Janosch Troehler

Today, the Weekly5 present itself once again as a colourful bouquet. The musical diversity remains a never-ending fascination for me. Even after 13 years, the admiration for artists who create great things across stylistic boundaries remains unbroken.

In this newsletter, I, therefore, recommend fresh material from European musicians. We embark on a musical road trip that spans the continent.

From Vienna to Barcelona, we ponder the meaning of home. Then over to London to shatter stereotypes. Next, we stop in postmodern Toulouse and dance our hearts out. Finally, in Northern Ireland, we look for our inner strength to dive into a new universe from Switzerland later on.

Atzur – Home to Home

Snow-covered fields pass by the windscreen. From Barcelona to Vienna - and back. This is how the continent-spanning anthem Home to Home by the Austrian-Spanish duo Atzur came into being. And there is this question: What is home, actually?

“And I've been afraid, cierro los ojos temo no volver,” Patricia Trost sings. “I close my eyes, afraid not to return.” The doubts are underpinned with longing and a sense of adventure but equally melancholy sounds of homesickness. Home to Home is torn, and yet optimism takes over at the end.

The drama of Home to Home is perfectly staged. In the best Florence + The Machine manner, Atzur build a power-packed monument. The sound is oversized, driven by pure conviction, and garnished with a good portion of pathos. A captivating mixture that throws you back to naked existence.

Let’s jump right into today’s selection. I always feel ashamed to say that it’s a fantastic edition. That’s quite silly since it’s the artists that keep delivering distilled greatness.

On the other hand, I don’t know if you agree with my taste. I guess I overthink too much. But, in the end, you’re here because I at least sometimes struck your chord.

Today, I feature an opulent ballad, incredible guitar sounds from Africa, rattling Swiss rock, a bold cover song and colourful electronica. The thread following all those songs is a certain ambience of timelessness.

Keep in mind that you’ll find these tracks also in the playlists on Spotify and Apple Music.

Sylvie Kreusch – All of Me

Belgian singer Sylvie Kreusch is most famous for her contributions to Maarten Devoldere’s Warhaus and its self-titled sophomore album. However, Kreusch has been steadily releasing music, building her reputation as a formidable artist.

All of Me, this year’s second single, certainly contributes to this notion of captivating attraction. Kreusch’s smoldering vocals spark warmth and comfort. In addition, the song features a vintage feeling, a timelessness that just keeps on growing.

Although All of Me starts like a brutal march, Kreusch quickly changes the perception to a velvety smooth ballad, banning the war drums to the background while lo-fi strings take the spotlight. The track remains relatively low-key for two-thirds of its runtime. But then, the brass section explodes into a frivolous firework. Pure adrenaline!

Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime

Mdou Moctar is, according to MOJO, “the hottest shredder in the Sahara.” Moctar released his new record, Afrique Victime, on Friday. Listening to this 9-track album undoubtedly proves MOJO’s verdict to be almost an understatement.

The process of curation produces winners and losers. That is one uncomfortable truth. The other is that sometimes those who don't really deserve it end up on the losing side. And sometimes, I hope rarely, losers come out on the winning side. But, of course, this is a subjective perception.

Over the past few months, I have chosen 85 songs for the Weekly5 playlist. Sometimes this task was easy, sometimes hard. And it's always painful to leave out a great track. Maybe because the competition was just too intense, perhaps because it would have harmed the selection balance.

"Kill your darlings" - that's the motto in writing. The beauty of curating is that the chips that fall while grinding an issue stay in my workshop. And at the same time, it's unfair because no one gets to see them. Or rather, to hear them.

I would like to change this today. That's why today's special edition features five pieces that stayed in my mind but didn't officially make it into the selection.

Silver Firs – Now We Start To See The Beauty

The Swiss duo Silver Firs finally released a new song a few weeks ago after a long period of silence. The title Now We Start To See The Beauty is almost poetic in light of today's output.

First, a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who joined our small community of music enthusiasts. I’m honoured to have you on board.

Secondly, aligned with the Weekly5 values, I’ve to apologize for an embarrassing mistake in last week’s edition. I spelt an artist’s name wrong all the time. Manu Delago, not Delgado, performs the song ReCycling. It’s no wonder I couldn’t find the track on Apple Music. However, I corrected the mistake in the newsletter’s web version and added the song to the Apple Music playlist.

Join the Weekly5 Discord

Now we have that sorted out, I’d like to conduct a little experiment. I’ve created a small Discord server where you can join if you feel like it. You can chat or talk or recommend music directly with other members.

I’ll be hanging around today from 7 to 9 pm CET. Come and say hello. 👋

Join the Discord

Let’s turn our focus to today’s selection. It’s an assortment of songs that sound like dreams. Sometimes the dreams are dark and sad, sometimes they are beautiful and happy. But never nightmares. Close your eyes and start listening.

GEISTHA – altar

Initially rooted in the techno space, GEISTHA turns with their new single altar to an intriguing mixture of hip-hop and electro-pop, wrapped in a sinister goth atmosphere.

“Gender identity is always a central yet sometimes subversive part of my work. As a non-binary person, I use heartsick songs not only as a coping mechanism but as a gloomy source of self-empowerment,” GEISTHA explains.

GEISTHA’s track is filled with melancholy. At times altar feels like a lead jacket, pulling you downwards into a state of deep sadness. Yet, despite the dark ambience, altar also sounds incredibly cool. The hip-hop vibe is creating a contemporary, cinematic feel. It’s the soundtrack to roam in the nocturnal city streets.

