Our favorite new releases from Detroit, Chicago, Paris, Edmonton, Italy, Ireland, Berlin via Senegal, and more…

New music continues to be a major focus for us here at In Sheep’s Clothing, and boy is there a lot of it… 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!

Externalism, Iri.gram – False 03 + 04

( Ambient / Dub / Techno )

False Aralia follows up their deservedly hyped 2024 double debut with a second double set of experimental electronic tracks tracing the lines between ambient, dub, and techno. Externalism, the more lush and melody-driven of the pair, features vocals from Loveshadow’s Anya Prisk and Inner Islands’ boss Sean Conrad on EWI (electronic wind instrument). Swirling chords, deep sub groove, and a contemporary dubwise approach gives the music a sweet echo, like a memory’s that’s nearly faded, but very much still there. Iri.gram hits on a more rhythmic thread at 133 bpm with metallic drums, icy pad textures, and endlessly mutating grooves that fans of Autechre, Basic Channel, Monolake, Wah Wah Wino’s D&E releases will surely instantly fall in love with. — Phil

Pre-order False 03: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/externalism-false-03-12/

Pre-order False 04: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/iri-gram-false-04-12/

Kara-Lis Coverdale – From Where You Came

( Modern Classical / Ambient )

From Where You Came sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a vast silo, every sound hanging in still air before drifting outward. Kara-Lis Coverdale stretches eleven slow-burning pieces into something graceful and absorbing, blending modular synthesis, brass, keys, and her own processed voice into music that lingers. A classically trained organist with a background in church music, Coverdale has spent the past decade exploring the possibilities of electronic composition. Her music bridges the sacred and the synthetic. She draws from classical narrative forms and the openness of ’70s spiritual jazz, using structure as a guide rather than a cage. Though parts of the album were recorded at GRM in Paris and EMS in Stockholm, its center is rural Ontario, where silence, land, and echo seep into the mix. Anne Bourne’s cello glides through “Eternity” and “Flickers in the Air of Night” with reverent calm. Kalia Vandever’s trombone moves like weather, slow and impossible to miss. Released on Smalltown Supersound, From Where You Came offers a kind of interior shelter, a quiet space shaped by grace, tension, and deep attention. Her writing is deliberate, but the results feel weightless. — Randall

Babe Roots – Mi Feel It

( Dub Poetry, Downtempo, Trip-hop )

Italian dub techno maestros Babe Roots meet dub poet Wayne, Senegalese singer Galas, and Japanese drummer Ohkuma (1/2 of Undefined) on their latest for Tokyo-based label Newdubhall. Both tracks on this 10-inch are built on the powerful words of legendary dub poet Michael Smith, who released just one masterpiece album in 1982 titled Mi Cyaan Believe It before he was violently murdered on the streets of Kingston. Side A’s “Mi Feel It” hits an almost trip-hop zone with Wayne’s low baritone delivering a dark and ominous take on Mikey Smith’s observations of Jamaica’s aimless youth. Galas brings Abyssinians-style harmonies on “Roots.” — Phil

Maria Somerville – Luster

( Shoegaze / Indie Rock )

Maria Somerville’s long-awaited follow-up to her celebrated 2019 debut, All My People, is a wonderfully concise exploration of shadowy, angst-driven music. Somerville, a popular resident DJ on NTS, is no stranger to the nuance of genre and mood, and on Luster, she skillfully harnesses specific points of interest and transforms them according to her vision. The familiar post-punk pulse of “Garden” or the airy downtempo trot of “Spring” are discernible in vague ways, but when experienced as a whole, these familiarities take on new meaning. The umbrella of texture that often characterizes such genres comfortably sits between a unique Lo-Fi / Hi-Fi blended production that stylistically enhances the record. With the ever-expanding boom of algorithmic “dreamy” music, it’s refreshing to hear an album that expands on the edges of a style rather than merely mimicking it. — John

Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas – Totality

( Jazz / Experimental / Avant-Garde )

Totality reunites two of Chicago’s most immersive ensembles, Bitchin’ Bajas and Natural Information Society, for a 43-minute suite that drifts, pulses, and glows with quiet intensity. The Bajas’ Cooper Crain weaves warm analog synths and looping patterns. NIS’s Joshua Abrams drives the music with the deep, resonant thrum of the guimbri. Alongside Lisa Alvarado on harmonium and Mikel Patrick Avery on drums, the group settles into a shared language of texture and repetition. The album flows through four pieces, split on vinyl into two long arcs. Rather than dividing moods, both sides balance the contemplative and the psychedelic, moving with a steady flow that invites focus without demanding it. Each section softens the edges between players, filled with communal energy that listens more than it leads.

