Janosch Troehler
Editor
Dawns Mystery – Tease Me
Switzerland's Dawns Mystery conjure the rough and gritty roots of indie rock in their new single «Tease Me».
Rock music is an anachronism—handcrafted in the digital age, gritty and raw in nature. As an underdog genre, one might even say: It went back to its rebel roots.
One band that celebrates these origins is Dawns Mystery, frenetically resounding in the streets of Zurich. Their new album, Hot Showers, is coming on May 10, but the quartet already teases us—quite literally—with their new single Tease Me.
The track celebrates its exclusive premiere today with Negative White:
Love me, tease me
I want you to strive with me
Let’s have a look and see
All we gotta do, is to keep it on and bad things will be gone
With Tease Me, Dawns Mystery tip their hats to hedonism, incarnated in the song's euphoric sound. The fuzz-heavy indie rock roams through smoke-filled bars, hot and sticky dancefloors; it blazes through nightlife's haze.
Despite the dense sound, the band grants the composition room to breathe and fills it with focus on the instruments—and a refreshing guitar solo, something that is almost a lost art nowadays. Tease Me sits right in the middle of the addictive melodies of indie rock and a rough, boiling vintage sound.
Edition #112
Today, we recommend the new songs by Luca Vasta, Mnevis, SAMAJAI, Fonella, and Stumbleine.
From the shores of Sicily to Scandinavian forests, between Swiss hills and in the streets of Bristol—everywhere springing exciting songs like spring flowers. Enjoy some straight-out-of-the-book pop music alongside experimental sounds, indie-rock, and exceptional voices.
Luca Vasta – Santa Maria
Summer is calling, thanks to Luca Vasta, half-Sicilian artist, and her fusion of contemporary attitudes and decades of shimmering Italo pop—as she already demonstrated with last year's L'Amore. And yes, you might find traces of kitsch in Santa Maria, but also a catchy hook and some bittersweet longing for the next holidays.
Mnevis – T.K. Collider
In almost eight epic minutes, Swiss outfit Mnevis takes you on a journey full of weird sounds, eclectic melodies, and addictive beats. T.K. Collider is a meditation of delays, a mediation of electronica eccentrism and fragile indie-rock sensitivities. An exceptional piece to get lost in thoughts.
Fonella – War
Found on Fonella's debut album, A Lot (Right Now), the song War begins as a hauntingly intimate piece, and every crack of the acoustic guitar is audible. But at the end, the 22-year-old Norwegian artist explodes in an overwhelming crescendo, a timid indie-folk expands to a cinematic vastness.
SAMAJAI – When the Night comes
The debut single When the Night comes by non-binary Norwegian artist SAMAJAI. It does not hide its roots in the 60s and 70s sound, with the organ humming in the background, but also modern twists, a bit of Cigarettes After Sex and Khruangbin. But this all fades in the presence of SAMAJAI's outstanding voice.
Stumbleine – Cinderhaze
UK producer Stumbleine is a small legend in the ambient space. Teasing his eighth studio album, Deleted Scene, the track Cinderhaze beautifully balances quieter moments and driven parts of the composition—with the beat constantly provoking a forward movement. Dream, dance, dream again.
You can listen to today's curation on selected streaming services:
Spotify • Apple Music • YouTube Music • Bandcamp
Moonpools – Hide and Seek EP
The new EP by Swiss quintet Moonpools is a treasure chest full of jewels reflecting the brightest moments of shoegaze, dream pop, and alt-rock.
The success announced itself. When Moonpools released their single Never Mind in February, I not only already had a top-spot contender for this year’s best song but also an exciting outlook on their upcoming EP, Hide and Seek.
However, Moonpools, this five-piece band from Basel, Switzerland, respectably saved themselves a place in indie fans’ hearts in 2022. Their second EP, Damaged Goods, demonstrated the band’s evocative sound. «Damaged Goods makes lostness and confusion sound astonishingly energetic and hopeful,» I wrote about the EP’s title track.
Later, I also talked about Feel from the same record: «It is a bright shimmering pearl of dream pop, heavily drawing from dark wave’s melancholia and indie rock’s melodic qualities. It is a constant flow of self-doubt, fear, and helplessness, presented by Marcie Nyffeler’s angelic voice and wrapped into a bittersweet arrangement.
Singer and guitarist Marcie Nyffeler, her brother Jasper (drums), Francesco Vona (keyboard), Matthias Gusset (guitar) and David Blum (bass) have since been featured by BBC Introducing and played at the esteemed Montreux Jazz Festival last year.
Mind-bogglingly Great
Today, their third EP, Hide and Seek, adds five more absolute gems to the treasure trove you can find beneath Moonpools’ surface.
