R. Missing is the enigmatic music project of New York based vocalist Sharon Shy and musician Toppy.previously known as The Ropes. Unsummering, the first release under their new moniker R. Missing, expands on The Ropes' previous palette of Morrissey tinged lyrics and darkwave, but manages to be even more isolated lyrically than their famously nihilistic previous work, fully embracing complete detachment. Musically, fraught guitar and synth textures paint an image of an unstable world, held together only by tightly quantized electronic drum beats.

Maxwell Farrington & Le SuperHomard (Christophe Vaillant) are storytellers. Through their lyrics, orchestrations and arrangements, their compositions unfold as allegories, journeys into worlds where pop meets lushness and reverie.

Since 'Once' (Talitres, 2021), the Franco-Australian duo has cultivated a way of life, an aesthetic - silky, sunlit, and timeless. Released in spring 2022, 'I Had it All' (EP) confirmed what was already clear: the musicians' melodies possess an irresistible alchemy and infectious generosity. 'Please, Wait' (2024), recorded with musicians from the Nancy Opera and Conservatory, raised the orchestral stakes and placed Maxwell Farrington and Christophe Vaillant among the great pop songwriters. Tour after tour, whether as a quintet or in smaller line-ups, Maxwell Farrington's playfulness and the band's elegance win over devotees and newcomers alike.

Rock icons know quality when they hear it: Iggy Pop championed them on his BBC 6 show, Paul Weller brought them along on European tours and invited Christophe Vaillant to Abbey Road Studios for the recording of his album 66. The duo naturally turned to England to produce their new record.

'Window Tax' was recorded in Margate, a short train ride from London, with Mike Lindsay, co-founder of Tunng (spearhead of the folktronica movement) and holder of the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2009 for his production work on Speech Debelle's 'Speech Therapy'. The studio doubles as a cabinet of curiosities, crammed with singular and eclectic instruments: Moog Grandmother, Eventide H949 Harmonizer, Teenage Engineering OP-1, Suzuki TES370 Koto synthesizer, bean-filled shaker, castanets and other treasures.

'Window Tax': literally, a tax on windows. It could refer to the levy based on the number of doors and windows in buildings. But the title - and the song of the same name - suggests something else: the idea of paying extra at a restaurant for a better view, a seat by the window. Or: how to enjoy dinner with an admirable view, spend many hours with Lorène, find your way back to the Supermarket, savor fish & chips in very good company. 'Do da da da'.

TRACK LISTING

1. Brussels Sprouts
2. Window Tax
3. Rats & Dolphins
4. Euphoria
5. Lorène
6. Do Da Da Da (feat. Lily Buchanan)
7.Supermarker
8. Good Company
9. The Architect
10. Fish & Chips (feat. Lily Buchanan)
11. Gap Year
12. Cake

Working closely with producer Tim Kevin, 'That's What the Music Is For' is The Apartments' eighth album. Peter Milton Walsh began recording it in 2023 like a master pointillist, one touch at a time, one song at a time. In between shows that took him from Mexico City, Sydney or San Francisco to Lisbon and Marseilles, Walsh had access to studio time without real constraints.

Talking about 'That's What the Music is For', he says: "Since I didn't go into the studio with an album ready set of songs, but instead took pieces in to record as soon as they were written and worked on the music in the studio whenever it was available, it wasn't clear that I'd get to that rainbow's end-a world of songs that feel like they belong together: an album. Yet, over the course of recording and as the songs gathered with one another, they began to reveal a story about time-of how past and present so often trade places and that in music and in memory, the people who have gone keep moving in and out of our lives-where can they live now, except in song? We will be saying goodbye to them in bits and pieces for the rest of our lives.”

A world of smoke, gin, and regrets; one of melancholy, brass, and strings. A world of refinement and integrity. Life as it comes to us, with its share of joy and sorrow. Peter Milton Walsh's compositions are true songs in that they tell stories, stories that stay with us, stories we can each finish in our own way. That may well be the essence of great art.

TRACK LISTING

1. It's A Casino Life
2. Afternoons
3. A Handful Of Tomorrow
4. Another Sun Gone Down
5.That's What The Music Is For (When The Fair's Over)
6. Death Would Be My Best Career Move
7. The American Resistance
8. You Know We're Not Supposed To Feel This Way

'Please, Wait...', their sophomore album, emerges from a profound collaborative evolution, contrasting with Once, which was crafted remotely during the lockdown. This album is steeped in shared experiences from two years of touring, showcasing a symbiotic musical evolution between Maxwell and Christophe. Please, Wait...is a journey into the realm of the senses, an invitation to a dreamscape where listeners are free to find their own meaning. This record is a testament to beauty and modern hedonism, crafted by artists who live and breathe the epicurean ethos.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Wistful hazy melodies, psychedelic twists and theatrical vocal work all mix together into a lovely distillation of influences. Lounge, melancholic rock and grand orchestral melodies all slotted together perfectly.