“Nothing Does Not Show” locks into a hypnotic cycle, percussion and guimbri moving in slow orbit. “Always 9 Seconds Away” crawls at 40 bpm, a dirge that finds grace in collapse and space in every pause. This kind of collaboration, rooted in trust, shared history, and fearlessness, offers yet another reason Chicago remains a magnet for adventurous jazz and experimental music. — Randall

Purelink – Faith

( Ambient / Downtempo / Electronic )

New York via Chicago trio Purelink steps it up once again on their second full-length, Faith, this time incorporating organic elements (voice, guitar, bass) within their deeply textured post-dancefloor dreamscapes. “Rookie” features a pleasantly dry, lullaby-like vocal from Hyperdub artist Loraine James alongside an ambient downtempo groove; the track sounds like the perfect music to settle into after a long night out dancing with friends. On “First Iota,” poet Angelina Nonaj shares something like a voice message over plucked guitar chords and waves of ambience: “I’m on my way to get fake nails. Not everything beautiful has to be real.” For those more inclined to vocal-less dreaming, “Kite Scene” and “Circle of Dust” offer pulse and sub-wise bass weight for both chill-out floors and deep home listening. A perfect sophomore LP from one of the quintessential groups leading the contemporary ambient-dancefloor sound (or whatever you want to call it). — Phil

Pre-Order: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/purelink-faith-lp/

Khotin – Peace Portal

( Electronic / Ambient / Downtempo )

Edmonton’s Khotin returns to his own Khotin Industries label with Peace Portal, a six-track release of diverse, transportive compositions that drift between a daydream and a nostalgic video game. Drawing on the veteran producer’s now-signature palette of acid basslines, tape delay, and fragments of spoken word, the tracks feel intentionally restrained and delicately constructed. A master of world-building, Khotin’s music moves like a spirit through empty shopping malls, abandoned theme parks, and digital graveyards. Close your eyes, follow the light, and step into the Peace Portal. — Jonny

helen island – silence is priceless

( Hypnagogic Pop / Experimental )

Parisian artist helen island’s singular take on hypnagogic pop takes expected tropes including moody guitar hooks, hype vocal adlibs, auto-tune mangling, late-night voice notes, orchestra synthesizer patches, field recordings and transforms them into something entirely fresh — experimental vignettes that are somehow still very much rooted in traditional songwriting forms. silence is priceless is the artist’s most fully realized effort to date, with 16-tracks that conjure a beautifully dystopian sound world: “It was all paradoxical. Fullness in the crisis.” Recommended for fans of Voice Actor, Hype Williams, and Lolina. Out on one of our favorite labels – the Amsterdam-based Knekelhuis! — Phil

Daigos – 桃源郷 (Tougen-Kyo)

( Ambient / Spiritual Jazz / Electronic )

A 28-minute continuous journey through contemporary ambient, downtempo jazz, and folk-tinged electronica, 桃源郷 (Tougen-Kyo) is the promising debut from London-based Japanese musician Daigo Sakuragi. Reading the release notes, the album feels something like a love letter to Daigo’s hometown of Tokyo, featuring revisited material recorded with luminaries from Tokyo’s underground: bass player Ichikawa Jinya of DAN), drummer Ooi Kazuya of yahyel, and saxophonist Ikeda Shohei of Maya Ongaku. In the gorgeous middle section, saxophone floats above layers of ambient synthesizer textures and percussion reminding us a bit of Bill Laswell’s work with spiritual jazz innovator Pharaoh Sanders and tabla master Trilok Gurtu. Perfect for deep listening. — Phil

Big Hands – Thauma

( Ambient / Electronic / Jazz )

Thauma started in a dream. Two nights crossing a turbulent Mediterranean, Andrea Ottomani imagined the entire album in his sleep, then set out to recreate it exactly as it came. Recording as Big Hands, the Italian-born, London-based artist stitched together ten fluid tracks using field recordings, tuned percussion, modular electronics, and live improvisation.

Captured across Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey, the album unfolds like a memory in motion. Bells, balafon, and bamboo drums blur with cicadas, surf, and distant calls to prayer. Palestinian artist بنت مبارح (Bint Mbareh) wails beside brassy bursts from Abraham Parker and Izzy Karpel, then reappears on the standout “A Juniper Tree Whose Roots Are Made of Fire,” a deep rhythmic meditation that stretches past seven minutes. Her Arabic vocals move through the haze with spellbinding calm. Tenor sax and hand percussion snake through the mix, grounding Thauma’s dream logic in something raw, human, and unmistakably alive. — Randall

wetdogg – pssssssp…

( DIY Pop / Electronic / Downtempo )

