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 3 September 2019.

June Jones - DIANA (Emotion Punk Records)**Album of the Week

DIANA is the debut album from Melbourne artist June Jones, formerly of the ‘emotion punk’ pioneers Two Steps on the Water. On DIANA, Jones builds anthemic pop ballads about the struggle between hopelessness and hope from the building blocks of organ presets, drum machines and her powerful, deep and singular vocals.

Salami Rose Joe Louis - Zdenka 2080 (Brainfeeder/Inertia)

The debut from Bay-Area artist Lindsay Olsen is a deeply conceptual album about a young earthling in a future dystopian Earth, an era of an uninhabitable planet and space colonisation. Inspired by apocalyptic sci-fi novels by the likes of Octavia Butler and Gene Wolf and musically by the Hot Record Societe family, this dark and experimental release finds light in the human connection which remains even in places of hopelessness

Summer Flake - Seasons Change (Rice is Nice)

The third chapter in Summer Flake’s brooding guitar pop trilogy sees Steph Crase explore ideas of self-identity and a search for personal growth, conceived during a period of personal, political and societal turbulence.

Tenesha The Wordsmith - Peacocks & Other Savage Beasts (On The Corner)

The Bay Area wordsmith presents a hard-cutting, gut-wrenching an extremely moving spoken word album about black history, identity, culture, trauma and love. Produced by Khalab, Peacocks...brings together different lines of black music into an afro-futurist narrative.

Velvet Negroni - Neon Brown (4AD/Remote Control)

On Neon Brown, Jeremy Nutzman aka Velvet Negroni presents a refreshingly raw and experimental take on R&B. His debut explores his life as a pursuit of communion, jumping from harrowing to hilarious between his deep croons and double-time rhymes.

Ghost Funk Orchestra - A Song For Paul (Rocket Records)

The brain-child of one man producer/musician/arranger Seth Applebaum, debut album A Song for Paul blurs the line between soul and psychedelic, with dirty production, fuzzed out guitars and mysterious, cinematic vocals.

Missy Elliott - Iconology (Warner Music)

On her long-awaited new EP, released over 10 years since her last album, Missy looks back to her illustrious glory years. Lead by nostalgic banger Throw it Back she reveals that despite the hiatus, she’s still a force in pop and hip-hop weirdness.

Brockhampton - Ginger (Sony)

The Los Angeles hip-hop and R&B creative collective release their fifth studio album. Ginger follows a brief hiatus following their rapid fire first four albums and a period of internal turmoil, and seeks to find a new way forward, looking to find positivity, optimism and self-fulfillment.

Lana Del Rey - Norman F**king Rockwell! (Polydor/Universal)

The long misrepresented pop-auteur makes her strongest artistic statement with Norman F**king Rockwell, a dazzling expression of her style and message. Through shimmering synths, horns and a noticeable lack of drums, Lana Del Ray explores seeking pleasure during chaotic times, bad boyfriends and, as always, unwise love.

Whitney - Forever Turned Around (Secretly Canadian)

The Chicago duo follow up their 2016 break-out summer debut with the more melancholy Forever Turned Around. On album number two, the dup rely more heavily on acoustic guitar and strings to compliment Elrich’s soothing falsetto. This is an album about comedowns and endings, be it of a romance, friendship, or a long and drawn-out summer.