For the first time in ages, we are back to the business of new music business!
Our first Record of the Week for this new year is Quicksand Heart, the debut solo release from Jenny On Holiday (Jenny Hollingworth), half of Let’s Eat Grandma (of whom we have long been fans). On the surface, it's a dazzling tour of nostalgic pop sounds, but there is such nuance to the songs and the production. She really balances the euphoria with some pretty hard-hitting themes. Big shimmering feels and plenty to discover on the repeat plays.
+ Available on exclusive Black vinyl + Heart-Shaped Red 7" + signed print
+ Available on Transparent Magenta colour vinyl + signed print
Also benefitting from a little flash of 80s pop sheen is Selling A Vibe, the ninth studio LP from The Cribs. The Jarman brothers have always been so good at banging out crackling alt-guitar pearls and could easily produce an annual set, but this new album shows there is – as there always has been – a lot more under the surface.
+ Available on exclusive Seafoam Green colour vinyl + signed print
We probably shouldn’t mention III from Pullman (a supergroup featuring members of Tortoise, Codeine, Rex, and Gastr del Sol) as we have literally a couple left, but it really is very good and you all have to promise to take a listen somehow! Dense acoustic interplay and unhurried unfoldings. We’ll try and get more down the line and then we’ll go on about it more as it really is a vibe.
Lastly for the week’s new releases we have the absolutely stonking third LP from Dry Cleaning. We know you know, but Secret Love is our first Record of the Month for 2026 and it really is a spectacular evolution of a formula that was already highly alluring. The early press raved about it, today’s press is raving about it. Believe the hype, it’s utterly fantastic.
+ We still have limited Apricot colour vinyl and signed prints.
Finally for today then we have a little not-new treat (the week’s only Best New Reissue in fact) with Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó’s sizzling Jazz Raga on Vampisoul. Originally released in 1967, this one really swings. Psychedelic routes through jazz, folk and rock, with eastern influences too (including the sitar that he’s seen sporting on the front cover) and Bernard Purdie on the drums gives it such a bounce. Hugely inventive and flowing takes on some classic tracks, it is just a proper joy. Big fans.
So Goretti aside, not an awful first week back in action was it? A couple of Dinked Edition announcements, some belting new bits and a first look at what the next few months look like. Next week is going to be a proper Dinked stonker, with some new arrivals in the racks and a lot more to tell you about.