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 17 June 2019

Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (Spunk Records/Caroline Australia)**Album of the Week

The unmistakable baritone of American solitude releases his first album in 6 years, turning his attention to domesticity and family life following his marriage and the birth of a son. Callahan continues his tried and tested widescreen take on folk music, collecting scraps of striking imagery and gathering moments of human encounter, but with a couple of extra rays of sunshine than his previous work.

Katie Dey - Solipsisters (Run For Cover)

The Melbourne based bedroom-pop auteur releases her third album, following the break-out success of asadfasadf and follow-up LP Flood Network. Like her earlier releases, Dey heavily alters and chops her voice with pitch-shifting and plug-ins, but unlike the at times corrosive vocal treatments of the past, her lyrics remain happily legible, allowing for a deep connection with the listener in an album often about debilitating modern isolation.

Crumb - Jinx (Crumb)

The debut release by the NYC psych-rock group meanders in a stream of condensed drums, glistening synths, and sugary guitar licks, under a fog of tape fuzz. Vocalist and song-writer Lila Ramani hypnotically ruminates on the routine, habit, and the numbness of urban life, occasionally trying to grasp onto the moments of novelty and meaning.

Romy - Celluloid Self (Independent)

Australian artist Romy has covered a lot of ground in her career; her teenage years touring as a guitarist for pop-punk band Noise addict, her short lived but impactful hip-hop career under the moniker MACROMANTICS, and most recently as a succesful LA based club DJ. Her newest project under her own moniker is a propulsive and urgent synth-punk record which at times mines her former musical projects while unapologetically moving forward, exploring concepts of collective womanhood, ritualism and self-reckoning.

Statue - Solidify (Le Temps Perdu)

Statue is the project of Tom Gould, the drummer from Melbourne cult bands No Zu and World's End Press. The five track Solidify comes with two new tracks and three remixes, and reveals Gould as a virtuoso of rhythmic and expansive electronic music. Remixes by Zombies in Miami, Christian S and Concrete make inspired use of the source material to close out the album.

Kate Tempest - The Book of Traps and Lessons (Fiction Records)

On the British wordsmith's third release, she partners with veteran producer Rick Rubin, stripping back her compositions to unobtrusive percussion and synth lines and sombre strings, allowing her spoken word, hip-hop confluence come to the fore. With the shadow of Brexit looming large, Tempest tackles power and inequality, yet allows for moments of optimism and privacy.

Julia Shapiro - Perfect Vision (Hardly Art/Inertia)

Perfect Vision is the debut full length by the former front-woman of seattle post-punk crew Chastity Belt. With her solo effort, Julia Shapiro steps more into the realm of dream-pop and shoe-gaze. Written during a time of deteriorating mental health and a relationship break-up, Shapiro plugs into the drifting malaise of her generation, yet in doing so finds a certain peace and tranquility.

Various Artists - Self Discovery for Social Survival (Mexican Summer/Mistletone)

Self Discovery for Social Survival is a collaborative surf-film released by record label Mexican Summer and New-York surf store Pilgrim Surf + Supply. Synthesising music with surfing in a collaborative expression, the original soundtrack features contributions by the likes of Dungen, Allah Las, Connan Mockasin, Andrew VanWyngarden (of MGMT) and Peaking Lights.

Mndsgn - Snaxx (Stones Throw)

Snaxx is the second part in a series by the Californian DJ and producer intended to release his previously unheard and unreleased compositions to keep listeners nourished between proper album releases. In doing so, MNDSG has inadvertently released his most enjoyable and expressive record to date.

Plaid - Polymer (Warp)

The veteren British electronic music duo return with Polymer, their 10th LP and first album in three years. It's a glitchy, rhythmic release, stretching and playing with the concepts of space and time, while exploring themes of environment, synthetics, morality and human connection.