Discovering the Jackhammer Noise and Clubby Alternative Rock of Ashnymph and the Week's Best New Tracks
Based in the UK cities of London and Brighton
If you enjoy Underworld, MGMT, Animal Collective
Coming soon An as-yet-untitled EP, to be released in 2026
Both tracks released up to now by Ashnymph resist simple labeling: their own description of their music as “subconscioussion” doesn’t offer many clues. Their initial track Saltspreader blended a pounding industrial rhythm – guitarist Will Wiffen has sometimes been seen on stage wearing a T-shirt that bears the logo of industrial metal pioneers Godflesh – with vintage-sounding synthesisers and a guitar line that vaguely recalls the enduring garage rock anthem I Wanna Be Your Dog, before dissolving into a barrier of unsettling sound. The desired impact, the group has mentioned, was to suggest road trips, “the grinding circulation of vehicles around the clock over great lengths … nighttime orange glows”.
The subsequent track, the song Mr Invisible, sits somewhere between dance music and left-field alt-rock. Firstly, the cut's tempo, strata of mesmerizing synths, and lyrics that appear either hallucinogenically distorted or spellbindingly cyclical in a way that evokes Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman period all suggest the club floor. Conversely, its powerful concert-like energy, near-anarchic character and fuzz – “achieving a crunchy texture is a long-term goal,” the musician stated – set it apart as very much the work of a band rather than a bedroom-bound producer. They've gigged around the self-made music community of south London for less than a year, “any venue that cranks the volume”.
But the two tracks are vibrant and distinct – mutually and other current music – to make you wonder about the band's future direction. No matter what it is, on the evidence of Saltspreader and Mr Invisible, it’s probably not dull.
Top New Music This Week
Dry Cleaning's Hit My Head All Day
“I simply must have experiences”, Florence Shaw decides on their enchanting new track, but over six minutes – with human breath marking time – you feel that the motive eludes her.
Azimuth by Danny L Harle with Caroline Polachek
Combining Evanescence's dark flair to the height of trance music – right down to the lyric “and I ask the rain” – the track implies dusting off your best Cyberdog wear and making your way to a rave, right away.
Robyn – Acne Studios mix
The music by Robyn for the Acne Studios' spring/summer 2026 presentation previews her TBA ninth album, including Soulwax-worthy grinding guitar, Benny Benassi-style thrust and the words “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.
Jordana's Like That
We loved her soft rock album Lively Premonition last year and the US singer-songwriter continues to show off her impressive hook-crafting ability as she sings about a futile crush.
Molly Nilsson – Get a Life
The one-woman Swedish pop operation released her latest album Amateur this week, and this cut is remarkable: a synth-guitar melody jerks forward at hardcore punk pace as the singer urges we seize the day.
Artemas' Superstar
After documenting jaded love and sex on his hit single I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its underrated parent mixtape Yustyna, the UK-Cypriot artist is completely captivated by his new flame amid pulsating coldwave production.
Jennifer Walton's Miss America
From one of the year’s standout debuts, a delicate electronic ballad about the artist hearing of her father's passing in an airport hotel, tracing her uncanny surroundings in tender incantations: “Strip mall, drug deal, panic attacks.”