Landing late May
Very 2025 sounding alterna-pop debut outing from Raisa K, a London-based artist who's been floating around in the same circles as Mica Levi and associates for some time now without making too much noise of her own. Affectionately might have been a long while coming, but it makes the most of its time spent in the background by drawing upon alliances made with the right kind of crew, with esteemed players like Coby Sey, Micachu drummer Mark Pell and Mica Levi herself all showing up at various points, while the fact that the record has been released on 15Love, the ML Buch-releasing label founded by Astrid Sonne's manager, gives you more than a little context. Let's not just name-drop here, though, for Raisa K has a great way of delivering and presenting a pop hook that's highly addicting, as equally in the spirit of early 80s bedroom synth DIY as it is modern, possessed of a morose singsong quality that had me thinking in various stages of Great Area, Dubstar, St Etienne and Marine Girls. If not the sound of pop itself, then undoubtedly the sound of the pop underground right now.
FFO: Astrid Sonne, Coby Sey, Tirzah, Mica Levi, Great Area, Marine Girls