Dec 1, 2025 1 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise last week, from Cardinals, Aphex Twin, ELIZA, George Riley + Jordan Rakei & Jalen Ngonda

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Cardinals’ new single ‘Barbed Wire’

Cardinals continue to fold gothic romanticism into contemporary indie. The black-and-white video by Xander Lewis casts the band as folklore refracted through modern production, while the track itself reasserts the innate promise the band have shown since their earliest beginnings.

Aphex Twin’s new singles ‘Zahl am1 live track 1’ and ‘Zahl am1 live track 1c f760m1 unfinshd.’

The SoundCloud page user18081971, widely understood to belong to Aphex Twin, just released two iterations of the same looped motif, one sparse and meditative, the other fractured with scattered hats and stuttering breaks. Aphex’s genius is in these micro-variations: a single loop becomes a field of attention, a lesson in how repetition can be simultaneously soothing and destabilising.

George Riley’s new single ‘Drip’

A dancefloor-ready pop jam that flirts with characteristically tongue-in-cheek lyricism. It’s a ride on a rippling instrumental, with a cute bouncy bassline.

ELIZA’S new single ‘Anyone Else’

Lovers rock inflections play with subtle grunge undertones. ELIZA’s gift is turning simple melodic gestures into pure milk and honey.

Jordan Rakei & Jalen Ngonda’s new single ‘What It Gave Me’

A Motown-style duet absolutely brimming with screw-facey soul. It’s two vocalists that are very different tonally, coming together in an undeniably compatible way.

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