The Chill Out Tent

Anthony Calonico: Spacious Heart

LA-based trio Total Blue released one of the albums of 2024 with their eponymous debut, which evoked a scorched sunset drive around their hometown with a distinctly 1980s Balearic feel. Anthony Calonico steps out from the band with an album that inhabits similar terrain but adds his own vocals, which have a soulfulness reminiscent of John Martyn or lost Canadian troubadour Lewis. A future classic.

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Kasper Bjørke Quartet: Passages in Time

Dreamy synths intertwine with guitar, harp, trumpet, flugelhorn, saxophone, and flute to create these sublime meditations on the passing of time. Kasper Bjørke made his name in cosmic disco but the Kasper Bjørke Quartet create beautiful cosmic jazz. It is unashamedly wistful – check song titles like “listening to lullabies while holding hands” – and nostalgic. There’s a lot of good ambient jazz coming out at the moment and this is right up there with the best of it.

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Tigerbalm: Bubblegum Discos

We’ll take a break from all that Balearic bliss with this collection of Latino pop from Tigerbalm. The artist known in real life as Rose Robinson played one of the most joyful sets witnessed in the Chill Out Tent at We Are Love last year, and this album inhabits a similar soundworld. Bubblegum Discos is the sort of feelgood summer Latin pop record that can’t fail to put a smile on your face. Music this joyful is actually quite hard to find, so this is a record to be cherished. Music to sashay to.

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Ana Roxanne: Poem 1

Here is a late night record of beautiful torch songs that reminds us of Julee Cruise – and we really like to be reminded of Julee Cruise. You can imagine Ana Roxanne singing these gentle synth and piano-driven ballads in Twin Peaks’ Roadhouse tavern or in a late-night LA jazz bar. Really slow, really beautiful heart-breakers.