Release Roundup: Christoph El Truento, Cuticles, AP, Infinity Ritual, Work + More

Like the serpent eating its own tail (Ouroboros), Friday aka online release day signifies both beginnings and endings of a kind within our contemporary music realm. Revisit this week's news coverage of Mermaidens, Grayson Gilmour, Macho Macho, SKILAA, Goodnight My Darling, Phil Dadson & Rob Thorne and Cloudboy,  then delve downwards for notable new / recent local releases from Christoph El Truento featuring Ladi6, The Tarts, Andwahn, AP, Auto Angel, Cuticles, Dub Asylum, Infinity Ritual, Work, and Kirsten Morrell.

Your favourite producer's fave producer, Christoph El Truento's forthcoming new album Circle Of Friends is shaping up to be an Aotearoa highlight of 2023. Featuring a stellar cast of contributors — including Ladi6, Tom Scott, Mā, Julien Dyne, Guy Harrison, Cory Champion, Jeremy Toy, Mara TK, JY Lee and more — the album's Bandcamp page says it'll be out today, although it does not look to be live as of yet. UPDATE: it's out now, listen below. Treat your eyes and ears with the straight up stunning animated video made by Asher McShane for latest single 'Drip', featuring Ladi6.

Featuring members of The Pleasure Magenta, Pink and White Terraces, Dane Joe Band and Dead Finks, Berlin / Aotearoa collective The Tarts deliver the ghoulish goods on 'Charmed by the Snake' — a special Halloween release "inspired by novelty monster rock records of yore" — backed with the unfathomable 'Future Thing'.

A rapid-fire drop to mark the spooky season, Tāmaki Makaurau's Auto Angel (fka bb gurl) gets your cyber-pop costume party pumping with 'Halloween'.

Tāmaki Makaurau electronic production don AndWahn reunites with Canterbury's The Big Fresh Collective for the release of his four track CEREBRAL WASTE EP. The artist unpacks the EP's emotional complexities over on Instagram: "In short, these tracks explore sonically a pervading sense of discomfort and frustration I have been feeling for a while within myself and towards others – thankfully I have begun to find daily practices to relieve myself of this since ~ I hope these tracks find you well, whether you encounter them on a dancefloor in front of a heaving sound system, or in a quiet moment through the car speakers or your headphones".

One half of Tāmaki Makaurau rap stars Church & AP, Castle On Da Sand is the debut solo collection from AP — bringing on board esteemed buds Dera Meelan, deadforest, Diggy Dupé, spyde and Church across eight bombastic, sonically playful tracks.

The dubwise project of Tāmaki Makaurau's legendary Peter McLennan (Hallelujah Picassos), Dub Asylum dishes up delectably blazed goodness on his new five track Time & Space EP. "Written over five days in the middle of winter, staring towards the future thinking about lux flakes, lost causes and loose units, while watching dem youth make a difference. Enjoy".

Oamaru's Cuticles turned heads around the world last month with their debut album Major Works, via pioneering US underground imprint Siltbreeze. Now it's time for you to fall in love with the visuals for standout track 'Mattress', made by Martin Sagadin and starring Aimee Cooki Martin (Strange Stains). Simply a great song, simply a great video.

Taranaki's stoner metal trio Infinity Ritual deliver gargantuan grunty riffs in abundance on their new four track EP II. Launched in conjunction with their own beer 'Stones' from Three Sisters Brewery, named after the eighteen minute epic which closes the collection, go catch Infinity Ritual in full force — playing a release in-store at New Plymouth's Vinyl Countdown, then at Our Place on 17th November with OTTS and Gatekeepers (tickets HERE).

I thought I had encountered the most un-Googlable band names of all time, but Tāmaki Makaurau's "post-proto-power-punk-pop-pre-countrybilly four piece" Work may take the cake. Currently ruling 95bFM's airwaves with the charmingly frayed sonic balladry of 'Lumps', bookmark this page and tuck into their new six track WORK EP.

Ever-inquisitive lead singer of Goldenhorse, Kirsten Morrell complements her effervescent first solo single in over a decade 'Strawberry Fool' with head-spinning new AI-generated imagery produced by KEZIAI. “Listening to the song on repeat, I created this video with AI, diffused from noise—akin to visual 'static'. Crafted with text prompts inspired by Kirsten’s “Strawberry Fool” lyrics to evoke the emotion/mood of the song. AI is like coding with language to capture images straight from your imagination”.