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As is becoming custom, we start our monthly new Scottish music column by taking a quick look back at some of the releases we missed last month. Edinburgh rapper Tzusan released brand new album WSPSNSYRP while U.S Useless (a new pairing of Eyes of Others and Pete McMinn from Hi & Saberhagen) released their debut album Trust, Loss, Forever. There were also several top-notch new singles last month; Glasgow supergroup Former Champ's Grenade, Conscious Route's Essence (ft. Jennifer Anne Todd), Low Light Listening Lounge's honest g / Party Ragz, Lloyd’s House's Heather and Cloth's gorgeous Low Sun to name a few.

This month, we're particularly excited for the debut album from Edinburgh alt-electronic-pop duo Slim Wrist (fka Super Inuit). Alongside a name change, the pandemic has offered the pair the time and space to really hone their craft, and their debut album Closer for Comforting, due on 9 September, is a true testament to that; it’s packed with glitchy vocals, squelchy beats, perfect drops and just the right amount of space to let everything breathe and be felt.

Taking inspiration from the relationship between concern and control, lyrics are for the most part obscure, leaving interpretations open for the listener. Musically, it’s easy to throw comparisons around like Sylvan Esso or Purity Ring, but Slim Wrist definitely have an identity all their own, by way of Brian Pokora’s dynamic and playful production and Fern Morris’s pristine yet mournful, oftentimes otherworldly vocals. Closer for Comforting is a beautifully balanced record, a satisfying concoction of abstract lyricism and jittery, punchy, teased-out beats; with space just as important a factor on the record as the music itself, Slim Wrist sound confident and rejuvenated.

Slim Wrist by Laura Meek

This month also sees the return of Aberdeen’s The Little Kicks, who are set to release their fifth album, People Need Love, on 30 September. Their first album in over five years, a lot has changed for the band since 2017. Frontman Steven Milne explains: “I became a father, then quickly after I lost my Dad which knocked me off [my] compass for a while.” Fortunately it wasn’t long before Milne was back at his piano writing again, opening himself up to vulnerability in the hopes it will encourage others to do the same.

With production expertise and direction from Chem19’s Paul Savage, and additional brass flourishes and sweeping strings from the Cairn String Quartet, People Need Love is the fullest sounding record yet from The Little Kicks. Arcing beautifully through a midsection run of the sway-worthy On and On into the disco-fuelled instrumental On and On and On, juxtaposing with the stripped-back sombre nature of Communicate, People Need Love manages to encapsulate the natural highs and lows of life.

While the start of last summer brought us the hilarious Scot Girl Summer, the musical, the end of this summer brings us the third album from Edinburgh singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, fresh from supporting Coldplay at Hampden at the end of August. Recorded over a number of sessions between Sweden and via Zoom from her mum’s house, Älskar explores themes of love, family and changing perceptions.

Due on 2 September via Cooking Vinyl, the record leans heavily in favour of heartfelt ballads, but the true charm of Nesbitt is found in the more upbeat numbers, where her sense of humour gets to shine. ‘Lately I’ve been a little sad bitch / I guess it’s something that just happens’ she sings on No Time (For My Life to Suck) before concluding: ‘So, if they kill my vibe / Then I cut them out my life’. While the upbeat moments are definitely the standouts here, there’s a mature sincerity present across Älskar which is hard to deny, and it’s refreshing that Nesbitt is unafraid to say what she really thinks.

Scottish composer Scott Twynholm’s beautiful and affecting soundtrack for Martyn Robertson’s Ride the Wave documentary about a 14-year-old Scottish surfing champion arrives on 9 September via De-Fence Records, effortlessly bringing together the worlds of folk and ambient electronica, combining them together with a contemporary classical twist. There’s experimental music from UK-based Turkish composer Elif Yalvaç who together with Edinburgh’s Andrew Ostler release Green Drift on 23 September via Ostler’s own Expert Sleepers label. Meanwhile, hip-hop fans will want to seek out The Iceberg Theory, the new collaborative and old school/retro-tinged album from Scottish producer Vagrant Real Estate and one-of-a-kind rapper CLBRKS.

A trio of Glasgow EPs are due this month too: Rudi Zygadlo’s Chatanooga (2 Sep), The Blush Club’s Ornamental Ponds (16 Sep) and Pizza Crunch’s That Serene Age (30 Sep), while Paradise Palms Records put out Aberdeen producer T_A_M's latest EP, Yngwie Sleep Demon (2 Sep). In terms of singles, North Berwick’s Midnight Ambulance release Stained Cotton (2 Sep), Glasgow soul singer kitti releases Down-low (16 Sep) and Siobhan Wilson releases a gorgeous string-laden cover of Kylie’s 1989 banger Hand On Your Heart (2 Sep), part of a MacMillan Cancer Care all-Kylie covers compilation put together by God Is in the TV.