Add to playlist: the magnetic, uncanny songwriting of Frances Chang and the week's best new tracks

"“No, I won't take a photo / Just walking around with no avatar, Frances Chang sings on No Avatar, conversational and serene against little whorls of piano, skittish drum fizz and softly flaring synths.”"

"“Like Astrid Sonne's fragmented songwriting, the Brooklyn-based musician's songs are hard to pin down, mirroring the single's desire to avoid outward definition. Her songs work to an internal logic, evoking a sort of uncanny domesticity: casual piano refrains, rainy percussion; the melty haze of a horizon at dusk; grooves slinking in at the end of a song like next door's cat making itself at home.”"

"“It's a sound that shares a lot with the modern Copenhagen scene of which Sonne is a key fixture, but with more welcoming softness and warmth: Chang's January single I Can Feel the Waves is a six-minute suite that starts out a little edgy, then yields with gorgeous warped piano and disarmingly intimate focus.”"

"“Her new material strips back all that noise for a limpid setting that lets her idiosyncratic lyricism shine. I Can Feel the Waves is also about remaining unknowable, and cherishing the ever-renewing mysteries of relating to oneself and others.”"

No Avatar features Frances Chang singing with a conversational, serene presence over little whorls of piano, skittish drum fizz, and softly flaring synths. The songwriting stays hard to pin down, mirroring a desire to avoid outward definition. The music follows an internal logic that evokes uncanny domesticity through casual piano refrains and rainy percussion, plus a melty dusk-horizon haze. Grooves arrive like something settling in nearby, creating warmth and softness. Chang’s sound aligns with the modern Copenhagen scene associated with Astrid Sonne, while remaining more welcoming. Her recent releases include I Can Feel the Waves, a six-minute suite with warped piano and intimate focus, and earlier work that was noisier and more unsettling. New material strips back noise to spotlight idiosyncratic lyricism and the mysteries of relating to oneself and others.

Read at www.theguardian.com