In recent weeks on Dazed, we’ve interviewed FLO, Ice Spice and Fever Ray. We’ve also reflected on the reinvention of Avalon Emerson, the within story of comfortable synth, checked out the A-Z of Azealia Banks, and hosted a Dazed Mix from Authentically Plastic.

Three months into 2023, and it’s sadly secure to say these are still very difficult times. Despite the uncertainties that color the day-to-day realities of many, music continues to operate as a shared communal space and a source of collective solace. Within the wake of the pandemic’s lockdown years, the worldwide music community faces ongoing economic challenges around touring, releasing and promoting music. Whatever the difficulties, though, recent and under-discussed talents from the worlds of underground music proceed to make use of community and craft to search out a way. 

For the primary edition of our quarterly roundup for 2023, we’re continuing to reflect and acknowledge musicians, artists, producers and DJs from across the globe, all with strong communities, real visions and vital statements to make. Listed below are ten essential Q1 releases, all available on Bandcamp.

GAYANCE, MASCARADE

Who? A Haitian-Canadian dancer and journalist who reinvented herself as a world-wandering DJ and producer.

Why you have to be listening: In 2021, Aïsha C Vertus, aka Gayance, took part in an artist residency organised by Montreal’s PHI Centre. Over the course of two weeks spent at a riverside lodge in St-Adèle, Quebec, she surrounded herself with a few of her closest friends while recording her debut album. A mix of broken beat, garage, neo-soul, and house, all dusted in South American seasonings, Mascarade is the tip product of over a decade spent living with music, love, heartbreak and loss across north and south America and Europe. The songs contained inside feel lived in, at all times aiming on the hips and the guts.

For fans of: Bugz within the Attic, Solange, Jitwam.

SANTA MUERTE, ESLAB​Ó​N

Who? The Houston-based Mexican music producer exploring the overlap between Texas rap, UK bass music and indigenous myths and religion. 

Why you have to be listening: With Eslab​ó​n, his debut EP for Kode9’s Hyperdub Records, Panch Briones reframes the standard Mexican music of his childhood contained in the soulful spirit of southern rap and the dayglo futurism of the UK bass scene. In the method, over the course of 4 evocative avant-club tracks, he connects cultures, countries and ideas with effortless style. From the kaleidoscopic colors of “Tonantzin” to the low-slung screw sensibilities of “Coahuiltecan” and the strident rhythms of “Laberinto”, Eslab​ó​n marks Briones out as a significant recent talent. He has range as well. Try “Emma” for ambient bliss in a Santa Muerte style.

For fans of: Ariel Zetina, Joker, Clams Casino.

SEAMING TO, DUST GATHERERS

Who? A UK classical/jazz-influenced composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who sings with a siren’s call. 

Why you have to be listening: Within the late 90s/early 2000s, Seaming To was a vital figure in an experimental Manchester music scene that included the likes of Homelife, Toolshed and Mr Scruff inside its ranks. 20 years and countless adventures later, she recently delivered her slow-cooked second album. Informed by magic realism, mythology, jazz improvisation, classical composition and avant-pop, Dust Gatherers is a playful wonderland of wandering sounds. Styled as a group of stories which were gathering dust inside her, To delivers her incredible tales with an ethereal call while floating across a bed of pastoral string arrangements and playful synthesisers.   

For fans of: Björk, Meredith Monk, Sam Gendel.

IN TONGUES, SURVIVAL BAG

Who? The open-eared London post-punk group who see the fantasy that lies just beyond our each day realities. 

Why you have to be listening: Blistering and dreamy in equal measure, In Tongues make songs concerning the city behind the town. With their debut EP, Survival Bag, they spend 4 speedy songs exploring the dreamscapes between art-rock, post-punk, jazz, and dub through a heady mix of angular guitars, haunted drones, motorik drum beats and talk-sing vocals. Released in February by the Scenic Route collective, Survival Bag situates In Tongues as a part of an introspective music community that features the experimental pop singer Erotic Probiotic, the road soul/broken beat vocalist J. Caesar and the DJs which have congregated around Scenic Route’s South London club night. 

FOR FANS OF: Coby Sey, HTRK, Dry Cleansing.

SABRINA BELLAOUEL, AL HADR

Who? A French-Algerian singer-producer who combines R&B, neo-soul, Raï and contemporary club electronica with effortless charm.

