Diving into this Pounding Sound and Dancefloor Alt-Rock of Ashnymph and the Week's Best Fresh Music

Hailing from London and Brighton
Recommended if you like Underworld, MGMT, Animal Collective
Up next A new EP planned for 2026, currently without a title

The pair of releases shared so far by the group Ashnymph resist simple labeling: the band's own tag of their work as “subconscioussion” leaves listeners guessing. The first single Saltspreader combined a heavy mechanical drumming – bandmember Will Wiffen has at times appeared on stage in a tee that displays the emblem of the trailblazing band Godflesh – with vintage-sounding synthesisers and a guitar riff that subtly echoes the classic Stooges track I Wanna Be Your Dog, before transforming into a barrier of unsettling sound. The planned result, the trio have suggested, was to evoke motorway travel, “the grinding circulation of vehicles all day long over huge distances … nighttime orange glows”.

The subsequent track, Mr Invisible, occupies a space between dance music and left-field alt-rock. On one hand, the cut's tempo, layers of hypnotic electronics, and lyrics that appear either hallucinogenically distorted or hypnotically looped in a way that brings back the classic Underworld album era all suggest the dancefloor. Conversely, its powerful concert-like energy, edge-of-chaos quality and overdrive – “making everything sound crunchy is a lifelong ambition,” Wiffen noted – distinguish it as clearly a group effort rather than a solitary home producer. They've gigged around the independent music circuit in south London for a short time, “anywhere that will turn the PA up loud”.

But the two tracks are vibrant and distinct – from one another and contemporary releases – to prompt questions about Ashnymph's upcoming moves. Regardless of the form, on the evidence of Saltspreader and Mr Invisible, it’s sure to be engaging.

Top New Music This Week

Hit My Head All Day by Dry Cleaning
“I simply must have experiences”​, singer Florence Shaw declares on her band’s beguiling return, but throughout the song's duration – with human breath marking time – you feel that the motive eludes her.

Danny L Harle – Azimuth (ft Caroline Polachek)
Merging gothic intensity to peak 90s trance – including the line “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth hints at digging out your Cyberdog attire and making your way to a rave, right away.

Acne Studios mix by Robyn
Robyn’s soundtrack for the Acne Studios' spring/summer 2026 presentation teases her upcoming ninth album, including gritty guitars reminiscent of Soulwax, Benny Benassi-style thrust and the lyrics “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.

Jordana's Like That
Listeners adored her soft rock album Lively Premonition last year and the Stateside musician further demonstrates her remarkable skill with choruses as she laments her latest hopeless infatuation.

Molly Nilsson – Get a Life
The independent Swedish artist put out her new album Amateur this week, and this cut is incredible: a electronic guitar part jerks forward at hardcore punk pace as the singer urges we grab life by the scruff of the neck.

Artemas – Superstar
Following tales of weary romance on his hit single I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its underrated parent mixtape Yustyna, the UK-Cypriot artist is wretchedly in thrall to his current partner amid icy synth-driven sound.

Miss America by Jennifer Walton
Taken from a notable debut album, a soft synth lament about Walton learning of her father’s death in an hotel near an airport, tracing her uncanny surroundings in gentle refrains: “Retail area, shady transaction, nervous fits.”

Kyle Cooper
Kyle Cooper

Tech strategist and writer passionate about AI advancements and digital solutions.