somesurprises, Twin Talk, RAYS

somesurprises is the musical project of Egyptian/English American songwriter and guitarist Natasha El-Sergany. Born in Letterkenny, Ireland, and raised in the north of England before moving to Florida at age ten, El-Sergany eventually found home in the evergreen mist of Seattle, WA. What began as a bedroom project focused on spectral balladry and late-night exploration has evolved into a dynamic four-piece band. Motorik beats, reverb-drenched vocals, washes of fingerpicked guitars, and hazy synths expand El-Sergany’s delicate and blissful songwriting. Perseids, the band’s first new album since 2019, hearkens back to the raw and powerful voice memos that started the project. El-Sergany recorded and demoed tracks in near isolation beginning in early 2021 at Seattle’s legendary Crybaby Studios. Cellist Lori Goldston (Earth, Nirvana) and long-time musical partner Josh Medina provided contributions remotely, before the band reunited later that year at ExEx Audio with producer Paurl Walsh. Bassist Laura Seniow and drummer Nico Sophiea provided drive and rhythmic grounding for the initial skeletal songs. Vocalist Jessika Kenney (Sunn O))), Midsommar) added life and meaning to the album’s title track, drawing inspiration from Islamic poetic tradition central to El-Sergany’s vision for the album. Musically, the album draws from a variety of influences, including Stereolab, Cluster, Broadcast, Neu!, Mazzy Star, and Nick Drake. El-Sergany and band are however, uniquely their own, combining elements of shoegaze, dreampop, drone rock, and experimental improvisation. Perseids releases on April 19th, 2024 via LA’s Doom Trip Records.

For over a decade, Chicago’s Twin Talk has steadily drifted from the conventions of the saxophone trio. While reedist Dustin Laurenzi, bassist-singer Katie Ernst, and drummer Andrew Green are deeply rooted in jazz tradition, they’ve spent their time on the band stage together making their music more elastic, spontaneous, and open, embracing new inspirations without stifling the improvisational heart of their work. Twin Talk uses live performances as opportunities to stretch—expanding on composed material and ditching set lists in favor of calling tunes on the fly. On their 2019 album Weaver they pushed themselves further than ever, using the recording studio as a place for experimentation, letting a new batch of compositions develop and take new shapes. As critic Howard Reich wrote recently in the Chicago Tribune, “These musicians listen keenly to one another, and with a sensitivity that only comes from familiarity and trust.”

RAYS is a new band of Chicago music scene stalwarts Andrew Scott Young, Jake Acosta, Skyler Rowe, and Brian Sulpizio. They’re throwing improvisation and composition right into the KitchenAid™️ Stand Mixer and you will not be dissatisfied by the dough they pull out of there. And maybe the oven is the stage or something. The music is the bread or cookies I guess?