Of course, the previous single releases are included, like the otherworldly slow-motion anthem Never Mind, floating right between melancholy and anticipation. This synth melody will not be anything but mind-bogglingly great.
Forget, the EP’s opener, shimmers in a veil of sadness, bittersweet and dreamy like the more voluptuous records of The Cure, like Bloodflowers. The closing Someday provides a lighter composition, with the acoustic guitar in the spotlight.
But there are also two exclusive songs on Hide and Seek. With Say Anything, Moonpools push down the gas pedal harder than anytime before—a driven, loud, and dense composition contrasts the revelling vocals.
The hopeful and uplifting synth hook reflects the song’s message, as Marcie Nyffeler explains:
«The song is a conversation between two people. One shares their insecurities and doubts, the other expresses their understanding and shows that they are there to support the other and loves them unconditionally. Sometimes you don’t even have to say anything, you understand each other without uttering a word.»
Say Anything is fighting with Never Mind for the most exuberant moment, yet, at least for me, melancholy trumps euphoria. Both songs, hymnic and larger-than-life, however, command attention.
Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Seek
But while the EP’s anthems grow exponentially towards infinity, a slow development in their shadows occurs, which you should not ignore but observe closely: See-Through. With over six minutes, the song borders at an epos building itself brick by brick, layer by layer. See-Through is a song for the patient, but it rewards with a haunting crescendo of devilish heavy sound and choirs from heaven.
With Hide and Seek, Moonpools almost put themselves and their already exquisite work on Damaged Goods to shame. It is more than a step; it is a leap up to the peak of Switzerland’s indie-rock hopefuls. Their talent for blending melancholy, beauty, and sophistication hides in plain sight; you do not have to seek their brilliance.
«We are relatively free to organise the Record Store Day within our territory»
On April 20, Record Store Day is about to go down again all across the world. We have asked Carsten Wetzl, project manager of the vinyl-celebrating day, what it's all about.
It is the one day that vinyl lovers have circled in bright red in their calendars: The Record Store Day (RSD). Every year, we see peculiar and exclusive releases—some quickly become high-value targets for collectors.
We had the chance to ask Carsten Wetzl a few questions ahead of this year's Record Store Day on April 20. The 30-year-old has been working for Record Store Day in German-speaking countries since mid-2021.
Carsten, you are the project manager for the Record Story Day in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. What does that mean exactly?
I, or rather we, primarily act as the interface between the participating record shops and the distributors. I collect and update the release lists and those of the participating shops, answer questions, provide assets, and so on.
There are also many other topics, such as initiating RSD releases with selected artists, searching and negotiating with partners and sponsors, working out the campaigns, selecting and coordinating RSD ambassadors, initiating the RSD design competition and generally looking after the website and social media channels, to name just a few areas of responsibility.
How does the international organisation and coordination of the RSD work?
It really varies from country to country. Of course, the USA has some guidelines on how certain things should be organised. However, we are relatively free to organise things within our territory and regularly coordinate with the RSD offices in the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Sweden, etc. The RSD now exists almost everywhere in the world.
This year, the RSD is entering into a partnership with Marshall. What can we expect from this?
You can expect fascinating campaigns. What's special this year is that Marshall (Headphones & Speakers division) also focuses on the shops themselves. That's why you can marvel at new Marshall headphones at the monitoring stations or Marshall speakers for sound reinforcement in many selected shops. With Coretex in Berlin and Hot Shot in Bremen, Marshall has also selected two great Marshall x RSD Ambassador Stores.
Great promotions for end consumers, such as the Marshall goodie bag with lots of exciting items that can be won in selected shops, are also available. One or two cool promotions will also follow.
However, the partnership is limited to Germany…
It is simply due to Marshall's focus and objectives. The Headphones & Speakers division hasn't been around for very long, and with 240 participating shops in all three countries, you first have to get such cooperation under one roof. You have to start at some point. But this is the first year of our collaboration, and I'm sure that the whole thing will be expanded in the coming years.
Vinyl has been celebrating a small but steady comeback for years. What reasons do you see for this?
I think there are several factors at play. We humans often have this «collector's gene», which you can recognise in the younger target group in particular. They often don't even have a record player but simply want to own certain records. That certainly plays a role.
For the people who also listen to the records, it is an entirely different listening experience to consciously put on a record, open a cool drink and get the best sound experience simultaneously.
Which release are you personally really looking forward to at this year's RSD?
I look forward to getting the 7" from Frank Turner or Milky Chance. The titles from Drangsal and Olivia Rodrigo & Noah Kahan are also up there. But as I also have to go to the shops myself to get the releases, it remains to be seen whether I'll be able to get my wishes or whether I'll have to expand my wish list again after all.
