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Its title track, armed with throttling guitar static, is about Avina’s relationship to consent and her own autonomy. “Should I feel older? A gaping hole / How could I feel more than a hazy glow?” Avina asks on “Way Things Grow.” For all its elemental metaphors, this album is also a vulnerable self-portrait. Life will continue to be irrational, and there will always be times when you feel like life is passing through you rather than being an active participant in it. It also ruminates on the notion that growing older doesn’t automatically fill an existential void or suddenly start to make sense. Lyrically, A Little Older examines Avina’s emotional growth over time, fascinated and perhaps disappointed by humans’ inherent shortcomings when it comes to matters like love and trust. These sonic ripples are positively pacifying, passing over the listener like sea foam rolling over one’s toes.

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On her latest album A Little Older, her calm vocals dance in the wind over guitar flutters, amorphous rumbles and the occasional boom or crash of percussion, resulting in a series of introspective sounds. The taut vocals of “Health” that mirror its rollicking guitars are positively invigorating, and the tender vocals of “Mark’s Bag” are surprisingly singalong-worthy for an album this mercurial.Īlexia Avina’s ambient pop feels like a warm cocoon. It Already Does That is the work of a band who’s seemingly delighted by the thought of throwing listeners off their scent, with disintegrating guitar lines at the center of everything they do, but their sensitive vocals are what really drives this album home. Ideas may be flowing 100 miles a minute on this record, but this band does a convincing job of balancing their penchant for stop-starts and intricate guitar work with delicate, rewarding hooks. On their self-released debut album It Already Does That, they evoke the wide-ranging experimental tendencies of recent British bands like black midi and Caroline-folding in the math-y tempo shifts of the former and the spidery slowcore and post-rock of the latter-plus various ‘90s indie rock, emo and post-hardcore bands. Their songwriting ability and math-y post-hardcore chops, however, are quite clear. Not much is known about the young Dutch band A fungus, though they seem to derive from the same Amsterdam guitar scene that spawned groups such as Personal Trainer, Global Charming and Canshaker Pi and centers around a studio called Erik’s House. Sample all of these releases with our accompanying Spotify playlist here. (And if you need more music recommendations from 2022, be sure to check out Paste’s extensive, staff-curated list of best albums of 2022 so far here). If you enjoy any of the following EPs and LPs, consider purchasing them and catching these artists live in a city near you.

Fall under the spell of Queen of Jeans’ mighty pop songs, M!R!M’s textured synth palaces, Zinské’s sharp social commentary and Maneka’s compelling cross-pollination of all sorts of genres.

From Straw Man Army’s masterfully detailed punk to Bodysync’s buoyant rave pop and Whitney K’s poetic, Lou Reed-esque twang, there’s so much wonderful artistry out there this year. We’re just past the midway point of 2022, which means it’s a good opportunity to look back at some solid records that might have flown under the radar for some.

Blackhole sun lyrics