Our favourite vinyl releases of the week

Essential weekend listening.

This week’s rundown is by VF’s Kelly Doherty and contributors Emily Hill, David Murray and James Hammond.

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Shanti Celeste

Romance

(Peach Discs)

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Shanti Celeste returns with her first full-length release since 2019’s Tangerine. On this record, inspired by her real-life relationships and romances, the beloved Chilean DJ and festival circuit fixture lets her vocals take centre stage for the first time, and the result is beautifully soft, the collection of tracks feeling like orange skies over languid summer evenings. Much of the record leans further into pop than Celeste has ever ventured before, but she never loses sight of her house origins, expertly genre-blending to create an album that’s equal parts ambient and vibrant. Versatile and enjoyable, you’re sure to hear it in parks, clubs, and tents all season long. – DM

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Eli Keszler

Eli Keszler

(LuckyMe)

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Described by Eli Keszler as “a music of stasis built from tiny fragments”, this self-titled effort from the percussionist-composer explores new territories within a world-building approach. Working from foundations that set percussion as a granular language and encouraging collision of its varying parts, this one ventures into territories that veer between dub and Lynchian soundtrack with his or Sofie Royer’s woozy and oddly soothing vocal refrains as accompaniment. – JH

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Raisa K

Affectionately

(15 Love)

Buy

London-based songwriter and musician Raisa K presents her debut album, Affectionately, a beautiful solo project outside of her work with Good Bad Happy Sad. Originally digitally released back in early March due to some pressing delays, the physical LP has only now finally landed. Almost all twelve tracks were written and recorded in her North London home, finding time between taking care of her two small children, on trains and buses around the city. “Stay” features CURL collective mainstay Coby Sey – a wonderful record that really hits different. – EH

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Rico Nasty

Lethal

(Fueled By Ramen)

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Rico Nasty’s third album proves she’s not afraid to go beyond the fiery punk rap she’s known and loved for. On LETHAL, she explores a variety of new sounds spanning from trap rock to hyperpop, but it’s on the record’s guitar-powered rap tracks that it truly feels like she’s found her sweet spot. A natural evolution for her, tracks “SON OF A GUN” and “SMOKE BREAK” harness the full potential of this sound and stand out as highlights on a record that’s both more diverse and more refined than anything she’s done before. But that’s not to say that Nasty has polished away all her grit. This record is still infused with her signature punk essence and lays the groundwork for the direction she’s headed in now that she’s signed to Fueled by Ramen, an exciting new home for an artist with sensibilities like Nasty. – DM

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Michelle Helene Mackenzie & Stefan Maier/ Olivia Block

Orchid Mantis/ Breach

(Portraits GRM)

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Portraits GRM bring forth another inspired pairing of electroacoustic visions that find Michele Helene Mackenzie & Stefan Maier channelling insect electronica, and Olivia Block entangling field recordings from Mexico’s San Ignacio Lagoon. Taking sonic inspiration from Taiwan’s abandoned Sanzhi Pod City, Mackenzie and Maier extrapolate both the site’s spectral reputation and its orchid mantis inhabitants into an imaginative unfolding of sound. On the flipside, Block’s recording of whale communication and increasing encroachments of human sound make for a cascading interplay of elements with a potent use of synthesised sounds and otoacoustic emissions. Spellbinding work from all involved. – JH

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zopelar

Fornix

(Clone Jack For Daze)

Buy

This release has been on the radar for quite some time, a spicy four tracker from Brazilian producer, zopelar, whose exciting live sets – namely in Amsterdam last year with Retromigration – have had people all a-buzz. Fornix released via Dutch label Clone, goes down the darker, acidic route with some jacking 808 rhythms and wavy 909s. Designed for those dark, snug basements to keep the body swaying into the early hours. Truly fabulous club-centred sonics. – EH