Diving into the Pounding Noise and Clubby Alt-Rock of Ashnymph and the Week's Best New Tracks

Based in the UK cities of London and Brighton
If you enjoy Underworld, MGMT, Animal Collective
Coming soon An as-yet-untitled EP, to be released in 2026

The two singles released so far by Ashnymph defy easy classification: their personal label of their music as “subconscioussion” doesn’t offer many clues. The first single Saltspreader blended a heavy mechanical drumming – member Will Wiffen has sometimes been seen on stage in a tee that features the symbol of the trailblazing band Godflesh – with old-school electronic keys and a riff that partly brings to mind the classic Stooges track I Wanna Be Your Dog, before dissolving into a wall of disquieting noise. The planned result, the band has indicated, was to evoke motorway travel, “the grinding circulation of vehicles all day long over vast spans … amber lights after dark”.

The next release, Mr Invisible, sits somewhere between dance music and unconventional alternative rock. For one thing, the song's beat, layers of hypnotic electronics, and singing that comes either psychedelically smeared or mesmerizingly repeated in a way that evokes Underworld's Dubnobasswithmyheadman period all suggest the dancefloor. On the other, its powerful concert-like energy, edge-of-chaos quality and overdrive – “achieving a crunchy texture is a personal mission,” Wiffen noted – distinguish it as undeniably a band creation rather than a bedroom-bound producer. They've gigged around the independent music circuit in south London for a short time, “any spot with loud speakers”.

But both are exciting and different enough – mutually and other current music – to spark curiosity about Ashnymph's upcoming moves. Whatever it is, on the evidence of Saltspreader and Mr Invisible, it’s unlikely to be boring.

The Week's Fresh Highlights

Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I simply must have experiences”​, Florence Shaw decides on her band’s beguiling return, but over six minutes – with exhales setting the pace – you get the sense that the motive eludes her.

Azimuth by Danny L Harle with Caroline Polachek
Combining Evanescence's dark flair to the height of trance music – right down to the lyric “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth suggests digging out your Cyberdog attire and heading south west to rave, stat.

Robyn's Acne Studios mix
Robyn's composition for the Swedish designer’s SS26 show hints at her next record, including gritty guitars reminiscent of Soulwax, pulsating rhythms in the Benassi vein and the words “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.

Like That by Jordana
We loved her record Lively Premonition last year and the Stateside musician further demonstrates her impressive hook-crafting ability as she laments her latest hopeless infatuation.

Get a Life by Molly Nilsson
The independent Swedish artist released her latest album Amateur this week, and this song is remarkable: a synth-guitar melody jerks forward at hardcore punk pace as the singer urges we take control of life.

Artemas – Superstar
After documenting jaded love and sex on his smash I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its overlooked mixtape Yustyna, the UK-Cypriot artist is completely captivated by his current partner amid icy synth-driven sound.

Jennifer Walton – Miss America
From one of the year’s standout debuts, a crushed synth hymnal about Walton learning of her father’s death in an airport hotel, mapping the strange setting in softly sung lines: “Retail area, shady transaction, nervous fits.”

Anthony Duncan
Anthony Duncan

Tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring how innovation shapes our world, sharing insights on digital transformation and AI advancements.