Diving into the Jackhammer Sound and Dancefloor Alt-Rock of Ashnymph and This Week's Best New Tracks

The two singles shared to date by the group Ashnymph are hard to categorise: their personal label of their work as “subconscioussion” leaves listeners guessing. The first single Saltspreader married a jackhammer industrial beat – guitarist Will Wiffen has occasionally been spotted on stage wearing a T-shirt that bears the logo of the trailblazing band Godflesh – with vintage-sounding synthesisers and a guitar riff that partly brings to mind the classic Stooges track I Wanna Be Your Dog, before dissolving into a wall of disquieting noise. Its intended effect, the band has indicated, was to suggest road trips, “the endless movement of vehicles around the clock over huge distances … nighttime orange glows”.

The subsequent track, Mr Invisible, occupies a space between nightclub tunes and unconventional alternative rock. For one thing, the track’s rhythm, multiple entrancing electronic parts, and lyrics that appear either psychedelically smeared or mesmerizingly repeated in a way that brings back Dubnobasswithmyheadman-era Underworld all indicate the dancefloor. Conversely, its intense performance-style shifts, near-anarchic character and overdrive – “achieving a crunchy texture is a long-term goal,” Wiffen noted – set it apart as undeniably a band creation rather than a bedroom-bound producer. They’ve been playing around south London’s DIY scene for less than a year, “anywhere that will turn the PA up loud”.

But the two tracks are vibrant and distinct – from one another and anything else around at the moment – to spark curiosity about the band's future direction. Regardless of the form, on the basis of these two singles, it’s probably not dull.

Top New Music This Week

Dry Cleaning – Hit My Head All Day
“I simply must have experiences”​, Florence Shaw decides on her band’s beguiling return, but over six minutes – with exhales setting the pace – you perceive that the motive eludes her.

Azimuth by Danny L Harle with Caroline Polachek
Merging gothic intensity to peak 90s trance – even the words “and I ask the rain” – Azimuth suggests reviving your rave outfits and dancing the night away, right away.

Robyn's Acne Studios mix
The music by Robyn for the the fashion brand's latest show teases her upcoming ninth album, including driving guitar parts à la Soulwax, Benny Benassi-style thrust and the words “my body’s a spaceship with the ovaries on hyperdrive”.

Jordana's Like That
We loved her soft rock album Lively Premonition last year and the American artist keeps displaying her remarkable skill with choruses as she expresses unrequited feelings.

Molly Nilsson – Get a Life
The solo Swedish pop act released her latest album Amateur this week, and this song is remarkable: a electronic guitar part jerks forward at hardcore punk pace as the singer urges we seize the day.

Superstar by Artemas
Post explorations of tired relationships on his hit single I Like the Way You Kiss Me and its overlooked mixtape Yustyna, the British-Cypriot star is hopelessly devoted to his current partner amid icy synth-driven sound.

Miss America by Jennifer Walton
From one of the year’s standout debuts, a crushed synth hymnal about the artist hearing of her father's passing in an airport hotel, tracing her uncanny surroundings in softly sung lines: “Retail area, shady transaction, nervous fits.”