Audiopile Review: Good Morning Tapes keep their 2025 hot streak going strong with a new three-way collab that chases that brilliant Ariel Kalma & Asa Tone album and the instantly sold out ROTW from X Or Size that kicked off our year. The newest comes courtesy of Latvian/UK artist Mu Tate, who has been at the outer edges of the underground ambient scene with a string of releases on Utter, Experiences Ltd and Warmer Winters, plus a guest spot on this week’s newest from Special Guest DJ. And he’s not alone, here joined by sound designer Nexciya (featured in one of our emails last year) and vocalist Sarah Foulquiere aka Exzald S (Halcyon Veil, Jlin) for one of the more sensuous outings we’ve heard from either GMT or the adjacent vapour dub scene. mu tate and Nexciya align their lateral sensibilities well here, opening an enchanting whirl of massaged bass, glassy tones, stunted trip-hop beats and distant strings, topping it off with a smeared ambiance that rides a fine line between rickety Big Ambient textures and carefully coerced sound design. But it’s the heavy-lidded vocals of Foulquiere that elevate this into the “something special” category. Her wordless vocals calling from the depths of the swirling mass, edging it towards a nebulous sort of dream pop that isn’t too far from the likes of Bianca Scout, Ana Roxanne or Jonnine. Essential business from Good Morning Tapes, who have yet to let us down.

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“Labège, released on Good Morning Tapes, emerged from a residency in the town of the same name in Occitanie, where NEXCYIA, mu tate, and Exzald S lived and worked under one roof. Immersed in the slow rhythms of southern French life, the trio embraced live improvisation, intuitive sampling, and a freeform process shaped by their domestic surroundings. The result is a collection of gentle, drifting compositions—sonic postcards capturing a fleeting moment in time.

The trio brings a distinct yet complementary voice. Working with abstraction, sound mangling tools, field recordings, and fragmented rhythms to sculpt tactile, evolving environments. All leaning into softness and restraint, weaving filtered harmonics and spacious reverb into floating atmospheres anchored by deep sub-bass and hushed vocals.

Their methods intertwine seamlessly, allowing improvisation and chance to guide the music’s form. The result is both expansive and intimate—suspended somewhere between memory and the present.”