Nostalgia-laced dreams of the early internet, next generation Detroit artist Wetdogg’s debut album pssssssp… transports listeners back to a lost era of animated pixel art avatars, AIM chatrooms, html profiles, and Y2K techno-intimacy. The retro-futuristic beats here seem to be composed largely using classic groove boxes like the Korg Electribe and Roland MC-505, giving the album a sort of ‘90s Detroit beatdown type sound while also incorporating millenial pop vocals, chopped samples, and catchy, minimalistic synth melodies. It’s a charmingly retro-fresh approach and a promising debut from a new artist worth following. Check out the website pssssssp.vip to be fully immersed into Wetdogg’s world. — Phil

t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 – 君のいない世界でまた一日が過ぎた

( Vaporwave / Ambient )

You don’t listen to Telepath to get anywhere. You listen to dissolve. Behind the name is Luke Laurila, an American producer and one of vaporwave’s most prolific and quietly influential figures. Over the past decade, he’s released a sprawling catalog under aliases like 情報デスクVIRTUAL and Virtual Dream Plaza, helping steer the genre away from satire and toward mood, memory, and atmosphere. His music often feels like hold muzak on acid: soft rock instrumentals and ambient loops slowed to a narcotic drift, warped by nostalgia and time. This is his second album of 2025, following 夢の続き (Yume no Tsuzuki, or The Dream Continues), and it floats in the same blurred space. Synths smear like fog, voices flicker and vanish, and melodies circle endlessly without resolution. — Randall

Celestial – I Can Hear The Grass Grow

( Instrumental / Ambient )

I Can Hear The Grass Grow consists of eight pastoral instrumental pieces with strong narrative qualities. Timeless and mythic melodies sway through the tape processed pads and textures, while the finger-picked guitar is a guiding torch. One of the stand-out pieces, “Skylark,” perfectly seesaws between bittersweet sorrow and optimism. Each track shimmers in the dim light of melancholic bliss, embracing the blanket-like qualities of a cloudy day. With their third release for the label Ecstatic, the mysterious Mancunian duo has further defined their potent variety of bucolic minimal music. — John

Flutter Ridder – S.T.

( Ambient / Experimental )

Espen Friberg and Jenny Berger Myhre are multidisciplinary artists from Norway who embrace a playful and adventurous approach in their visual and sonic works. The duo previously collaborated on Friberg’s debut solo album, Sun Soon. For Flutter Ridder, they set up in an ancient wooden church off the coast of Northeast Norway, using a Serge modular synthesizer and the church’s pipe organ. Occasionally, these two instruments synchronize to create otherworldly microtonal overtones, which is most pronounced on the opening track, “Below a Layer Bend Aside.” The droning blend of these instruments, along with the unique acoustics of the space, produces an exceptionally soft and ethereal sound. Throughout the album, subtly sequenced rhythmic moments from the synth, and circular melodic lines from the pipe organ, provide a pulse and movement. Sonically, this one sits somewhere in between the worlds of Jan Jelinek and Kali Malone. Modern organic electronic music for soft souls. — John

Kim Hiorthøy – Ghost Note

( Experimental / Electronic )

More than a decade after his last full-length, Norwegian artist Kim Hiorthøy has reemerged with Ghost Note, a quietly mesmerizing set that blurs the boundary between presence and disappearance. Out now on the Belgian label Blickwinkel, the album builds on a body of work that moves through electronic minimalism, graphic design, film scores and experimental theater. Hiorthøy, a frequent contributor to Rune Grammofon’s catalog, treats music like a sketchbook: fragmentary, handmade, deeply personal.

With Ghost Note, he leans further into ambiguity. Using digital tools to conjure phantom instruments, cheap-sounding drums, brittle keys, and tones that feel half-remembered, he creates pieces that are tactile yet uncertain. Tracks fall apart midphrase. Melodies flicker and vanish. It’s emotionally resonant music that never quite settles, like a soundtrack to a play that might never be staged. As one Bandcamp commenter put it, it’s “at times like Richard D. James channeling Arthur Russell,” spectral and intimate, stitched together with feeling and fog. — Randall

Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force – Khadim

( Dub / Mbalax / Techno )

Ndagga Rhythm Force’s first release in nearly a decade, Khadim captures the spirit of the Senegalese group’s heavily improvised live performances in recorded form. Featuring just two sabar drummers (previous releases had up to 12), vocalist Mbene Diatta Seck, and Mark Ernestus (Basic Channel, Rhythm & Sound, Hard Wax) at the controls, the recordings are much more spacious, deep, and perhaps closer to the sonic world of Rhythm & Sound. Without the drum kit, bass guitar, and keyboard player, Ernestus takes on the sub-bass lines, programmed drums, and his trusted Prophet-5 synth, subtly outlining techno and dub grooves underneath the Senegalese musician’s complex mbalax rhythms. It’s a fresh development on an already forward-thinking project from one of the most influential figures in contemporary electronic music… “I didn’t want to simply continue with the same formula,” Ernestus says. “I preferred to wait for a new approach.” — Phil