Helen Ganya’s 2019 album, Vanishing Lands (released under the Dog in the Snow moniker), has remained a Secret Meeting favourite. And now, under her own name, she returns with her second Bella Union release, polish the machine – a brighter collection of pop driven experimentations that covers the importance of human connection, cautious optimism and the effects of patriarchy.

These are Ganya’s Five Right Now picks:

Recordings from the Åland Islands by Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer

I have a radio show called Mixed Tapes which highlights a diverse array of music from musicians of colour. I discovered sound artist Jeremiah Chiu a while ago during my research and was then delighted by this new release with violinist Marta Sofia Honer. Recorded in various locations in the Åland Islands, you can get a sense of how this landscape inspired their pieces.

FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE by Brian Eno

Trying to highlight the climate crisis in song-form has always been an interesting challenge. The directness of 60s protest folk doesn’t really cut it, and yet if it holds only in the periphery are we misleading by fore-fronting something else? I think Brian Eno has really tried to translate the urgency but in a holistic and personal way, using his classic landscape/ambient sounds to embed that unnerving feeling of deep time further into the psyche.

Classic Objects by Jenny Hval

Jenny Hval is an underrated and fascinating musician and writer. I love her novels and I love her albums! Her new album, Classic Objects, continues her ability to be both expansive and specific. Never have I known an artist to make a through line from having a UTI infection to contemplating the counterfactual of how her life would be if she had never discovered American coffee.

Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century by mui zyu 

Giving a shoutout to a fellow ESEA Music pal who has just put out her first single from her upcoming album (out in February on Father/Daughter). It looks to be a wonderful synthy, abstract and yet relatable delight; I can’t wait for more people to discover Eva’s music.

Songs for Luminous Living by Maria Uzor 

Another person I discovered on my Mixed Tapes radio journey. Maria Uzor produces thoughtful, critical, atmospheric-industrial worlds. Her new EP is out very soon and I look forward to seeing her perform live hopefully soon!

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