Recess of My Mind Is xskarma Working Without A Net, the Fifth Single of 2026
A Bristol Producer and Drummer Keeps Releasing Singles Instead of Waiting for an Album
Recess of My Mind came out on 11 September 2026, the fifth single of the year from xskarma. The Bristol producer, drummer and songwriter has released one song at a time for most of the past six years, with no new album to fall back on. This new cut is a dark, four-minute track about memory, love and loss, and about the way unresolved feelings return in dreams.
xskarma’s tracks are in the playlist below, and the full run of coverage is collected on the xskarma profile. Recess of My Mind reached IndieMusic.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Put it on, then read on.
Six Years of Singles and Collaborations Built the Road xskarma Walked to Recess of My Mind
The record starts in February 2020 with Your Eyes, a three-track single. An album, Glory in Numbers, followed in November 2020 with ten tracks. That was the last full-length release. Since then, the catalogue on Apple Music is almost entirely singles.
The run is long and steady. Between 2021 and mid-2025, xskarma put out more than 15 singles under the Crossleaze Records name, often with guest voices. Tammy Roylance sings on four of them, from Tragic in 2021 to Gideon in 2024. The artist glasscat appears on four more, and Maria Milewska and Frannie B each feature once. Overall, the pattern is clear: a producer building a body of work by working with other vocalists, one release at a time.
There were outside credits too. In 2023, xskarma featured on Feel It, a single released by SpaceInTime Records, and in 2024 remixed Don’t Care for Frannie B. Those side projects eventually pointed toward the next move.
The Label Change
In November 2025, Tears in My Eyes came out under the SpaceInTime Records name instead of Crossleaze. Every release afterwards has done the same. That includes all five singles of 2026: Lost My Way on 6 March, Thousand Words three weeks later, Black Crow in May, Is It You in July and now Recess of My Mind.
That is a fast rate. Five singles in just over six months means a new release every three to eight weeks. There is no album campaign around them and no long build-up. So each song has to stand on its own.
The Recess of My Mind Single Finds xskarma Writing About Bad Dreams Without a Bigger Release
With Recess of My Mind, the new xskarma single goes somewhere dark. It deals with memory, love and loss, and with the way emotions left unresolved come back in dreams, distorted and sometimes close to nightmares. It runs four minutes and four seconds, well past Black Crow in May, which lasted just over two and a half minutes.
That length also suits the subject. A song about a dream needs a little room to drift, and the extra time lets the track settle into its mood before it ends. It is alternative pop with a downtempo pulse, made for late listening rather than the dance floor.
Working without a net cuts both ways. A singles strategy keeps a name in front of listeners and lets each track find its own audience. It also means no single release carries the weight of a full statement. Recess of My Mind answers that with a clear subject and a mood it holds from start to finish.
What Comes Next
If the year’s rhythm holds, another single would be due before the end of 2026. The more interesting question is whether these songs eventually gather into a second album. Five singles in 2026 already add up to half of one, and Recess of My Mind would make a natural centrepiece.
Who It Is For
The single suits listeners who like downtempo pop with a dark edge. Fans of James Blake will recognise the late-night weight of Retrograde from 2013, where a producer’s own voice carries a sparse, brooding track. Listeners who follow Bonobo will hear the patient layering that made Black Sands a downtempo touchstone in 2010. Anyone drawn to Röyksopp will know the dreamlike electronic pop of Melody A.M. from 2001.
Start with Recess of My Mind, then go back through the 2026 singles in order to hear how the year has built.
From the IndieMusic.News Curator Team: “Five singles in six months, each with no album behind it, is a high-wire way to build a catalogue. Recess of My Mind makes the case for the approach: one clear subject, one mood held from start to finish, and enough room to drift.”
Stream the single Recess of My Mind on Spotify and follow xskarma on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. The 2022 single Sacrifice You Make is on Spotify too, and more is on the official website.
