Black Midi's New Chapter and Jessie Ware's [Stereo Current]

[00:00] Julian Vance: From Neural Newscast, this is Stereocurrent, Sound, Culture, and the Systems That Shape Them. [00:05] Sloane Rivera: The air is thick with ghosts of the avant-garde this week, Julian. [00:10] Sloane Rivera: We're seeing a fascinating collision between the ancient and the hypermodern. [00:15] Sloane Rivera: I am Sloan Rivera. [00:17] Julian Vance: And I'm Julian Vance. [00:19] Julian Vance: It's that sweet spot where the analog tape hiss meets a 2,500-year-old melody. [00:25] Julian Vance: We've got some deep textures to wade through today on stereo current. [00:28] Sloane Rivera: Um, starting with something truly hypnotic. [00:32] Sloane Rivera: Bebe and London producer Paul Elliott released their album Two Moons yesterday, and it feels [00:39] Sloane Rivera: like a cinematic ecosystem. [00:41] Julian Vance: It's a masterclass in balance, Sloan. [00:43] Julian Vance: You've got the Guzhang and Guqin, these incredibly traditional Chinese instruments leading the [00:50] Julian Vance: way through a forest of vintage synths. [00:52] Julian Vance: The title track, which we actually got a glimpse of last November, sets the tone. [00:57] Julian Vance: It's atmospheric bliss with a lo-fi heartbeat. [01:00] Sloane Rivera: I'm particularly taken by Silk Suare. [01:03] Sloane Rivera: It has this jazz-ready Guzhang melded with a string-laden drive that feels heart-rending but modern. [01:11] Sloane Rivera: It's like refined, Julian, but there's a tactile rhythm to it that keeps it from becoming just another ambient wallpaper. [01:18] Julian Vance: Yeah. [01:19] Julian Vance: Even the finale, Midnight Bazaar, has this suave baseline that anchors the dreamy plucks. [01:25] Julian Vance: It's a bridge between errors that doesn't feel forced. [01:28] Julian Vance: Speaking of bridges, we have a major update from the ruins of the London math rock scene. [01:35] Sloane Rivera: The post-black MIDI vacuum? [01:37] Julian Vance: Cameron Picton has finally surfaced, and the name of the new vessel is My New Band Believe. [01:44] Julian Vance: It's cheeky, it's irreverent, and it's very rough trade. [01:48] Julian Vance: They announced the debut self-titled album on Friday, set for an April 10th release. [01:53] Julian Vance: The backstory is pure rock lore. [01:56] Julian Vance: Cameron was battling an illness in a Chinese hotel room, hallucinating flashes of text, [02:01] Julian Vance: and My New Band Believe was the phrase that stuck. [02:04] Sloane Rivera: A literal fever dream. [02:05] Sloane Rivera: They shared numerology, which interestingly isn't even on the standard album. [02:10] Sloane Rivera: It's a bonus track on the 10-inch and CD editions. [02:13] Sloane Rivera: It's a bold move to lead with a song that's essentially an extra, but Picton has never been one for the linear path. [02:19] Julian Vance: No, and the lineup is a heavy hitter list. [02:22] Julian Vance: Kieran Leonard, Steve Noble, Andrew Cheatham... [02:24] Sloane Rivera: ...that the dance floor needs a bit of the Wild West. [02:27] Sloane Rivera: Her new single Ride just dropped, and it's a disco western that actually interpolates [02:32] Sloane Rivera: any Omori-Kone's theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. [02:35] Julian Vance: It's brilliant. [02:37] Julian Vance: She first teased this at Glastonbury back in 2024, [02:40] Julian Vance: but we're finally getting the studio version ahead of her album Super Bloom in April. [02:44] Julian Vance: James Ford and Stuart Price are on production, so you know the polish is immaculate. [02:49] Sloane Rivera: It's cheeky, Julian. [02:51] Sloane Rivera: She's playing with dress-up and glamour, but that Mori Cone whistle against a clubbeat, [02:55] Sloane Rivera: it's a sharp take on escapism. [02:57] Sloane Rivera: It reminds me of the confidence we're seeing in the new Eugene McGinnis video for Icarus, [03:02] Sloane Rivera: which also premiered yesterday. [03:04] Julian Vance: Eugene is a fascinating case. [03:06] Julian Vance: He was a Domino Records darling, then he almost walked away from the industry entirely. [03:11] Julian Vance: Now he's back with Eugene McGinnis versus the Universe coming in April. [03:15] Julian Vance: Icarus has this specific Liverpool swagger, glossy confidence, but with a smirk. [03:20] Sloane Rivera: It feels like a storyteller's track. [03:23] Sloane Rivera: He's taking the Icarus myth and treating it like a metaphor he can just toss in the air. [03:27] Sloane Rivera: The production has that vintage guitar chime and sweeping strings. [03:31] Sloane Rivera: It's smart without being smug. [03:34] Julian Vance: It's part of that tight-knit liver duel community, recorded at Dockland's Speed Shop. [03:39] Julian Vance: It's warm, organic, and honestly just good to have his voice back in the mix. [03:43] Julian Vance: Between him, Jesse, and Cameron Picton, April 10th is looking like a very busy day for my [03:49] Julian Vance: turntable. [03:49] Sloane Rivera: A crowded calendar for the cultured ear. [03:52] Sloane Rivera: That's the roundup for today. [03:54] Sloane Rivera: You can find more at stereocurrent.neuralnewscast.com. [03:57] Sloane Rivera: Keep your needles clean and your takes sharp. [04:00] Sloane Rivera: I'm Sloan Rivera. [04:01] Julian Vance: And I'm Julian Vance. [04:02] Julian Vance: This has been Stereocurrent. [04:04] Julian Vance: Catch you on the flip side. [04:06] Julian Vance: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. [04:09] Julian Vance: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com. [04:13] Julian Vance: This has been Stereocurrent on Neural Newscast. [04:16] Julian Vance: Sound, culture, and the systems that shape them.