More unabashedly vulnerable dance music from North London’s Sound of Fractures (aka Jamie Reddington), who I’ve covered a couple of times now. This is the third single from Reddington’s interactive album Scenes, a project that encourages listeners to contribute their own memories and rewards them by generating unique album art for the next song in the series based on their contribution (plus one of the submissions becomes the official artwork). Participate in the project, and in so doing get to have a listen to the next single.

The Scenes project is also emblematic of Reddington’s approach. I’ve been following him on socials the past few months, and the guy is clearly working hard to try to create something special — leaving no stone unturned. I know he has young children, as I do, so I’m extra impressed by what he’s managing to accomplish. He’s seemingly using even the most peripheral of moments to generate content that may inch him forward. I can’t always say the same for myself, but his determination is almost as inspiring as the music itself.

Find this song, along with previous Sound of Fractures material, on all the streaming services, or support the artist and grab this one on bandcamp.

Sound of Fractures – “Don’t Worry” (bc)

Appropriately tongue-in-cheek title for this lovely submission from North London’s Jamie Reddington, aka Sound of Fractures, whose previous single I covered last month. Reddington describes it as one of his favorites of his own songs because it feels “so [him]” including for its wonkiness and imperfection. It’s a tough thing as an artist to strike that balance of trying to perfect one’s work, but also leaving in enough of the idiosyncrasy to assure the listener knows it was made be a real life human with real life feelings. Reddington definitely keeps this human, but it’s also plenty polished. Just a lovely track, and yeah, totes emosh.

No bandcamp for this, so catch this streaming. Or/also, check Reddington’s super-cool Scenes project, which allows listeners to generate the official artwork for each of a series of six singles (this one’s the second). Give it a try and also get to listen to the next single in the series. You can also buy the downloads through the platform if you’d like. The whole thing is really nicely executed.

Sounds of Fractures – “Totes Emosh” (sc)

Those early scans can be a terrifying time, you are a bundle of nerves and heading into this great big unknown, and there is something so visceral about hearing that living heartbeat the first time. It’s one of those life moments where you are overwhelmed by emotions that you don’t quite understand, and yet you are also scared to let yourself feel them in case something goes wrong.

That nice sweet sort of sentimentality on this track from North London’s Sound of Fractures, real name Jamie Reddington. This song was built around a recording Reddington made of his daughter’s heartbeat in utero. Hearing my daughter’s heartbeat gave me the same kind of combination of feelings. Wild excitement and anticipation, coupled with an instinct to hold it all in as much as possible. Both out of fear of the worst, but also a sort of self-doubt–because you no have real idea what you’re about to experience or whether you’ll be able to handle it when it happens. But it turned out that I was. If you’re in that spot, the mere fact you’re wondering those things about yourself and your baby means you probably will be too.

The track is out now on bandcamp and streaming. Also check another nice one from Sound of Fractures released early this year.

Sound of Fractures – “Willow’s Heartbeat” (bc)

Sound of Fractures – “Let Go” (bc)

Another soaring beauty from Sound of Fractures, aka Jamie Reddington, who I’ve covered a number of times here. Reddington’s music is much like what he reflects on socials: open, sincere, and willing to embrace the flush of emotions that comes from being a father. This is the next to final single from his interactive Scenes project, for which the final single is currently accepting submissions. Head over here to participate.

Sound of Fractures – “Meant To Be” (sc)

Next up is an touching slice of leftfield/glitch hop from Australian BKLV. Lovely sludgy stuff here, with moments of pure melancholia. Fitting, as the song was written in memory of the artist’s cat and studio buddy (listen for the audible purring). I recently spent a huge part of my savings to rescue my cat from near-certain death, so I can definitely empathize with how important and deserving of honor our feline friends are. This is out now for streaming, but you can also grab it as a free download below, thanks to the artist’s generosity.

BKLV – “Boundless” (mp3)

Last but not least is this excellent bit of club fusion from St. Louis’s Umami (aka Pajmon Porshahidy). At the encouragement of Palms Out stalwart, Bianca Oblivion, Umami merged elements reflective of their Persian heritage with breakbeat, bass, and jersey club. Straightforward and effective dancefloor material here, I expect this would hit perfectly for the right audience. This is out now for streaming, but Porshahidy has also kindly provided the mp3 for all the DJs out there eager to test this out for themselves.

Umami – “Djadou” (mp3)