, remastered in superlative audio. Each collection will be accompanied by exclusive liner notes and previously unseen photography.

Nina Simone’s story from the late sixties to the nineties can be told through her legendary performances in Montreux. Taking to the Montreux stage for the first time on 16 June 1968 for the festival’s second edition, Simone built a lasting relationship with Montreux Jazz Festival and its Creator and Founder Claude Nobs, which uniqueness, trust and electricity can be clearly felt on the recordings. Simone’s multi-faceted and radical story is laid bare on ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’. From Nina’s glorious and emotional 1968 performance to her fiery and unpredictable concert in 1976, one of the festival’s most remarkable performances ever witnessed, the collection includes recordings from all of her five legendary Montreux concerts – 1968, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1990.

Featuring rare and previously unreleased material from Claude Nobs’ private collection, Nina Simone devotees worldwide will be thrilled by the inclusion of the powerful I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, poignant and fearless Four Women and Simone’s hauntingly beautiful performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas. A spine-tingling version of Janis Ian’s searing and potent Stars, which Simone covered for the very first time during her 1976 Montreux performance, sits alongside her bold and electrifying re-imagine of Bob Marley’s ballad No Women No Cry in 1990. The collection closes with the encore of Nina Simone’s final Montreux Jazz Festival concert and one of Simone’s most-loved and best-known recordings, the exuberant My Baby Just Cares For Me, showcasing the deep and multidimensional facets of Simone’s life and music. 

TRACK LISTING

Someone To Watch Over Me (intro)
Backlash Blues
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
See-Line Woman 
Little Girl Blue (part 1 & 2)
Don't Smoke In Bed
Stars 
What A Little Moonlight Can Do
African Mailman
Just In Time
Four Women
No Woman No Cry
Liberian Calypso
Ne Me Quitte Pas
Montreux Blues 
My Baby Just Cares For Me

From USM's 'Nina Simone: The Philips Years' collection, come the separate LPs. Nina Simone was one of the best soul-jazz / blues singers of the 20th century. Only someone the likes of Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith had the power to lay a soul bare like she could, as her stripped-down 'Be My Husband' shows. Naked like a field-holler, this song would later capture the imagination of Jeff Buckley and Antony Hegarty.

Also on this record are classics such as 'Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out', originally sung by Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday's signature song 'Strange Fruit', as well as a Nina Simone favorite: 'Sinnerman'. There are few songs that capture the Spirit of religion, redemption, and the fear of God as much as this ten-minute race of a song about a man trying to outrun the Devil. It's no wonder it was used in the key-scene of 'The Thomas Crown Affair' and sampled by the likes of Kanye West, Talib Kweli and Felix da Housecat.

TRACK LISTING

Be My Husband 3:19
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out 2:35
End Of The Line 2:51
Trouble In Mind 2:37
Tell Me More And More And Then Some 3:05
Chilly Winds Don't Blow 3:59
Ain't No Use 2:35
Strange Fruit 3:26
Sinnerman 10:15

From USM's 'Nina Simone: The Philips Years' collection, come the separate LPs. 'I Put a Spell on You' is the singer-songwriter's 1965 album and features some of her best known songs, including the title track, 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' and 'Feeling Good'.

TRACK LISTING

1 I Put A Spell On You 2:36
2 Tomorrow Is My Turn 2:52
3 Ne Me Quitte Pas 3:38
4 Marriage Is For Old Folks 3:33
5 July Tree 2:44
6 Gimme Some 3:02
7 Feeling Good 2:54
8 One September Day 2:51
9 Blues On Purpose 3:20
10 Beautiful Land 1:57
11 You've Got To Learn 2:44
12 Take Care Of Business 2:05

One of Sweden’s biggest, brightest stars as the lead singer for the Cardigans, Nina Persson, releases her first solo album under her own name, the hotly anticipated “Animal Heart. This is the first solo release from Nina, and her first album since she, Niclas Frisk and Nathan Larson released “Colonia” as A Camp in 2009. The Cardigans have not released an album since “Super Extra Gravity” in 2005. “Animal Heart” was written and produced by Nina along with her husband film composer & novelist Nathan Larson (A Camp, Shudder To Think) and Eric D. Johnson (The Shins, Fruit Bats).

“The most difficult and maybe also the best thing about going solo is probably all the decisions you make alone. Somewhere inside, I have a very clear clock, a gut feeling, that says what I think. I have forced myself to just keep going and follow only my gut with this album. I have simply no time to dwell on things anymore which I did a lot before” says Nina.

Sicilian Saxophonist, flutist, composer and arranger Nino Rapicavoli is one of the unsung heroes in the world of Italian soundtracks of the 1970s. A musician with a solid background in jazz as well as a long-time member of Italy’s state-owned RAI TV orchestra, Rapicavoli has only a handful of library albums to his name, but each is of the highest quality. This Divagazioni (Ramblings) is probably the best of the lot, an album that mixes jazz, easy listening and a pinch of prog with that exclusively Italian taste for eccentricity.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Territoire
2. Premier
3. Metafora
4. Diritto
5. Erea

Side B:
1. Fidele
2. Istinto
3. Altimetria
4. Autogeno
5. Corpus

When this album was recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960, Nina Simone had just had her first Top 20 hit with "I Loves You, Porgy", but the "Porgy" found here (written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, most famous for "I Can't Give You Anything But Love") is actually a continuation of Gershwin's original version of the story. Other highlights include "Flo Me La", an African work chant, and "Little Liza Jane", an African American folk song.

TRACK LISTING

Side A:
1. Trouble In Mind
2.Porgy
3.Little Liza Jane
4.You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

Side B:
1. Flo Me La
2. Nina's Blues
3. In The Evening By The Moonlight