Exploring the Pounding Sound and Dancefloor Alternative Rock of Ashnymph and the Week's Top Fresh Music

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

The pair of releases shared up to now by the group Ashnymph defy easy classification: the band's own tag of their music as “subconscioussion” provides few hints. The first single Saltspreader combined a heavy mechanical drumming – guitarist Will Wiffen has occasionally been spotted on stage sporting a shirt that displays the emblem of Godflesh, icons of industrial metal – with old-school electronic keys and a guitar line that vaguely recalls the enduring garage rock anthem I Wanna Be Your Dog, before dissolving into a wall of disquieting noise. The desired impact, the band has indicated, was to suggest road trips, “the grinding circulation of vehicles all day long over huge distances … nighttime orange glows”.

The next release, Mr Invisible, sits somewhere between dance music and experimental rock. Firstly, the cut's tempo, strata of mesmerizing synths, and singing that comes either psychedelically smeared or mesmerizingly repeated in a way that recalls the classic Underworld album era all point towards the dancefloor. On the other, its powerful concert-like energy, edge-of-chaos quality and fuzz – “achieving a crunchy texture is a personal mission,” Wiffen has said – set it apart as clearly a group effort rather than a solitary home producer. They've gigged around the self-made music community of south London for a short time, “any venue that cranks the volume”.

But each is thrilling and unique – from each other and other current music – to spark curiosity about what Ashnymph might do next. Whatever it is, on the basis of these two singles, it’s unlikely to be boring.

The Week's Fresh Highlights

Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I really require adventures”​, Florence Shaw decides on their enchanting new track, but across six minutes – with breath sounds keeping rhythm – you feel that she's unsure of the reason.

Danny L Harle – Azimuth (ft Caroline Polachek)
Welding Evanescence goth drama to peak 90s trance – including the line “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth suggests reviving your rave outfits and heading south west to rave, immediately.

Robyn – Acne Studios mix
The music by Robyn for the the fashion brand's latest show previews her TBA ninth album, including Soulwax-worthy grinding guitar, energetic beats like Benny Benassi and the verse “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.

Jordana – Like That
Listeners adored her album Lively Premonition last year and the American artist continues to show off her impressive hook-crafting ability as she expresses unrequited feelings.

Molly Nilsson – Get a Life
The solo Swedish pop act 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 grab life by the scruff of the neck.

Artemas' Superstar
Post explorations of tired relationships on his megahit I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its accompanying release Yustyna, the British-Cypriot star is wretchedly in thrall to his new flame amid driving coldwave beats.

Jennifer Walton – Miss America
From one of the year’s standout debuts, a delicate electronic ballad about Walton learning of her father’s death in an transit lodge, tracing her uncanny surroundings in gentle refrains: “Strip mall, drug deal, panic attacks.”

Robert Ramos
Robert Ramos

A passionate wellness advocate and writer with a background in nutrition and holistic health practices.