TRACK LISTING

The Boat
The Nimbostratus Jig
Plat Du Jour
Backgammon
Hexagon
Galbulus
Begging's Not My Business
Catch 42
Topinambur
Postprandial Promenade (feat. Nadine Khouri)
Stirred But Not Shaken

Maxwell Farrington & Le SuperHomard cultivate a certain taste for subtly arranged compositions and pop songs that feel both timeless and current. And beyond this elegance, beyond their solar songs, even beyond Maxwell's majestic voice, we can deeply feel that music is above all a story of meeting and sharing.

Since the time of our early talks with the duo, we've known one thing for sure: their first album "Once" had a misleading title. There was never any question of quickly closing the deal, of getting close to the top and packing up. "Our time alone, our finest hours are spent" sings Maxwell Farrington on the opening, and we don't believe a word of it. Recorded last fall while on tour, "I Had It All" offers 6 new treasures, 6 new proofs of our musicians' dazzling talent, an achievement even more remarkable considering the disc's short format.

Released back in April 2021 "Once" sealed the meeting between Maxwell Farrington (musician, crooner, Australia jack-of-all-trades living in Binic) & the SuperHomard (Christophe Vaillant: orchestration, arrangements, production). Acclaimed by critics, widely praised by the public, this first opus allowed the band to play (in quintet form) at various festivals (Villette Sonique, La Route du Rock, Hop Pop Pop, etc.) and through- out France.

TRACK LISTING

1. I Had It All
2. Two Hopeful Lovers
3. Burning
4. Donna
5. Change Direction
6. Il Cacciatore

Released in early 2019 on the Spanish label Elefant Records, "Meadow Lane Park" was the debut album by Avignon-based Christophe Vaillant under his new entity, Le SuperHomard. Undoubtedly dreamlike and enchanting, hailed by critics both in France and abroad, and by Paul Weller (who invited the group on his entire European tour), the musician laid the groundwork for a new artistic direction. Originally from Brisbane, Maxwell Farrington left Australia in 2013, travelling to the United Kingdom and then France. After Marseille and Toulouse, he moved to Saint-Brieuc and took part in the formation of Dewaere, a noise quartet bathed in 90s influences. Maxwell's vocals bring a poppier and warmer touch. Christophe and Maxwell met during a joint concert at La Boule Noire, on the MaMA Festival in 2019. During his band's sound check, the Australian performed an a capella version of a song by American composer Burt Bacharach. This lead to an engaging conversation between the two musicians, who discussed their common passion for Lee Hazlewood, Scott Walker and Frank Sinatra. We find this elegance again reiterated throughout these compositions – in the orchestral pop, the subtle arrangements, the velvet singing voice. "Once" is a four- handed collaboration. Recording began in February 2020, ending within a short distance of the New Year. "Once" is a journey, both near and far, where everyone will find a safe haven.

TRACK LISTING

1. We, Us The Pharaohs
2. North Pole
3. Free Again
4. Lights & Seasons
5. Love
6. La Mesa Motel (Feat. Max Meser)
7. Good Start
8. Oysters
9. Hips
10. Happening Again
11. Big Ben (Feat. Evelyn Ida Morris)
12. Tonight

Originally released in 1995, "A Life Full of Farewells" is The Apartments' third album. Released only two years after the legendary "drift", this hushed album filled with melancholy ballads once again displays the writing talent of Peter Milton Walsh. Over a quarter of a century later, these majestic compositions, these silky arrangements, this delicate pop engage us with new emotions. Here the nuances are subtle and the musician's demons seem for a time abandoned, leaving room for a new serenity. Reaching full musical maturity, "A Life Full of Farewells" 'is a centerpiece of Australian discography, now unearthed and released for the very first time in vinyl format. Australian vinyl mastering legend, Don Bartley, who also mastered the original 'A Life Full of Farewells' CD, mastered the album for vinyl. Also features a guest appearance by Chris Abrahams from The Necks.

Based in Sydney, Peter Milton Walsh and his band, The Apartments, are acclaimed by critics and fans alike all over the world. Peter Milton Walsh formed The Apartments in Brisbane, 1978, and left Australia for New York a few years later, and relocated to England when The Apartments were signed by Rough Trade. But before leaving Australia, Walsh was sought out by Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, of Brisbane's most critically adored band, The Go-Betweens. Having been offered an 8-album deal by Beserkley Records, Forster and McLennan asked Walsh to join The Go-Betweens as their fourth member in late 1978. The union was, however, short-lived, as the deal with Beserkley fell through. Grant McLennan famously said of their different personalities, "Walsh is night, we are day. We're sun, he's rain." In and Out of the Light is a classic Apartments album, with songs, lines and melodies coming back to you long after the music has stopped playing. The album came together in a new way for The Apartments. Recording began in Sydney, at the end of winter of 2019. Working a few hours a day, one or two days a week, the album was finished in the summer, with the final mix completed the day before coronavirus lockdown hit Australia in 2020.

