You know this slight tiredness, this exhausting saturation after a big dinner? When you just ate a bit too much and hope that the subsequent espresso will ease the burden?

That’s precisely the feeling I’m left with by GINA ÉTÉ’s new album, Prosopagnosia‌. Granted, this metaphor could be perceived as rather negative. But it’s more a fair warning: the album is heavy and not easily digested.

First, I have to get it out of the way: GINA ÉTÉ has teased this album with the single release of Fyou:you, a pumping track with Swiss dialect lyrics. Naturally, this limits the song’s message about bodies, borders, gender, and discrimination. That’s why ÉTÉ has invited seven European musicians to create covers in multiple languages.
Despite this innovative approach, Fyou:you falls off in the grand scheme of Prosopagnosia‌. As a standalone single, the track and the idea work, but in the album’s context, the sound is too rash and cuts through an otherwise consistent album.

But this remains pretty much my only nitpick of GINA ÉTÉ’s otherwise breathtaking sophomore album, filled with filigrée and whimsical arrangements between chamber music, pop, and electronic sounds. I once wrote about GINA ÉTÉ: „This Zurich-based musician is something of a Swiss answer to Björk: influenced by many different styles, mysterious and—once you have immersed yourself in this sound universe—disarming.“ And this conclusion still rings true years later.

Often, the songs are eerily haunting, like Love To Work, an exploration of care and sex work. ÉTÉ explains in the press release: „Any work historically done by mostly women to care for others is underestimated, ill-paid, stigmatised, often done under precarious conditions. With Love To Work, I want to fight for their appreciation and for better, safer work conditions.”

Where Love To Work has its very unique, bold energy, The Bet and My Friend feature a flowing beauty, a fragile innocence in their melodies. In those more quiet moments, GINA ÉTÉ excels with impressive brilliance.

Again, I have to repeat: Prosopagnosia‌ is not an easily accessible work. It has a certain melancholy, a darker tone to it. The arrangements are complex and ever-shifting, like sonic chameleons. The themes explored aren’t a walk in the park either; they prompt us to reflect and be critical.

It took me several listening sessions, spread over a couple of weeks, to truly appreciate Prosopagnosia‌. First, my verdict would’ve been much worse. But now, the album has blossomed and grown on me. The intricate compositions, the sense that every little thing in those songs is meaningful and done with intent.

Take your time with this one.

GINA ÉTÉ – Prosopagnosia‌

Release: 07/02/2025

1. Prolog – This Mess I’m In
2. Love to Work
3. La Joie (au bout d’un moment)
4. The Bet
5. F***you:you
6. Interlude – Your Opinion
7. The Last Air
8. Blindside
9. My Friend
10. Your Opinion

Buy on Bandcamp

Reading the news leaves me depressed, angry, even furious. And this bottled-up energy needs a valve, one that Best Behavior delivers. The third album by Portuguese band Them Flying Monkeys is an unapologetic series of hammering, rampaging rock staccatos.

Despite infusing more electronic elements, Them Flying Monkey’s sound remains harsh and loud, only rarely enthralled by catchy melodies while otherwise relentlessly stomping and shouting like a child at the cashier wanting a treat.

And they certainly don‘t beat around the bush: Beautiful Mess, a track with intro quality, opens the curtain with vigour. Explosive bursts light up like fireworks. From there on out, their onslaught just never slows down anymore.

Pretty Sticks, released as a single last year, sets the tone and style of the album. It’s a chopped-up rock sound they deliver, driven by Hugo Luzio’s merciless drums and João Tomázio’s bass. Vocalist Luís Judícibus often leans more into urging shouts than melodic singing, giving the songs a punkish vibe, while Diogo Sá (guitar) and Francisco Dias Pereira (keys) join the action, laying a carpet of psychedelic sounds.

The whole album feels integrated, yet each track remains distinct. Next Emma Stone and Everybody Everything lean into a rapid punk rock à là Sum 41. The chorus of Great Song borders at hardcore. And they’re so comfortable with their sonic signature that they can even make others work their own with Jacques Dutronc’s Les Gens Sont Fous, les Temps Sont Flous.

The only breather on Best Behavior is Not Me, at least in the beginning. A reduced composition, highlighting the spoken word by Judícibus. But the initial calm doesn’t last long, as they soon escalate to a final crescendo.

Them Flying Monkeys have a hypnotic quality regardless of their noisy attire. But it isn’t just their jackhammering composition but also their lyrics. They’re devoid of any useless fat, trimmed to the bare minimum, often hard-hitting one-liners, repeated to burn it in your mind. They take this concept to the extreme in Fake It:

You gotta fake it
’til you make it
Or something worth being done

On endless repeat, as I’ve done to write this review, Best Behavior can get a bit tiring because the sound is so raw, so unyielding, and urging you can’t ignore it. You have to listen—it’s not made for background drizzle. But honestly, that’s more praise than criticism. We certainly don’t need more music that doesn’t truly grab your attention, that doesn't pull you back to the moment.

This uncompromising energy of Best Behavior is mere genius.

Them Flying Monkeys – Best Behavior

Release: 24/01/2025

1. Beautiful Mess
2. Pretty Sticks
3. Next Emma Stone
4. Great Song
5. Everybody Everything
6. Not Me
7. Les gens sont fous, les temps sont flous
8. Aim
9. Fake It
10. Wilds

Buy on Bandcamp