Exploring the Jackhammer Sound and Dancefloor Alt-Rock of Ashnymph and the Week's Top Fresh Music

Originating in London and Brighton
For fans of artists like Underworld, MGMT, or Animal Collective
Coming soon An as-yet-untitled EP, to be released in 2026

The pair of releases put out to date by the group Ashnymph resist simple labeling: their own description of the sound as “subconscioussion” provides few hints. The first single Saltspreader combined a jackhammer industrial beat – member Will Wiffen has at times appeared on stage sporting a shirt that displays the emblem of Godflesh, icons of industrial metal – with old-school electronic keys and a guitar riff that vaguely recalls the Stooges’ garage rock perennial I Wanna Be Your Dog, before transforming into a wall of disquieting noise. The desired impact, the group has mentioned, was to conjure highway journeys, “the ceaseless flow of vehicles all day long over vast spans … orange lights at night”.

The subsequent track, the song Mr Invisible, occupies a space between club music and experimental rock. Firstly, the cut's tempo, multiple entrancing electronic parts, and lyrics that appear either trippily blurred or hypnotically looped in a way that evokes the classic Underworld album era all point towards the club floor. Conversely, its intense performance-style shifts, brink-of-disorder feel and fuzz – “achieving a crunchy texture is a lifelong ambition,” Wiffen has said – mark it out as very much the work of a band rather than a lone electronic artist. They've gigged around south London’s DIY scene for a short time, “any venue that cranks the volume”.

But the two tracks are vibrant and distinct – from each other and other current music – to make you wonder about Ashnymph's upcoming moves. Regardless of the form, on the strength of these tracks, it’s unlikely to be boring.

The Week's Fresh Highlights

Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I absolutely need experiences”​, singer Florence Shaw declares on the group's captivating comeback, but across six minutes – with breath sounds keeping rhythm – you feel that she can’t work out why.

Danny L Harle – Azimuth (ft Caroline Polachek)
Combining Evanescence's dark flair to classic 90s trance – right down to the lyric “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth hints at reviving your rave outfits and making your way to a rave, right away.

Robyn's Acne Studios mix
Robyn's composition for the Swedish designer’s SS26 show previews her TBA ninth album, including gritty guitars reminiscent of Soulwax, energetic beats like Benny Benassi and the lyrics “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.

Jordana – Like That
We loved her album Lively Premonition last year and the American artist continues to show off her remarkable skill with choruses as she laments her latest hopeless infatuation.

Molly Nilsson's Get a Life
The solo Swedish pop act put out her new album Amateur this week, and this track from it is extraordinary: a electronic guitar part jerks forward at hardcore punk pace as the singer urges we seize the day.

Artemas – Superstar
After documenting jaded love and sex on his megahit I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its underrated parent mixtape Yustyna, the UK-Cypriot artist is wretchedly in thrall to his new flame amid icy synth-driven sound.

Miss America by Jennifer Walton
Taken from a notable debut album, a delicate electronic ballad about Walton discovering her dad had died in an airport hotel, describing her eerie environment in softly sung lines: “Shopping plaza, illegal trade, anxiety episodes.”

Misty Hanson
Misty Hanson

A passionate traveler and writer sharing insights from years of exploring the UK's hidden gems and popular spots.