Hidden Shoal News
Monotonic ‘The Purple Chords Play Belle Fourche’ Single
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of the debut single from Perth-based experimental psych outfit Monotonic. ‘The Purple Chords Play Belle Fourche’ is lifted from their forthcoming album “Heavy Metal”, due out in 2026. The single is accompanied by a wild Video by Perth-based video artist and photographer Elliot Ramsey. The track is available to stream on all the usual services. The music of Monotonic is available for licensing via Hidden Shoal (film, tv, web games etc). Check here for more details.
“The track itself is a gloriously murky affair. It’s all fuzzed-out wizardry and lethargic acid rock, creating a soundscape utterly drenched in a thick haze of psychedelic dissonance. The rhythm section is the solid anchor: Alan Balmont’s drums march along, almost begrudgingly, yet holding the essential pulse for Jack Lucas’s hypnotic guitar work (complete with electric bouzouki flourishes) and Liam Coffey’s melodic bass. Coffey’s vocals weave themselves through the colossal sonic architecture, effectively taking on the role of a fourth instrumental texture rather than leading the charge.” – Broken 8
Monotonic was formed during the pandemic by veterans of Perth’s golden alt-rock era: Liam Coffey (Header, The Slow Beings), Allan Balmont (Ammonia), and Jack Lucas (Yummy Fur/Six Mile High). Reuniting decades after their respective bands made waves in the ’90s, the three longtime friends found a fresh creative spark in loose jam sessions that continued to evolve into something greater than intended. Jams turned into songs, and while there were no initial plans to record, they became so committed to the music they were creating that an album eventually became an inevitability.
Erik Nilsson “Hearing Things (Reworked)” Out Now
Those of you who have soaked in the beauty that is Erik Nilsson’s 2015 release Hearing Things will know what a special album it is. For those fans and for the lucky few who get to hear it for the first time, we have some special for you. Nilsson has been hard at work remixing and remastering the original cuts, as he did with previous album Recollage, and it sounds glorious. So without further ado let us present Hearing Things (Reworked), available on all streaming services and Erik Nilsson’s Bandcamp. Erik Nilsson’s music is available for licensing through Hidden Shoal. Head here for more details.
“…there have been many points during my numerous listens as I got ready to review this album where the emotional punch of Nilsson’s music just stops me in my tracks and I just need to take a moment to do nothing but listen. That’s effective stuff, and there’s plenty of effective stuff here. Do give this a listen.” – Hypnagogue
Drawing on folk, classical and electronica, Erik Nilsson blends acoustic instruments with field recordings and computer-generated sounds, crafting music akin to early Four Tet, Tortoise at their most minimal, and fellow Scandinavian soundscapers The Gentleman Losers. His Hidden Shoal debut Hearing Things advances the compositional strategy Nilsson first explored on his acclaimed debut Recollage: simple rhythmic and melodic elements are manipulated and recontextualised into richly textured, emotive pieces.
Stay tuned for another reworking and some remixes coming out before the end of the year!
Kramies Sublime New Album “Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour” Out Now
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of the sublime new album from Kramies. Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour is available now via all good streamers such as Tidal, Spotify, Apple and is also available for download via Bandcamp. Kramies’ music is available for licensing through Hidden Shoal. Head here for more details.
Three years after his critically acclaimed self-titled LP which eared multiple “Album of the Year” accolades and saw Billboard christen him The Dreampop Troubadour Kramies pens a new chapter; a collection of songs steeped in wonder, drifting deeper into the otherworldly resims he’s come to inhabit. From that record, a new genre quietly emerged: Folklore Dreampop-a blend of dreamy textures, poetic myth, and spectral beauty.
Now, stepping away from the Dreampop Troubadour moniker, Kramies expands his creative world even further. Collaborating with Grammy-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie), he conjures dusky, dreamlike landscapes filled with nostalgia and nighttime color. His upcoming album, Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour, is perhaps his most complete vision to date an album that wanders through eerle scenery, fairytale myths, and tender memories with haunting grace.
