Soundscape is a weekly look at local and international releases making an impression on our musical radar. The list offers a cross-section of EPs and albums arriving at the station.

We have been busily scouring the Soundscape! Check out some of our favourite finds for this week 10 February 2020.

CLAMM - Beseech Me (Independent)**Album of the Week

The Melbourne trio - made up of members from Gamjee and Dragoons - release their debut album following a run of acclaimed live performances and singles. Beseech Me touches on anti-violence, materialism, mental health and the state of modern Australia via propelling power chords and direct, uncompromising vocals.

Anna Cordell - Nobody Knows Us (Brain Drain PR)

Following an almost decade long hiatus, the Melbourne singer releases a deceptively complex LP of other-worldly folk songs. Showcasing her practiced guitar chops, and forthright vocals, Nobody Knows Us channels folk giants of the 60s and 70s such as Joni Mithcell and Nick Drake, while taking instruction from contemporaries like Midlake and Weyes Blood

Frank Yamma - Tjukurpa and The Kulila ProjecT (Wantok Musik)

The word Tjukurpa has many complex and complementary meanings in Anagu life and society, referring to the period when ancestral beings created the world as we know it. On the new compilation of this name, Frank Yamma shows that he is one of Australia’s great songwriters, combining the traditional sounds of his nation, with outback sound samples, droning synths, swooning cellos and his unmistakable vocals to represent both the heart of Pitjantjatjara and urban Adelaide life.

Various Artists - Seven Wonders (Plug Seven Records)

Seven Wonders is a 14 track compilation recorded at Plug Seven Studio over several months in 2018 and 2019. The release recognises the explosion of a new wave of experimental jazz and soul music coming out of Australia, with acts including Godtet, Laneous, Superfeather and 30/70 showcasing the productivity and creativity coming out of the close-knit scene as it begins to become recognised around the world.

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges- Texas Sun (Dead Oceans/Inertia)

Following a period of touring together, the Houston based psych-funk trio and the soul singer from Fort Worth join forces to represent their home-state. Texas Sun is a 4-track EP which utilizes the slinky stoner-psych of Khruangbin under Bridges smokey soul vocals to create a package which evokes the vastness, diversity and weirdness of the Lone Star State.

Steve Spacek - Houses (Black Focus Records)

Houses finds Spacek trawling the annals of dance music from Chicago, Detroit and London. Transcending genre, the South London producer is playful with swing, melody and feeling on his new release, finding his process liberated by using exclusively iPhone and iPad apps.

Tracy McNeil & The GoodLife - You Be The Lightning (Cooking Vinyl)

You be the Lightning is the fourth album by the Australian country singer, following up the acclaimed 2016 release Thieves. On the new album the band pays homage to their alt-country roots while embedding pop-sensibilities and a raw energy to the recording.

Gil Scott-Heron, Makaya McCraven - 'I'm New Here' (XL Recordings/Remote Control)

The acclaimed, genre pushing Chicago based jazz drummer and producer Makaya McCraven, tackles the final album by the writer, poet, singer and elder of black protest music Gil Scott Heron. With arrangements which move between blues, spiritual jazz and free-form drumming, McCraven has created a survey of 20th century black music through the lense of one of it’s greatest champions.

Isobel Campbell - There Is No Other (Cooking Vinyl)

The Belle and Sebastian singer comes out of the woodwork to release her first solo album in 14 years with a collection of playful and funk-heavy indie-pop.

Alien Nosejob - Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud (Anti Fade Records)

Written, performed and recorded by Melbourne musician Jake Robertson (Ausmuteants, School Damage, Hierophants, Swab), Suddenly Everything is Twice as Loud is 12 tracks of genre-jumping fun, spanning garage rock to soul-pop and everything in between.