The Quietus

Back in the stressful early days of The Quietus John and Luke would often cheer themselves up by heading to the shops to purchase the constituent parts of a ploughman’s lunch – the traditional trio of bread, cheese and onions. But then, as the site expanded, so did their culinary horizons, and they branched out into Europe and beyond, inventing the French ‘homme de charrou’, the Spanish ‘arado de hombre’, and so on.

Suede are reissuing their 1996 album Coming Up to mark its 30th anniversary. The album has been newly remastered for the reissue, which will be made available across digital, CD and vinyl formats. The CD release will be split across five discs, and will take in brand new stereo mixes of the album, as well as all the B-sides from the original singles and a live BBC radio session. This bonus material will also be made available digitally.

Oren Ambarchi has a new album on the way, titled Cooked. Marking the Australian guitarist’s first solo release of the year, it sees him return to Drag City, which previously released the LP Shebang, and the Ghosted trilogy with Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin. The LP spans two extended pieces of music, and takes in contributions from frequent collaborators, such as Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke, Berthling, Werliin, Will Guthrie and others.

EFG London Jazz Festival has added a third wave of acts to the lineup for its 2026 edition. Heading up the latest confirmations is a rare UK performance from Asha Puthli, which will take place at the Barbican. The Mumbai-born artist will be joined by “a specially curated cast of contemporary British artists” on the night, according to the festival.

Actress is releasing a new album, titled Radical Frame. Spanning eight tracks, the new LP features collaborations with CASISDEAD (in the form of recent single ‘Live By You’) and Rainy Miller. It’s the UK artist’s first full-length release for Ninja Tune since 2023’s LXXXVIII, having put out a number of albums with Smalltown Supersound and the Werk Discs-released Suzanne Ciani collaboration Concrète Waves in recent years.

As a relatively new mother, Alexandra Drewchin, aka Eartheater, is realistic but determined: “I feel like a lot of moms have warned me that culture and the art world hate mothers.” This is an ongoing tussle with the status quo for the New York artist, as her latest album Heavenly Body: If I’m The Bottle You’re The Message is centred primarily around the experience of her pregnancy and the use of her body as a vessel for new life. Such bigotry isn’t going to scare her off however.

A is for Atlantic Records 1996’s Stag remains one of the weirdest rock albums ever to appear on a major label. It was Melvins’ eighth album in total, and the final of three to be released by Atlantic Records. This genre-straddling wonk-rock experiment is even up there with the weirdest records in the whole Melvins canon.

Mostly produced by RenzNiro himself with long time collaborator Wudini, No Weapon Shall Prosper has the multiple producer credits and guest features you might expect from a mixtape but, considering the number of hands that have been on it, it’s remarkable how it holds to a central vision. The productions are subtle, built of floating electronic tones and threaded with surprising details. Often the rhythmic drive comes from the clip of his vocal flow.

Victoria Shen, aka Evicshen, stares back from a small, darkened room. The gloomy setting played out on my screen is one that is at odds with her lively personality, but time spent in a darkened room in London is a relief after “being paralysed” in heatwave-stricken Berlin. Soon she will jet off again on what sounds like a never-ending tour, with appearances at MUTEK Montreal amongst others.

There’s a time and a place for regressive rock, and in this house it’s whenever the day has a Y and the clock has a spring. I love to get hifalutin and turtlenecked with my listening whenever the mood takes, but every human diet needs roughage, and rough boys can often be relied on to feed you by the spoonful.