Concluding an impressive year in music, CLASH Deputy Editor Shahzaib Hussain explores the essential alternative releases in his Astral Realm feature—a transitional space for those in search of mood music outside the mainstream.
In a genre-spanning Best Of list, he summarizes his discoveries, honoring lesser-known releases and hidden treasures that may have gone unnoticed during this era of algorithmic overload and excessive consumption.
This list of 10 underrated projects highlights mostly independent, overlooked releases while also recognizing a number of extended plays and mixtapes that reflect the fluid nature of engaging with new music in the streaming age.
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Deki Alem – Forget In Mass
With a rhythmic rebellion through trip-hop and Big Beat ventures, Deki Alem—brother duo Johnny Boakye Bennett and Sammy Boakye Bennett—are punk-poets defying the monotony of the industry. Their debut album, ‘Forget In Mass,’ is a triumph of spirit and sound. It rejects moralizing in favor of fluid, open grooves meant to be experienced in connection. Stripped of fluff and filler, Deki Alem have crafted a soundtrack for those late-night sentiments, grounding the listener from the chaos of our overstimulated reality to the wide-open dancefloor.
Raisa K – Affectionately
Released under Danish label 15 Love, home to ML Buch and CTM, ‘Affectionately’ by London artist Raisa K features an intricate blend of detuned, deadpan vocals and atonal production reminiscent of BEA1991 and Astrid Sonne’s deep mixes. Much of the album flows like an unpredictable tide of arrhythmic phrases, loops, and glitches, until the Mica Levi and Coby Sey-assisted track ‘Stay’ emerges—a love song that introduces soft rays of light into an otherwise grey reverie.
anaiis – Devotion & The Black Divine
anaiis conveys a sense of journey, movement, and whimsy in her new album ‘Devotion & The Black Divine’. This expansive, darkly melodic work connects the revered writings of Black theorists like bell hooks (whose name anaiis stylizes in lowercase as a lifelong tribute) with contemporary insights from women in her circle, such as Adrienne Maree Brown and Sanah Ahsan. The outcome is a cosmic anthology that propels forward with moments of tenderness, confrontation, and collective ecstasy.
Niall Ashley – Subject Access
On his debut project as Niall Ashley, the Bristol artist shifts from the stylistic ambiguity of his previous moniker Llainwire to intense explorations of the narrowness within our musical landscape. In ‘Subject Access’, Ashley navigates between introspection and allegory, capturing the journey of a working-class idol clashing with the industry machine. Raw, frayed strains of rap collide with altered vocals, lively alt-rock rhythms, and Neptunes-like beats, resulting in a pivotal project that is more engaging than its individual components suggest.
Anysia Kym, Loraine James – Clandestine
In the transatlantic collaboration ‘Clandestine’, Brooklyn’s Anysia Kym overlays her poignant soliloquies on the glitchy, gritty creations of London producer Loraine James. These weed-infused productions are dubby, disorienting, yet consistently hypnagogic—forming a kind of atonal digital hymn that is delicate enough to fade into the ether.
CARI – FLUX
On her dynamic debut project ‘FLUX’, West London artist CARI fuses gospel influences and golden-era RnB with alt-rock and electronic elements. ‘FLUX’ thrives on its contrasts: gentle versus forceful strokes, the euphoric highs of romance against love’s calamities, chaos versus stillness, and tradition versus innovation. The result is a textured work that examines what it means to be an independent artist with a clear vision. To be in flux is to embrace the journey.
Kilo Kish – Negotiations
Following Kilo’s critically acclaimed 2022 album ‘AMERICAN GURL’, which centered on the visual prelude ‘r3program’—a glacial, techno-infused commentary on class disparity, autonomy, and creative burnout in a faltering industry—‘Negotiations’ delves into the notion of error and glitch in modern life, characterized by instability. This EP embodies programmed melodrama at its finest.
Jawnino & Surf Gang – amnesia
The New York City-based collective and label Surf Gang—founded by Brooklyn super-producer Evilgiane along with members Harrison, EERA, and Goner—joins forces with underground UK rapper Jawnino on ‘amnesia’. Recorded entirely in London, this 9-track compilation captures the late-night energy of a fading metropolis, traversing cloud rap, ambient trap, and heavy drum and bass, offering an intensified, hallucinatory experience for night owls.
Joviale – Mount Crystal
Crafted through intense jam sessions with a trusted group
Wrapping up a remarkable year in music, CLASH Deputy Editor Shahzaib Hussain explores the universe of the most significant alternative releases in his Astral.