DRAMAS have always thrived in the space between emotional weight and quiet release. Since their debut album Nothing Is Permanent (2018), Viktoria Winter and Mario Wienerroither have built a distinctive world where art-pop, electronic textures and cinematic atmosphere meet. Songs such as Bloodbath, Undercover Dreamer, Fame and I Heard It On The Radio earned radio support across Europe, while the duo also established a reputation as a captivating live act on festival stages and tours alongside artists including Cosmo Sheldrake. Their latest album, Jewel Drums (2025), revealed their most personal work to date. With Idun, released in June 2026, DRAMAS move even closer to the emotional core of their sound, while already working on a new album set for early 2027.

Following the release of their debut single “An Illusion” earlier this year, UK duo The Afterword return with “LA”, out now alongside its official video. More direct and upbeat than its predecessor, the song blends escapism, longing and dry British humour into a warm, melodic slice of indie-pop. Built around drum machines, classical piano, folk-inflected guitars and an instantly memorable “la-la-la” chorus, “LA” contrasts grey mornings in England with daydreams of rooftop bars, film noir and the imagined glamour of Los Angeles. The new single offers another glimpse of the band’s forthcoming EP and reveals a broader, more expansive side of their songwriting without losing the emotional honesty at its core.

With Pleasurecruise, out on 19 June 2026, Lil Julez takes a significant step forward. Blending timeless melodies, the raw energy of a live band and themes of longing, escapism and contemporary digital life, the album opens up a world that feels both immediate and quietly unsettling. The new single “Into The Sun” offers one final glimpse into that world, reflecting on loss of control and the importance of human connection. Recorded with his band for the first time, Pleasurecruise captures an artist growing into his own voice while embracing feeling over perfection. The album will also be available as a limited transparent vinyl LP.

Alexander Hacke’s autobiography KRACH – Verzerrte Erinnerungen is now available as a self-narrated audiobook on Fabrique. Released to coincide with Hacke’s 60th birthday, the revised and expanded edition traces a life in music spanning Einstürzende Neubauten, film, collaboration and artistic exploration. Recorded and produced by Peter Zirbs and running over ten hours, the German edition is available now, capturing Hacke’s voice, memories and reflections in an unusually direct and personal form. The project marks the second audiobook release on Fabrique, with the English-language version, BLAST – Distorted Memories, set to follow in summer 2026.

“Laikka's new album is the latest example of the potential of their musical inventiveness. Visionary sonics and dazzling vocals combine in the masterful work, with deft production and powerful narratives flowing throughout the album.” (Wonderland Magazine, UK). Their music is a wild, experimental and energetic journey that effortlessly combines catchiness with a touch of pop melancholy. With their third album I close my eyes, tomorrow, Laikka gained increasing international attention, including a nomination for the 2025 Amadeus Music Awards. Following a quieter period, the duo have returned to the studio, with new music expected later this year and a new album on the horizon.

Following his acclaimed album Melancholia Beach (2024), multi-instrumentalist and electronic artist Peter Zirbs returns with “These Memories”, a luminous collaboration with singer and songwriter JD Bolland. Known for bringing distinctive voices into his cinematic electronic universe, from former Archive frontman Craig Walker to JD Bolland, Zirbs once again balances atmosphere, emotion and understated pop sensibility. Suspended somewhere between longing, memory and release, “These Memories” marks the beginning of a new creative chapter and offers a first glimpse of the material leading towards his forthcoming album, set for late 2026.

With her acclaimed albums The Soft Bit (2021) and What Happens At Night (2022), sound artist and composer Jana Irmert explored the materiality of sound and the fragile boundaries between observation, memory and perception. “Irmert’s work swiftly slides from documentary lucidity into the glare of an obsession” (The Wire). Working across live performance, multi-channel composition, film and installation, Irmert has established a distinctive artistic voice at the intersection of sound art and contemporary composition, receiving the German Documentary Film Music Award and an Edda Award nomination for her sound design work on Jóhann Jóhannsson’s film Last and First Men. In October 2024, she released When I Dissolve, a collection of works originally created for an autofictional hybrid documentary, also available in Dolby Atmos.

Following the release of his dark trilogy Je suis le Ténébreux, Paradise Lost, and M, British avant-garde composer Christopher James Chaplin unveiled Patriarchs in 2021, a critically acclaimed excavation of antediluvian myth, from Adam to Noah. After three years in the studio, he returned with Door 1 Door 2 (2024), a monumental work shaped by his distinctive language of electronic chamber music. Carried into a series of live performances across Europe, the material continued to evolve beyond the recorded form. As a new album appears via the adventurous US label Curious Music, Chaplin has already returned to the studio to work on Arcana, his next album for Fabrique, due in 2027. Exploring a new cycle of shorter pieces, the work continues his fascination with history, memory and transformation.

British-Swiss violinist, composer and artist Violeta Vicci moves fluidly between contemporary classical music, ambient textures and layered electronics. Alongside her solo work, she has collaborated with artists including Thom Yorke, Jónsi, Elbow and The Orb, while also arranging strings for Fontaines D.C. Her acclaimed solo album Cavaglia (2023) was accompanied by a series of remixes, including Turze’s reimagining of “Orbital”. As A Closer Listen noted, the album “carries a message that cannot be transcribed into sentences and words.” New solo material is currently taking shape, with a new full-length album scheduled for 2027.

Italian electronic composer Drum & Lace released her second full-length album ONDA in summer 2024, a bold, genre-fluid work that has garnered widespread acclaim from critics and listeners alike. Described as having a “chameleon-like nature” (A Closer Listen), her music fuses field recordings, lush synth textures, chamber instrumentation and intricate electronic beats into richly cinematic soundscapes. Influenced by film music, musique concrète and the natural world, ONDA presents a sonic universe both expansive and intimate. Preceded by the singles “Solstice,” “Sisters,” and “Nymph,” the album has been praised as a compelling and confident evolution of Drum & Lace’s unique sound.