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

Across all the genres it's time for a tootle on the old liquorice stick. Versatile in sound, from a smooth, pure voice, to a dirty growl, a gradual glissando to a noisy blast of so-called blarinet, from resonant, lovely soloist to a voluminous harmonised group

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

New album: Wonderfully colourful, mystical and socio-political, the British psychedelic-folk-rock quartet return with their special brand of eccentric, oddball originality, here including Welsh poems, ‘bard rap’ and an a protest manifesto for social change and mental wellbeing in a world gone mad

New album: The Australian and now UK-based band return after 12 years, with singer Juanita Stein (who has since released four solo studio albums and is co-titled with the album) rejoins brother Joel Stein, and Glenn Moule, with solid, strong, resonant, shoegazey, grungey, indie rock

New album: Following 2024’s Natural Magick, the British rock band fronted by Crispian Mills continue their late-career purple patch with their third album in just four years and eighth across their three decades with a kaleidoscopic, unabashed high-octane dive into 60s-style psychedelia

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

Song of the Day: Bono, The Edge and co return with their first new music since 1017 by the Irish rock giants, a return to form with a powerful protest song about current American politics, part of their new six-song EP, Days of Ash, out on Island Records

Song of the Day: An intricate, glimmering fusion of guitars, synths, pacy rhythm and emotive delivery with stylistic echoes of Radiohead by the Melbourne indie band of Noah Harris and co, heralding the upcoming EP, 8HRS, out on 24 April via Community Music