Peter Milton Walsh and bass player Eliot Fish worked with producer Tim Kevin in his Marrickville studio in Sydney, while French Apartments, Natasha Penot and Antoine Chaperon, recorded their parts in various studios in France. English drummer Nick Allum worked in London. In and Out of the Light (their 7th studio album) again features Chris Abrahams from The Necks on piano. The vocal and piano for We Talked Through Till Dawn were recorded live in one take with Peter singing as Chris played piano. Miro Bukovsky, who played on No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal, again plays flugelhorn and trumpet. In 2015, The Apartments surprised fans by re-emerging -after over a decade of silence-with No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal, an album that saw a new audience drawn to The Apartments music. By year's end, readers and critics of French music magazine Magic named No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal #1 Album of the Year. Five years later, In and Out of the Light is the highly anticipated album that will once more appeal to existing fans and new ones as well. The Apartments exquisite instrumentation and beautiful harmonies and Peter Milton Walsh's impressionistic storytelling work together beautifully on In and Out of the Light. Here are eight songs to get lost in-for a day, for a week, for a lifetime.

TRACK LISTING

1. Pocketful Of Sunshine
2. Write Your Way Out Of Town
3. Where You Used To Be
4. What's Beauty To Do
5. Butterfly Kiss
6. We Talked Through Till Dawn
7. I Don't Give A Fuck About You Anymore
8. The Fading Light

Laish, from Brighton, are piloted by the mesmeric Danny Green, a master of captivating confessionals and a thoroughly engaging front man. His glorious voice ranges from the angelic, to a plaintiveness echoing Robert Wyatt, to deeper Kurt Wagner-esque tones. New album, Time Elastic, brims with ultra-cool, classic songwriting and bestows a superbly developed and playful record, full of surprises. A bold step forward, presenting a songwriter at the height of his powers.

Formed by Vladislav Parshin (of Motorama), in Rostov-On-Don, in 2010, the band became known in Russia for it’s experimental instrumentation, minimalist approach to the music and existential, spiritual lyrics in Russian language. Utro took the blueprint from Soviet bands, post-punk bands from Germany and UK and pushed it way further, using just drums, percurssion, synth bass, synthesizers, and voice. In 2015 Uto announced "We don’t use guitars anymore, we play live drums, synth bass and different keyboards."

After seven years of consistent touring and new releases, Brussels-based Will Samson steps away from his familiar use of electronics and ambient soundscapes, to present his fourth solo album, Welcome Oxygen. Consisting largely of guitar, voice & violin recorded onto tape - this is his most raw and direct work to date. Brad Lee, from The Album Leaf contributes Trumpet arrangements to the track, 'Find A Little Light' and additional overdubs were also added by Belgian violinist, Beatrijs De Klerck (a former touring member of A Winged Victory For The Sullen & frequent live member for Will).

Originating from Normandy, France and now based in Marseilles having lived for spells in Brighton, Bristol and Brussels, the itinerant composer / multi-instrumentalist Yann Tambour (aka Stranded Horse) began recording in 2001 under the name Encre, a project combining samples of strings, piano and voice. Following a series of album and EP releases under that name and having returned to his original instrument, the classical guitar, Yann started to experiment with the kora, building his own lighter, more compact versions of the instrument. Marrying this with his singular approach to the singer/songwriter mode, Stranded Horse (formerly Thee, Stranded Horse) came into being in the mid-noughties. Yann's instrument-building endeavours continue - his most recent creation being a chromatic kora with harp levers, made out of keno wood, maple and formica christened the 'formikora'.

'Luxe' is the third Stranded Horse album after 'Humbling Tides' (2012) and 'Churning Strides' (2007), With five of its nine songs sung in English and the rest in French, the ensemble arrangements hinted at on 'Humbling Tides' find full bloom on 'Luxe'.

Micah P. Hinson was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, into a strict Christian fundamentalist household. He began to experiment with music upon moving to Abilene, Texas in his teens. In the relative isolation of this town, he became immersed in the local music scene. In 2003, he teamed up with the Texas collective the Earlies which provided a lush backdrop for Hinson’s winsome tales of love, loss and regret, before releasing solo albums for Sketchbook, Jade Tee and Full Time Hobby. 'Micah P. Hinson and the Nothing', his first release on Talitres, is a collection of songs Micah wrote before a terrible van accident he had on the Spanish highway in 2011.

Unsure if or when his arms would ever work properly again, Micah began listening to demos he has made before he went on that Spanish trip. The songs took a different light and he began sending them off to people around the world (The Twilight Sad, his Belgium Quartet, his Texan side-kick, T. Nicholas Phelps) and with their help he began to create a record without the use of his arms. Soon after this, Micah was invited to go and record in Santander, Espana, at Moon River Studio. For two weeks and two days, Fernando 'Mac' and Micah realized what was to become "Micah P. Hinson and The Nothing", working with an astounding array of local musicians, sitting behind the trap set, standing beside the upright bass, holding a viola, or tumbling away the tympani.