We all need some quiet in our lives. And this is the record for such an angst-ridden hour (Q1 2021, Common Era).

Maria Afonso’s Nieuwjaarsduik trades heavy atmospheric sounds against simple harmonic shifts and tentative, half-picked out melodies, whether on guitar or piano. There is a thickness of sound and a delightfully sluggish sensibility – why it reminds me a wee bit of Eno’s Thursday Afternoon at times, I couldn’t say. I’m not complaining though. It’s one of those records that don’t really need writing about but end up getting played over and over, despite yourself.