Notes from the North: Cristina La Veneno / Christina Chong / Madil Hardis / Glume / Alison Goldfrapp

There’s so much good music coming out at the moment, it’s hard to write about it all, as much as we’d love to. Here’s a small sample of what is currently spinning in the AnalogueTrash office, when I can tear Ady away from his electroclash playlists!

Dark Entries bring back another banger from the 1990s as Cristina La Veneno’s Veneno Pa Tu Piel gets the full DE treatment. June 30th sees the track, a frank examination of sex work, get a vinyl release. It includes an insert with lyrics, notes, and photos of La Veneno. Pre-order it now on Bandcamp.

I’m familiar with Christina Chong from Black Mirror and her role as La’an Noonien-Singh in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but Twin Flames shows she has another string to her bow. A smoky Lana Del Rey style ballad with a rock undercurrent and a passionate and heartbreaking vocal/lyric combo, this smouldering number is the title track to their upcoming EP.

My Jolly Sailor Bold has a timeless quality about it, as it tells a tale of Victorian woe, but its recent success in film and multiple covers makes it very much a song of the 21st century. Madil Hardis has a voice that is perfect for the track, siren-like and drenched with heartache, as she takes the song from its folk roots and gives it a haunting, Gothic quality.

The NICOLAAS remix of Glüme’s Flicker Flicker dials the sexiness of the original right up to the max, bass pumping and sirens blaring. This cosmic RNB reworking has nods to 70s soul and lowercase, framing Glüme’s vocals wonderfully, showing they can work just as effectively outside a dark hyperpop/with house milieu.

Alison Goldfrapp can never put a foot wrong as far as I’m concerned so I was bound to fall hard for the Love Invention album. The title track is a Scandi/Italo banger, and with Pride season upon us, you can be sure you’ll be hearing this a lot this Summer. Not dropping a hint to anyone in particular, but the green vinyl edition looks good enough to eat.