'Next stop is Queens Road '- aya's Hexed! is Quietus & Wire album of the year

First day back at work yesterday after the Christmas break, and a nice moment of synchronicity. As is my wont at this season I have been working my way through various lists of the best albums of the last year. Number one on the Quietus list for 2025 is aya's Hexed! on Hyperdub, with Claire Dibbles describing the artist 'as a master of sound design, functioning as both a storytelling tool and as a descriptor of emotion'. The album is also no.1 on the Wire magazine's end of year list.

Listening to the track 'off to the ESSO' my ears pricked up at the line 'next stop is Queens Road' as I was just approaching Queens Road Peckham station. OK other Queens Roads are available, but as aya apparently has a studio in Peckham I'm going to take this an SE15 reference

As for the album, it certainly woke me up on a wintry Monday morning. Check out this interesting interview with aya at Fader which describes her 'uncanny, abrasive collages' and the album's 'bewildering journey through pummelling electronic noise'.

aya on the cover of The Wire, May 2025

Ikonika also has a new album out - SAD - on Hyperdub by the way, which puts me in mind of one of my favourite Transpontine posts, from 2013 - the story of Ikonika, Katy B and Ayre's Nunhead bakers.