“Enchanting, folkloric, and unmistakably Kramies, ‘Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour’ is both a reckoning and a release – a lush, otherworldly odyssey through self-doubt, renewal, and the quiet beauty of letting go.” – Atwood Magazine on Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour
Brilliant New Single from Kramies – ‘Perfectly Dreadful’
Kramies returns with his second single, ‘Perfectly Dreadful’, from forthcoming new album Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour out October 10th 2025. The accompanying music video for the track is available to stream over on Hidden Shoal’s Youtube. Kramies’ music is available for licensing through Hidden Shoal. Head here for more details.
“Perfectly Dreadful” is the haunting prelude to Kramies’ new record — a brief, 1-minute-50-second descent into a dreamworld that feels pulled from a lost Tim Burton score or hidden between the pages of a Brothers Grimm tale. Built around ghostly piano and swelling orchestral strings, the track is both eerie and beautiful, setting a spellbound tone. With its melancholic magic and cinematic textures, “Perfectly Dreadful” could easily live in the shadows of a Harry Potter soundtrack — a dark lullaby that opens the gates to the strange and enchanting world ahead.
Beautiful New Kramies Single “Hollywood Signs”
Hidden Shoal is proud to present ‘Hollywood Signs’, the gorgeous new single from Kramies. The track is lifted from his forthcoming album Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour and is accompanied by a whimsical music video from the man himself. The music video is available to stream over on Hidden Shoal’s Youtube and the track can be downloaded via Bandcamp. Kramies’ music is available for licensing through Hidden Shoal. Head here for more details.
Three years after his critically acclaimed self-titled LP which eared multiple “Album of the Year” accolades and saw Billboard christen him The Dreampop Troubadour Kramies pens a new chapter; a collection of songs steeped in wonder, drifting deeper into the otherworldly resims he’s come to inhabit. From that record, a new genre quietly emerged: Folklore Dreampop-a blend of dreamy textures, poetic myth, and spectral beauty.
Now, stepping away from the Dreampop Troubadour moniker, Kramies expands his creative world even further. Collaborating with Grammy-winning producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie), he conjures dusky, dreamlike landscapes filled with nostalgia and nighttime color. His upcoming album, Goodbye Dreampop Troubadour, is perhaps his most complete vision to date an album that wanders through eerle scenery, fairytale myths, and tender memories with haunting grace.
Soothing, stirring, and subtly unsettling, this new work is the stuff of folklore and fantasy-music with a deeply touching human heart. It arrives like a story whispered in twilight: gentle but intense, beckoning us closer. Before we know it, we’re swept away into the mysterious world of Kramies once again.
Markus Mehr’s Sublime New Album “trans” Out Now!
We’re excited to present trans, the brilliant new release from German experimental ambient artist Markus Mehr. The album is available now via Bandcamp and on streaming services such as Spotify. The music of Markus Mehr is available for licensing for film, tv, web, games and beyond via Hidden Shoal. Check here for more info.
trans plays with the idea of change, movement and overcoming. And although the departure for something new also means saying goodbye to the tried and tested, the 6 tracks do not sink into melancholy. There is a radiant power in the electro-acoustic pieces, which aurally explore the bipolar positions between digital awakening and analogue past.
Mehr implements the transformation processes that are evident in culture, society, politics, sexuality, language, etc., by alternating his compositional methods and tools. In a departure from his other works, he uses a conventional piano, which significantly characterises the static nature of the album in three pieces. Long drones form the antithesis to the concrete piano works and distance the album from neo-classical music. Phonographs, found sounds, field recordings – Mehr’s favourite instruments – remain present, but play a more restrained role (than usual). Sounds are also microscopically dissected in trans, granulated, crushed and enlarged, refined and reassembled, but rather form the framework for the respective track. And it is precisely these sound experiments that give the compositions their very own dramaturgy and surprising twists and turns. Like an author, Markus Mehr places his sound actors in a contained narrative over the course of 40 minutes.
New Single ‘form’ from Markus Mehr’s Forthcoming “trans” Album
We’re excited to present the last single prior to the release of Markus Mehr’s forthcoming album trans. ‘form’ is the final tease from the prolific German experimental ambient artist ahead of trans‘ release on the 22nd of August. ‘form’ is available on streaming services such as Spotify and for download on Bandcamp. The music of Markus Mehr is available for licensing for film, tv, web, games and beyond via Hidden Shoal. Check here for more info.
trans plays with the idea of change, movement and overcoming. And although the departure for something new also means saying goodbye to the tried and tested, the 6 tracks do not sink into melancholy. There is a radiant power in the electro-acoustic pieces, which aurally explore the bipolar positions between digital awakening and analogue past.
