New releases selected by the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing.

Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who read these missives and are attuned to the bounty regularly arriving, we love sharing great sounds. Below are some particularly crucial new arrivals, a number of which will soon be available in the In Sheep’s Clothing shop. 

Lucy Duncombe – Brace / Mend

The latest from Glasgow label 12th Isle is a beautiful two-track 10” from performance, voice, and sound artist Lucy Duncombe. Tracks “Brace” and “Mend” both continue the artist’s otherworldly exploration of what she calls “theatrical vocal transposition meets modern technologies and interference.” 

A sound composed of icy synth-string arrangements, hypnotically brooding organ lines, and vocal manipulations and filters command attention, but none can quite fully mask the power of Duncombe’s angelic and highly emotive operatic vocals. Two very striking and special tracks, dreamy and enchanting, they also manage to reprise the lost epic melodrama of acts like This Mortal Coil, Enya, and Elizabeth Fraser. Top recommend – DM

Purchase in the ISC Shop: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/lucy-duncombe-brace-mend-10/

Niko Tzoukmanis – Hope Is The Sister Of Despair

The prismatiac perfection of this techno ambient rerelease comes just in time to soundtrack the first hints of fall. Initially released in 2013, this little known record has been resurrected by Paris based Libreville, a label dedicated to resurfacing exceptional sonic works for wider release. The whole album lives in a similarly meditative field, and has an entrancingly cinematic quality. – Tana

Maxine Funke – Seance

The New Zealand folk singer Maxine Funke’s third album is a whisper of a record, one that might drift away with a strong enough breeze. Seven songs that, while gentle, are dense with emotional weight, “Seance” features Funke playing acoustic guitar, quiet organ and delicate electronic rhythms. Her touch is so light on “Moody Relish” that you can hear a rainstorm in the background. – E. Little

Purchase in the ISC Shop: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/maxine-funke-seance-lp/

Luke Sanger – Languid Gongue

An artist most comfortable working in the full-length album format, UK-based electronic music producer Luke Sanger once again delivers beauty on his third LP in just 3 years. Lush, fluttering synths fill the soundscape with tones and textures comparable to the 80’s works of environmental ambient musicians while diving into beat-less, cavernous techno realms at times. – Jonny

Various Artists – Riddem Poetry

A classy compilation from Into The Deep Treasury featuring French digi-reggae gems including Tchai and Merger’s cover of Yoko Ono’s “Every Man” and two Apartheid Not tracks from their sought after “Reality Now” 12”. These tunes will all work the dance floor so pick it up, throw it down, just in time for that end of summer day party! – Pheel