Werkha - Unsung Irregular (12") 2025 (Mint (M))

Tom Leah's 2025 album for First Word Records turns hidden disability and recovery into its actual subject matter — he's described wanting to “give a voice to those fighting quiet battles daily,” folding analogue jazz-funk and UK electronica into warm, broken-beat production. “Toast Rack” takes its name from a Manchester building; “By Helm” and “Weak Point” work as a mirrored pair built around field recordings of Cumbria's Helm Wind. Ríoghnach Connolly and Daudi Matsiko both feature on vocals, their voices set against Leah's usual layered, heavily chopped-up production style throughout the record.