Mehr implements the transformation processes that are evident in culture, society, politics, sexuality, language, etc., by alternating his compositional methods and tools. In a departure from his other works, he uses a conventional piano, which significantly characterises the static nature of the album in three pieces. Long drones form the antithesis to the concrete piano works and distance the album from neo-classical music. Phonographs, found sounds, field recordings – Mehr’s favourite instruments – remain present, but play a more restrained role (than usual). Sounds are also microscopically dissected in trans, granulated, crushed and enlarged, refined and reassembled, but rather form the framework for the respective track. And it is precisely these sound experiments that give the compositions their very own dramaturgy and surprising twists and turns. Like an author, Markus Mehr places his sound actors in a contained narrative over the course of 40 minutes.
Debut Single & Music Video by Low Point High
Hidden Shoal is excited to announce the release of the debut single from Cam Merton’s new project, Low Point High. ‘Aching for Sleep’ is available now to stream on Spotify et al and for download via BandCamp. The beautiful accompanying music video is also available to stream on YouTube. The music of Low Point High is available for licensing across tv, film, web and more. Contact us for more information.
‘Aching for Sleep’ is the perfect introduction to the music of Low Point High. The track is steeped in lush, hypnagogic aural imagery that will appeal to anyone with an interest in the seminal Warp roster as it traverses it’s five minute runtime. Hazy ambient tones merge with synth-strings and found sounds as the shifting beat pulls everything inexorably forward. The song’s micro and macro call- and- response teases answers, but instead leaves the listener with an uneasy sense of unquenchable longing.
Low Point High is visual artist and musician Cam Merton, co-founder and manager of the Hidden Shoal label. Merton has played and recorded in several Perth-based experimental, noise-rock and dream-pop outfits since the late ‘90s, including CSR, Lake Disappointment, Silo and Glassacre. In a previous life he was also an established artist with national and international exhibitions and performances behind him. In recent years he has created a number of music videos for the Hidden Shoal roster, and is currently working on a number of other musical projects.
New Single ‘Fer’ from Markus Mehr
Following on from the first single from his forthcoming album trans, Markus Mehr delivers the stunning second single ‘fer’. The prolific German experimental ambient artist will release the full length in the second half of 2025. ‘fer’ is available on streaming services such as Spotify and for download on Bandcamp. The music of Markus Mehr is available for licensing for film, tv, web, games and beyond via Hidden Shoal. Check here for more info.
trans plays with the idea of change, movement and overcoming. And although the departure for something new also means saying goodbye to the tried and tested, the 6 tracks do not sink into melancholy. There is a radiant power in the electro-acoustic pieces, which aurally explore the bipolar positions between digital awakening and analogue past.
Mehr implements the transformation processes that are evident in culture, society, politics, sexuality, language, etc., by alternating his compositional methods and tools. In a departure from his other works, he uses a conventional piano, which significantly characterises the static nature of the album in three pieces. Long drones form the antithesis to the concrete piano works and distance the album from neo-classical music. Phonographs, found sounds, field recordings – Mehr’s favourite instruments – remain present, but play a more restrained role (than usual). Sounds are also microscopically dissected in trans, granulated, crushed and enlarged, refined and reassembled, but rather form the framework for the respective track. And it is precisely these sound experiments that give the compositions their very own dramaturgy and surprising twists and turns. Like an author, Markus Mehr places his sound actors in a contained narrative over the course of 40 minutes.
“Blue Mansions” – New Todd Tobias Album Out Now
We’re excited to announce the release of Blue Mansions, the sumptuous new album from Todd Tobias. The album mines an immersive, ethereal and otherworldly vein. Tobias describes Blue Mansions as “a collection of 14 aeriform vignettes – each a sleepy, wistful and brief visit to a welcoming space that feels both warm and remote.”
Blue Mansions is available in digital and CD formats via BandCamp in conjunction with the wonderful Tiny Room Records label. The album can be streamed across all the usual services such as Spotify.
The music of Todd Tobias is available for licensing across tv, film, web and more. Contact us for more information.
Hidden Shoal MixTape