Why you have to be listening: Whenever you dig into the net of influence that surrounds Sabrina Bellaouel, it’s easy to listen to shades of Aaliyah, Timbaland, J Dilla and Sade rubbing against a love of classic house, gospel and traditional Algerian music. Beautifully sung and spoken in English, French and Arabic, the songs that make up her vulnerable and intimate debut album, Al Hadr, draw from spirituality and astrology. In the method, they place tales of nightclubs, romance, faith and self-love alongside mid-tempo drum machines, synths, lush strings and keys, and nostalgic field recordings while spinning them together into something completely fascinating and all her own.   

For fans of: Kelela, Aaliyah, Rachid Taha.

PETER BARCLAY, I’M NOT YOUR TOY

Who? A self-taught DIY synth-pop/RnB musician who honed his craft in Oakland throughout the early 90s.

Why you have to be listening: Made up of fabric from his two self-released albums, Acceptance (1990) and What Kind Of World (1992), I’m Not Your Toy is a corrective compilation that pays homage to the musical genius of Peter Barclay. A bedroom music dreamer who passed away within the late 90s throughout the AIDS epidemic, Barclay created queer anthems for an alternate reality where good at all times triumphs over evil. Bringing together the perfect qualities from boogie, synth-pop, lounge music and smooth synth-jazz – even bossa nova – the songs on I’m Not Your Toy have a timeless feeling. 33 years on, they don’t even feel a day late.

For fans of: Eddie Chacon, Antena, Suzanne Menzel.

EVITA MANJI, SPANDREL?

WHO: The Greek musician, vocalist and sound designer transforming contemporary club music, baroque pop and experimental soundscapes right into a unified whole.

Why you have to be listening: Now based in London, Evita Manji represents a recent wave of Greek musicians who began immersing themselves within the local underground counterculture of their mid-teens and at the moment are reaching out to the world. For Manji, their debut album Spandrel? got here together while they were mourning the sudden death of their partner SOPHIE and processing a series of wildfire outbreaks across Athens. These events left questions hanging within the air, and across Spandrel? Manji uses intricate sound design, raw lyricism and cyborg rhythms to attempt to make sense of all of it. Read our interview with them to search out out more.

FOR FANS OF: Eartheater, Palmistry, Arca.

CRUEL DIAGONALS, FRACTURED WHOLE

Who? An LA-based vocalist, producer and visual artist who balances the weighty and the weightless with style and wit.

Why you have to be listening: Blessed with a voice that would hold its own within the worlds of opera or classical, Megan Mitchell, aka Cruel Diagonals, is a singer’s singer. Nevertheless, on the flip side, she’s also a talented electronic experimentalist, as illustrated through past releases on Longform Editions and Drawing Room Records. For Fractured Whole, Mitchell made the choice to deal with one key instrument, her voice. By processing, manipulating and stretching it, she creates an alien sonic landscape that sits in contrast to her angelic expressions of the human spirit. She’s a well-recognized stranger, wandering through an equally strange but sometimes recognisable land. 

For fans of: claire rousay, Fatima Al Qadiri, Diamond Galas.

OSSX, NO SLEEP

Who? The East Coast club music DJ-producer trio of Equiss, Lektor Scopes and Elise.

Why you have to be listening: On No Sleep, OSSX showcase their passion for the wealthy histories of raw and prepared club music from each side of the Atlantic. Over 4 concise and agile tracks, they cycle through the influences of Jeresy, Baltimore and Philly Club, Florida breaks, Miami bass, UK jungle/drum & bass and garage, at all times keeping it hip-hop. Over the past yr, the trio have also impressed with considered team DJ mixes for Resident Advisor and Fact Mag while bringing hedonistic dancefloor euphoria to audiences across the US. In May, they’re scheduled to play in London as a part of Night Slugs’ Fifteenth-anniversary event.   

For fans of: DJ Technics, Swisha, Leonce.

MARINE EYES + IKSRE, NURTURE

WHO: A trans-hemispheric ambient/healing music collaboration between two musicians from Melbourne and LA. 

Why you have to be listening: Born through an exchange of emails, photos, videos and song ideas, Nurture is the sound of Cynthia Bernard, aka Marine Eyes and Phoebe Dubar, aka IKSRE becoming good friends through the web. Over 11 blissed-out, relaxational tracks, the like-minded musicians interlink polished synthesisers, lullaby melodies, singing bowls, chimes and field recordings. Working together but in addition alone, they summon up a collection of ambient dream-pop compositions that feel as blue as a cloudless summer sky and as deep because the ocean. Somewhere between sound healing and environmental music, Nurture is a techno-naturalistic exploration of the relationships between people, places and times.   

FOR FANS OF: Grouper, Patricia Wolf, This Mortal Coil.

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