#5189, New Releases, September 2026

On this globe-trotting edition of New Sounds, discover some of the best new music that reached our ears in the month of September.

India- and Brooklyn-based experimental vocalist and storyteller Sheherazaad, who often sings in Urdu and explores South Asian themes in her music, is preparing to release her debut LP, titled Khudgarzi, in November. In her latest single “Andhera”, she enriches her multi-cultural sonic palette with Middle eastern instruments like tanbur and rabab.

Leenalchi is a South Korean pansori pop band that’s made up of two bassists, one drummer, and four vocalists, making very distinct, funk rock leaning music. Their new record SUGUNGGA comes out this Friday, and we get an early listen to one of the album tracks, titled “A Fish Map”.

Hermanos Gutiérrez is the project of Ecuadorian-Swiss brothers Alejandro and Estevan Gutiérrez, who released a new LP titled Los Ojos Del Cóndor a few days ago. “La Danza Del Viento” stands out as an instant classic, with its familiar charango and South American guitar layers mixed into a soundscape that’s reminiscent of Lynchian and Spaghetti Western cinematic themes.

Prolific composer Meredith Monk’s “Realm Variations” is not an entirely new piece. In fact, it dates back to 2012, when it was originally commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony. But this is the first time we’re hearing it performed by the London-based Phaedra Ensemble. It intertwines a minimalistic choral arrangement with woodwind and brass layers.

Berlin-based Japanese music producer Midori Hirano’s new offering is a reinterpretation of the soundtrack of the 1986 Nietzchka Keene film starring a young Björk, The Juniper Tree. Hirano was commissioned by Kunstencentrum Viernulvier to create a new soundtrack to the film as part of their Videodroom series, which allows contemporary artists to reinvent film scores for arthouse cinema classics.

Another Japanese musician (who was born in St. Louis), Kaoru Watanabe, also has a new solo record out this month. In The Arch, he plays both Western and Eastern instruments, including soprano and alto flutes, tenor saxophone, piano, synthesizers, and harp, as well as shinobue, ryuteki, hichiriki, taiko, atarigane, suzu, ame uchiwa, and koto.

We close this chapter with an excerpt from American percussionist and composer Adam Rudolph’s new album, Invisible Threads, who enlisted several musicians and sound engineers from Turkiye, to create “a sense of openness and emotional richness that is innately human while refusing to be anchored by familiar landmarks of culture or genre.” - Sırma Munyar

(Photo of Kaoru Watanabe from his Bandcamp page.)

Program #5189, New Releases, September 2026 (First aired 9/30/26)

ARTIST: Phaedra Ensemble, Meredith Monk 
WORK: Realm Variations [1:16]
RECORDING: Realms
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: https://phaedraensemble.bandcamp.com/album/realms

ARTIST: Sheherazaad
WORK: Andhera [4:55]
RECORDING: Khudgarzi
SOURCE: Erased Tapes Records
INFO: https://sheherazaad.bandcamp.com/album/khudgarzi

ARTIST: Leenalchi
WORK: A Fish Map [3:07]
RECORDING: SUGUNGGA
SOURCE: Luaka Bop
INFO: https://leenalchi.bandcamp.com/album/sugungga-2

ARTIST: Hermanos Gutiérrez
WORK: La Danza Del Viento [3:20]
RECORDING: Los Ojos Del Cóndor
SOURCE: Concord
INFO: https://hermanosgutierrez.bandcamp.com/album/los-ojos-del-c-ndor

ARTIST: Phaedra Ensemble, Meredith Monk 
WORK: Realm Variations [19:44]
RECORDING: Realms
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: https://phaedraensemble.bandcamp.com/album/realms

ARTIST: Midori Hirano
WORK: The Juniper Tree [3:05]
RECORDING: The Juniper Tree
SOURCE: Viernulvier / Thrill Jockey Records
INFO: https://midorih.bandcamp.com/album/the-juniper-tree

ARTIST: Kaoru Watanabe
WORK: Kumo No Ito (The Spider's Thread)
RECORDING: The Arch
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: https://kaorufue.bandcamp.com/album/the-arch

ARTIST: Kaoru Watanabe
WORK: Wood Snake [4:03]
RECORDING: The Arch
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: https://kaorufue.bandcamp.com/album/the-arch

ARTIST: Adam Rudolph
WORK: Invisible Threads [2:27]
RECORDING: Invisible Threads
SOURCE: Omni Sound
INFO: https://adamrudolph.bandcamp.com/album/invisible-threads