Alma

1. The 6 punchy musicians of Alma, fond of exchanges, poetry and cultural mixing, combine dub reggae with some furious salsa cubana.

As soon as they met, the musicians of Alma passed a silent agreement: let nothing get in the way of their pleasure to make music, and always express their love for all styles of music. They learned to appreciate and develop the most groovy reggae rhythms, and to mix them with a strong dose of salsa. The addition of electro riffs and dub effects gives to their style a definite modern twist.

2. Swedish duo that released their debut album, For Loved Ones and Lost Ones in September 2001 through their own independent label, Peaton Records.

3. German alternative band from Korbach, Nordhessen.

4. Russian electronic project (AlmA).

5. Alma is making her debut in the Midwest US music scene. With carefully crafted lyrics atop summery melodies, Alma sidesteps the shallow musings of many of her pop singer contemporaries without sacrificing the catchy hooks. Her soulful voice carries tunes about love and faith, challenging her generation to rethink their self-perceptions and cultural conventions.

6. Austrian band, blending traditional and contemporary Austrian folk and popular music. See their website http://almamusik.at/ for more details about this group of great young musicians.

7. ALMA is a London-based ambient group formed in 2014, fronted by songwriter Pete Lambrou. With the kind of impeccable sense of timing which eludes so many of us they are releasing their debut single 'The Great Escape' just as the hangovers subside from The Great Escape by the seaside. And as hangover cures go, The Great Escape is one mightily gentle sonic comedown which is already hoovering up comparisons to fellow fragrant explorers Sigur Ros, Patrick Watson and Explosions In The Sky.

Indeed, last week Bearded magazine decided that The Great Escape feels like it would sit at home as the background music to an ambient explosion in space, and further noted that this is more than fitting seeing as how ALMA takes its name from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array a really bloody powerful telescope.

All of which is perhaps unsurprising when one considers that as mainstay of Codes In The Clouds and Monsters Build Mean Robots Lambrous gently cosmic post-rock provenance is impeccable. Joined by fellow Code In The Clouder Ciaran Morahan, ALMA deploy a loop station, multiple delay pedals, a piano and strings to create a slow-moving, high-flying soundscape of luscious gravitas.

"Sad, uplifting, haunting, atmospheric and oozing confidence." - flushthefashion

8. ALMA is a singer-songwriter from Finland. After losing the singing competition Idols in 2013, Alma Miettinen became the supporting act of the rapper Sini Sabotage at her concerts. In 2016 ALMA released her debut single 'Karma' which immediately drew attention all around the world. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.