Discovering this Pounding Sound and Dancefloor Alternative Rock of Ashnymph and This Week's Best New Tracks
Based in London and Brighton
For fans of artists like Underworld, MGMT, or Animal Collective
Up next A new EP planned for 2026, currently without a title
Both tracks shared to date by Ashnymph are hard to categorise: their personal label of their music as “subconscioussion” leaves listeners guessing. Their initial track Saltspreader married a pounding industrial rhythm – member Will Wiffen has at times appeared on stage in a tee that bears the logo of industrial metal pioneers Godflesh – with retro-style synths and a riff that subtly echoes the Stooges’ garage rock perennial I Wanna Be Your Dog, before melting into a barrier of unsettling sound. The planned result, the trio have suggested, was to conjure highway journeys, “the ceaseless flow of vehicles all day long over great lengths … nighttime orange glows”.
The subsequent track, Mr Invisible, falls between nightclub tunes and experimental rock. For one thing, the cut's tempo, layers of hypnotic electronics, and singing that comes either trippily blurred or mesmerizingly repeated in a way that evokes Dubnobasswithmyheadman-era Underworld all suggest the dance space. Conversely, its intense performance-style shifts, near-anarchic character and fuzz – “making everything sound crunchy is a personal mission,” Wiffen noted – distinguish it as clearly a group effort rather than a bedroom-bound producer. They’ve been playing around the independent music circuit in south London for a short time, “any spot with loud speakers”.
But both are exciting and different enough – mutually and contemporary releases – to prompt questions about the band's future direction. Whatever it is, on the basis of these two singles, it’s probably not dull.
This Week’s Best New Tracks
Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I simply must have experiences”, vocalist Florence Shaw states on her band’s beguiling return, but throughout the song's duration – with human breath marking time – you perceive that she's unsure of the reason.
Azimuth by Danny L Harle with Caroline Polachek
Merging gothic intensity to classic 90s trance – even the words “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth hints at dusting off your best Cyberdog wear and dancing the night away, stat.
Robyn – Acne Studios mix
Robyn’s soundtrack for the Acne Studios' spring/summer 2026 presentation previews her TBA ninth album, including driving guitar parts à la Soulwax, Benny Benassi-style thrust and the verse “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.
Jordana – Like That
Critics praised her record Lively Premonition last year and the US singer-songwriter continues to show off her remarkable skill with choruses as she sings about a futile crush.
Molly Nilsson's Get a Life
The one-woman Swedish pop operation dropped the record Amateur this week, and this track from it is extraordinary: a synth-guitar melody jerks forward at hardcore punk pace as the singer urges we grab life by the scruff of the neck.
Artemas' Superstar
Post explorations of tired relationships on his smash I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its overlooked mixtape Yustyna, the musician of mixed heritage is hopelessly devoted to his latest lover amid driving coldwave beats.
Miss America by Jennifer Walton
From one of the year’s standout debuts, a crushed synth hymnal about Walton discovering her dad had died in an transit lodge, mapping the strange setting in tender incantations: “Strip mall, drug deal, panic attacks.”