Sans Froid shouldn't work. Cite Radiohead, the Mars Volta, Linda Perhacs, Igorrr, and Deerhoof in the same breath and you've described either the most exciting band in Britain or a spectacular wreck. Back Into the Womb, their second album released in June, is the former — and the reason is singer Aisling Rhiannon Trafford, whose voice is the gravitational centre holding the stylistic chaos in orbit. The album's internal range is genuinely wide. Opener Go On arrives with noise-rock discordance — jagged, confrontational, designed to test whether you're paying attention. Bags Packed sits at the other extreme, bouncy enough to live comfortably on any indie playlist, the kind of track that earns radio play without asking permission. That the two can coexist on the same record without feeling like a split personality is not an accident; it's a craft achievement. What unifies everything is anthemic intent. Sans Froid are building hooks into even their most hostile-sounding material, and Trafford's performance on Of the Mother — building from something controlled into full-throated, chord-riffing intensity — is the clearest proof of that. A vocal coach would have notes. An audience would have none. The lyrical through-line emerged organically rather than by design, which makes it more convincing. 'Parasitic industrial movement leaking consistent flaws / Thirty thousand hours so far spent on this losing draw / But I push push push' from The Exploiter of Art is not subtle, but it isn't trying to be. These are songs written from inside late-stage capitalism's grind, not from a distance commenting on it. The difference registers. Also worth your time this week: Dawuna's Love Is..., a softly sensual track pitched between D'Angelo, the Weeknd, and Jai Paul, sits at the heart of his new LP Love's Arp and shows his songcraft deepening. Slayyyter's Hey Boyyy suggests her Wor$t Girl in America companion record will surpass the original, with new-wave momentum sharpened by expert tonal shifts. And Spiral — Teresa Winter and Tom James Scott's ambient collaboration — opens their self-titled cassette with Fruits of the Earth, Winter locking into a dream-state vocal pattern as watery tones move around her. It's available on Bandcamp and worth fifteen minutes of your quietest hour.
