Ancient or modern, long gone or still standing, man-made or even natural, these sites are monuments that inspire universal awe and imagination, and bring us together. But how are they captured in song?

Out of this world and into many wondrous others, this week’s playlists take you on a cosmic journey through genres and galaxies, skilfully steered and chosen by guest voyager Nilpferd from last week’s topic

It’s time to boldly go beyond our planet to explore songs about and inspired by other planets, stars and galaxies, real or those of science fiction, and ideally those are imagined to be, or were once inhabited

It’s a creative, freeflowing form that may well be as much crafted as straight from the imagination, but also one that distorts narrative and logic. Inspired by last week’s nominations, guest ajostu presents an associative, brainstorming set of lists with a real ‘vibe’

It’s a literary narrative technique capturing our chaotic minds and random flow of thought processes, often with non-linear sense of time, free association, saturated with sensory experiences with strange rhythms, but how is it used in song?

New album: Beautifully warm, quiet, tender and bucolic new folk LP by the Yorkshire-based singer-songwriter, following a pastoral tradition of landscapes literal and emotional, very much influenced by and echoing the delivery of Nick Drake

New album: Following 2024’s acclaimed debut Hex Dealer, a newly challenging but also exciting experimental fusion of post-punk, noise rock, electronica and hip-hop by the New York band in this second LP, inspired by the anxiously oddball situation of frontman Bret Kaser’s identity being stolen by a real-life fan, and making hundreds of purchases in his name, including the band’s catalogue

New album: The acclaimed American singer-songwriter and pianist’s 18th album in a 35-year career is a grandiose, powerful 17-track album of odyssey and allegory around politics, power and feminist resistance, fuelled by the current state of her nation, set from the view of fictionalised marriage to a dangerous billionaire and an escape across the country with a narrative twist

New album: Moving away from the pop-folk direction of 2021’s Star-Crossed and 2024’s Deeper Well, the Nashville singer-songwriter returns with this seventh LP back to her country roots with gently trotting, stripped-back finely crafted collection of witty, catchy, candid numbers covering a spectrum of moods

New album: Hugely enjoyable, stylish, playfully eclectic debut LP of indie, electronica and Afro-disco and krautrock grooves by the Margate band fronted by the multi-lingual artist Falle Nioke from Guinea Conakry, West Africa, with songs about identity and ancestry, and a sound somewhere between New Order and William Onyeabor

Song of the Day: A stylishly fun, funky, eccentric electronica, indie and hip-hop fusion by the South Korean collective known as “alternative K-pop”, heralding their new album, Gongbu, out on 19 May, via MOAH

Song of the Day: An impassioned, stirring, dark and driving country/indie-rock number about what makes someone’s heart full and questioning why by the NY-based band with Kingsport, Tennessee roots, with this title track of the forthcoming debut LP Eyes Full, out on 5 June via Matador Records

Song of the Day: A catchy, cool, stylish fusion of indie and electro-pop by the classically trained, California-born, Vienna-based Iranian-Austrian artist, inspired by reading Patti Smith and Sam Shepard’s play of the same title, reimagining the play’s characters as Angel and Cowboy, and out now on Stones Throw Records

Song of the Day: A hugely fun, energising, infectious, effervescent, repetitive electronic dance track by the Bristol-based DJ/producer (aka Jake Martin) featuring a 3D pipe bassline by Memotone, and released alongside another track,Trust, out on Local Action

Song of the Day: Fizzing with vibrant energy and intricate rhythms, a fabulous new single with a personal accidental backstory by the London electronic afro-funk band out of London fronted by vocalist Eno Williams, out Merge Record