Floating escape and adventure to crashing tragedy, this inflatable movement can bring delight and disaster. Inspired by last week’s topic, guest pejepeine picks perfect playlists to lift spirits and transport the musical imagination

From fragile gifts for children to party inflations, early hot air expeditions to the plight of dirigible blimps and zeppelins, balloons offer a profound literal and metaphorical set of emotions to fill the lungs of song

Aliens to unexpected identity, unusual sounds to strange artistic combinations as well as the lyrical subject itself, guest Marco den Ouden brings a box of brilliant surprises in response to our Big 10th Birthday Topic

Suddenly, out of nowhere we are 10 years old! A big celebration then, and a theme that’s surprising (or is it?) with lyrically with narrative twists, or unpredictable turns of phrase, bizarre sounds, odd instruments, strange key changes, or structures made to take the listener by surprise

Liquorice stick? This is more like a full musical feast as we tootle across multiple nations, eras and genres courtesy of the nimble fingers and ears of guest Nicko, who picks many great notes from last week’s theme

New album: A beautiful, delicate, minimalist debut of finely crafted chamber folk by the Bristol quintet of Lulu Austin, Maisie Brett, Tamsin Elliott, Beth Roberts and Isis Wolf-Light mixing originals and the traditional with flavours and influences from England to Egypt, Bulgaria to Bali, Afrikaans to Arabic, Ireland to Georgia

New album: The Grammy-nominated Turkish psych-groove quintet from Amsterdam return with a stylish and expansive sixth LP — a heartfelt tribute to the work of the legendary Turkish folk bard Neşet Ertaş (1938–2012), a legend of Anatolian music

New album: A classy, clever, subtle, experimental jazz and soul debut by the London-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, part of the east London scene at Total Refreshment Centre, rich in grooves, personal and poetic reflections

New album: Unapologetically brash, overtly sexual, crazily catchy and entertaining, the charismatic, colourful Canadian electroclash and musician and performance artist Merrill Beth Nisker returns with her seventh LP and first for 11 years, a striking mix of sex, gender identity, freedom of expression, and an antidote to miserable times

New album: The sixth LP and the first for six years by the German experimental electronic artist Sascha Ring (Grammy nominated for 2019’s LP5), on the theme of flux and uncertainty, balancing family and work life, and built on the back of stressful three years of writer’s block but filled with unusual sonic textures, sonic and acoustic and vulnerable emotions

Song of the Day: Catchy groove funk and hip-hop with a Stevie Wonder vibe, with added jazz trumpet and keyboards by the acclaimed American LA multi-genre bassist, featuring the late rapper Mac Miller in a track fantasising about a woman out of his league, and the latest heralding his upcoming album Distracted, out on 3 April via Brainfeeder

Song of the Day: Delicate, beautiful profound new work by the trio of British poet laureate Simon Armitage, multi-instrumentalist Patrick J. Pearson and singer-songwriter Richard Walters, about areas where light pollution is outlawed with this title track of their upcoming third album, out on 3 April via Real World Records

Song of the Day: Energetic, eclectic, stylish new work by Cameron Picton, formerly bassist of Black Midi, with new band lineup and a pacy mix of saxophone-filled jazz, acoustic guitar and frenetic stop-start rhythms, heralding the forthcoming eponymous debut album, out on 19 April via Rough Trade

Song of the Day: Dreamy, blurry and strangely beautiful, woozy shoegaze with washes of textured sound and some echoes of gentler My Bloody Valentine by the Copenhagen-based Chilean-Danish artist Rebecca Molina, out now on Escho Records

Song of the Day: A mysterious, semi-whispered, darkly enchanting and intimate experimental country ballad in reference to her husband Jeremy Dufrene by the acclaimed American singer-songwriter, and the latest to herald her upcoming tenth studio album Stove, out on Interscope/ Universal