Welcome back to This Week on Wax, your weekly excuse to ignore your bank account and clear some serious space on your record shelves.
Welcome back to This Week on Wax, your weekly excuse to ignore your bank account and clear some serious space on your record shelves.
This week’s batch of new arrivals is a total dream for anyone who loves deep electronic grooves, raw indie narratives, joyful afrobeat-jazz fusions, and heavy Sabbath-esque riffs. We have got a Mercury Prize-winning jazz collective celebrating global sound cultures, an electronic mastermind delivering his most personal work to date, an iconic indie-rock band stepping out with an intimate new project, and London's finest occult rockers bringing urban doom straight to your turntable.
Grab a coffee, settle in, and let us dive into the records you need to be taking home this weekend.
Ezra Collective - Here Because Of Hope
If your living room needs an instant injection of joy, energy, and relentless rhythm, Ezra Collective are back to deliver the goods. Following up on their historic Mercury Prize victory, the London quintet returns with their fourth studio album, Here Because Of Hope, and it is a complete celebration of movement, community, and global sound cultures.
The record moves effortlessly between high-octane Afrobeat grooves, smooth jazz improvisations, and infectious club rhythms. Featuring brilliant guest spots from Pa Salieu and Lila Iké, tracks like 'Jubilee Feeling' carry a live, uninhibited energy that begs for the needle to drop. It is a bright, uplifting, and deeply soulful spin that will turn any quiet evening into an absolute party.
Bonobo - Distance In Static
For those late nights when you just want to sink into your armchair and let music wash over you, Simon Green’s brand-new studio album as Bonobo is an essential pickup. Distance In Static stands out as one of the most emotionally resonant and beautifully crafted records in his entire discography.
Recorded across sessions in LA, Tokyo, London, and Neil Young's Broken Arrow Ranch, the album balances intricate electronic production with organic, sweeping instrumentation. Featuring a striking cast of collaborators including Joy Crookes, Arooj Aftab, and Nilüfer Yanya, tracks like 'Me And You' move seamlessly between late-night dancefloor energy and deep, introspective warmth. On physical wax, the spatial depth and analogue textures sound breathtaking.
Bloc Party - Anatomy Of A Brief Romance
Bloc Party return with Anatomy Of A Brief Romance, a brand-new concept record examining the arc of a year-long relationship in intimate, raw detail. Produced by the legendary Trevor Horn, it brings a glossy, atmospheric sheen to the band's signature post-punk energy.
From the delicate vulnerability of opening track '22.01.22' to the roiling, muscular interplay of 'Pigwig' and lead single 'Coming On Strong', Kele Okereke’s vocals and Russell Lissack’s guitar work hit a mature, absorbing stride. It is a deeply personal, narrative-driven album that rewards sitting down with the liner notes and listening from start to finish on a turntable.
Green Lung - Necropolitan
If you prefer your heavy music served with a theatrical splash of Hammond organ and gothic storytelling, London's own Green Lung have returned with their monumental fourth studio album, Necropolitan. Stepping away from the foggy countryside moors of their previous work, the band brings the occult straight to the capital's Victorian cemeteries and dark alleyways.
Recorded live straight to tape at Rockfield Studios with Tom Dalgety behind the desk, it is a direct, jackhammer hit of heavy Sabbath-meets-Queen riffs. Packed with blistering guitar solos, frenzied Hammonds, and Jack-the-Ripper-under-a-gaslamp vibes, tracks like 'Evil in this House' and 'Dance to the Grave' sound monstrous when cranked up on heavyweight vinyl.
From joyful afrobeat-jazz fusions and lush electronic soundscapes to intimate indie storytelling and heavy urban doom, this week’s shelves are packed with magic. Drop by your local store or secure your copies online today. Which record are you dropping the needle on first?
