I’ve got four (yes, that’s four) Nordic post-rock releases to highlight this weekend, and for my Album of the Week recommendation I’ll jump back to January for a beautiful and evocative release from After-Math, entitled The Undiscovered Country. Behind the project sits Swedish (Scottish-born) musician Lawrie Welsby, whose music is completely new to me - and a very welcome surprise. Largely instrumental, this is one for those who appreciate patient builds and atmosphere over i

I was thinking about Sløtface as i travelled into work last week thanks to passing Manchester Burger joint Burger Slut (who clearly haven't felt obliged to adjust their name to Burger Slot), and it was a timely reminder to check out their new releases ahead of their UK Tour. I'm particularly enjoying their 2026 sound, which has that extra edge and rawness to it. Clearly they're just enjoying releasing whatever they feel like, as shown by latest 'Demo' releases, which include

Have you ever vibed to a song you wonder how it would sound when you listen to it whilst engulfed in a ‘shroom cloud?* I know that’s a wild intro but there’s no holding back to how I feel about Bellman’s “She’s Reading Poe”. Whilst we would obviously never encourage drugs, “She’s Reading Poe” kinda lures you into an immersive five…no, six-dimensional experience that makes you think the other way around anyway. The emergence of many new alternative bands makes shoegaze sound

Unlike my idol Andy who has an extensive knowledge of all the musicians who we feature, I don’t. And I know that breaks all the rules in every writer’s guidebook, but I’d like to use that to our advantage. It’s fun blind reviewing a new song and basing all my ‘judgment’ merely on what I hear and feel, not on what I know about the artist. So with that said, today’s drug is Swedish duo Club 8’s new single, “Echoes of our Time.” Dreamy, synth, slightly electronic, and very indi

This review holds two firsts: 1) it’s my first time reviewing for NMR in a long time and 2) it’s my first time hearing of The Dahmers. “In the Dark” is the band’s third and final single from new album “Creature Feature” which was released yesterday. Initially listening to “In The Dark" and checking out their socials, I can already pick up what the whole appeal of the band is. They (probably) love horror, the occult, and they make good music. Although one thing I do struggle

Of course, as I’ve said many times before, when I’m in charge of the Universe I will use my powers wisely to immediately legislate that any new artist / band has to name themselves in such a unique way that they’re easily found online and on Spotify - so I’m not searching through photos of hip replacement operations (Danish band Total Hip Replacement), endless pictures of fjords (Norwegian band The Fjords), and now Tax Incentivised Investment Schemes (ISA of Sweden). But I pr

There are certain phrases that immediately feel familiar round here, and “losing your grip on reality” is definitely one of them - as regular readers will testify. So it feels entirely appropriate that Misty Coast have returned with a song based around that subject: ‘Hallucinating’, focussing on that blurred space between clarity and confusion. It also arrived at the same time as Misty Coast (along with VEPS) were announced for Indiefjord Festival, pretty much our favourite i

I liked the new Rädslan track ‘Offline’ as soon as I heard it at the weekend. It’s energetic, raw, and driven with real purpose, but I also wasn't quite sure whether it belonged in our slightly skewed and weird universe. It is very focused and direct, and with the lyrics in Swedish I didn’t know if it was something which would quite resonate - lyrical content is always important to me. So, anyway, in a rare moment of actual diligence, I asked the band what the song was about

There’s a couple of reasons why I’ve stopped writing detailed album reviews. The first is that I think music is so accessible now that people just want to be pointed in a helpful direction and listen for themselves, and don’t necessarily want to read 1000 words of me just wittering nonsense about hats and Lemon Meringue Pietini's. The second is perfectly summed up by the new Phogg album ‘I Need You Without Fear’, which is that most albums I really like are so complex they tak

I always have a bias for gentle indie folk music, so when Birds are better released his latest single ‘Hymns for the Hope and the Sorrow’, I was pretty sure I’d like it. Fronted by Stian Fjelldal, Birds are better is an Oslo-based folk band birthed from the former’s desire to make music that he’d actually enjoy if he were a listener. This isn’t Stian’s first musical expression as he has been making music for many years (we briefly featured a previous album), even releasing so