This week’s curation has been an emotional rollercoaster. At first, I wasn’t sure to have enough songs to fill the edition. But as Friday grew old and night fell, more and more extraordinary tracks came together. In the end, I had to choose from eleven pieces.

Maybe it seems trivial from the outside, but the process of curating this newsletter is painful. My mission is to share great music with anyone willing to listen. Not sharing a song that speaks to me always feels like neglecting a part of myself. In a way, Weekly5 is accompanied by vulnerability and doubt. Did I choose wisely? Or did I kill too many darlings?

But ultimately, the deadline approaches and puts an end to the worries. The best I can hope for is that there are songs that also speak to you.

Five songs obviously survived the slaughterhouse. They tell stories of love, sex and bicycles. They trigger gratitude and self-doubt. They leave you energized and relaxed. Hopefully.

Adna – November

I vividly remember encountering Adna for the first time. I stared at the cover of her second album, Run, Lucifer, and was immediately captivated. In front of a grey wall stands this woman with large, deep eyes. The gaze is filled with heartbreaking melancholy and an ancient sadness. As vulnerable as a flower and as steadfast as a rock in the storm. It was the perfect metaphor for Adna’s art. Gentle music is a lethal weapon.

After the third record, Closure, Adna went silent. It’s been a long four-year wait. Finally, the Swedish artist with Bosnic roots released a new single, November. The song is pure Adna; this shimmering melody played by a guitar, the composition’s ethereal flow like the sea on a foggy day at the beach.

There’s innocent beauty and bittersweetness in November. There’s an eternity in this song about vulnerability. And while it’s a hymn full of love, hope and gratitude, there’s also a ring of doubt that one could find somebody who’s fully embracing you.

With Adna’s music, the world stops spinning. At the same time, I ask myself how it kept turning without it.

It’s a beautiful weekend here in Switzerland. The weather is perfect, and I find my mood to be uplifted by the warm sunshine. Spring has arrived, the season of new beginnings.

And I’m thinking about the future of Weekly5. That’s why I’m looking for some community members to discuss some ideas I have. If you’re willing to give me some of your precious time, please reach out to me by email (janosch@weekly5.io).

I’m looking forward to a dialogue with you.

In the meantime, I’ve curated five new songs for you. There are weeks when I’m not entirely satisfied with the selection. However, today, there are some significant highlights—thriving hymns, danceable tracks, pumping beats, shimmering melodies and intimate art.

James – Beautiful Beaches

The history of James is long and winding. Founded back in 1981, the Manchester outfit experienced great success in the early 90s. They sold over 25 million records to this day.

Now, they return with a new album, All The Colours Of You, which will be released in June. A first taste provides Beautiful Beaches, written by James’ singer Tim Booth as a reaction to migration because of climate change and last year’s devastating wildfires in California.

While inspired by actual and dark events, Booth also thematizes a repeating vision where his family finds shelter from earthquakes and fires on beautiful beaches. And yet, if you ignore the sinister backstory of Beautiful Beaches, it’s an incredibly uplifting song – a hymn to new beginnings. “I like the idea that many might not know the backstory and hear it as a post-Covid holiday song,” says Tim Booth.

BAFANG – Ibabemba

Ibabemba was actually released quite a while ago. However, the single now was officially released in Switzerland, after the Cameroonian duo BAFANG celebrated some success in France.

The brothers Enguerranet and Lancelot are the architects of a unique jewel. The sound is reduced to the max, created by a drumset, a guitar and some effects. BAFANG are dancing at the intersection of Stoner Rock, Tuareg Blues, Makossa and World Music.

Ibabemba is a thriving craziness of pure rock energy, organic grooves and hot rhythms. A bolt of lightning that strikes the minds and bodies. A summer hit for the misfits.

Switzerland’s government is loosening its Covid-19 restrictions. Theoretically, concerts are possible again from Monday onwards. However, the silence will not end just yet. On Thursday, I’ve written a short opinion piece about the upcoming changes in the Corona measures.

The bottom line: It’s still up to us, the music enthusiasts, to support our favourite artists by the means we have. At least by streaming their songs as often as possible. But ideally, we buy records and other merchandise directly from them.

And I hope you will find some new artists to support in these times. Today, I’ve again added five new tracks to the playlist (check it out on Spotify or Apple Music).

The selection features sensual tunes, contemporary world music, sugarcoated riot pop-punk, sexual garage rock and experimental ambient hip-hop.

Let’s discover!

Kele – Smalltown Boy

There’s no way around it: Bronski Beat’s 1984 single Smalltown Boy is an evergreen. In the last decades, the song has been covered countless times – more or less successfully. The latest attempt at this driven hymn takes Kelechukwu Rowland Okereke, known as the frontman of Bloc Party.

However, it’s no coincidence that Kele decided to create his own version of Smalltown Boy. The story of a boy that leaves his parents after his coming out might ring with Kele’s personal life. He came out as homosexual in 2010.

The British musician’s rendition of Smalltown Boy is haunting. Carried by his unique voice, the song takes a more sinister approach, with the eternal melody reverbing in the darkness. Kele’s cover is dark, bittersweet, yet undeniably beautiful.

After last week's special edition, we return today to the same procedure as every week (Yes, the same procedure as every Sunday, James).

That's not a bad thing as I could pick from two weeks worth of material. It was hard to pick and choose from many great songs released in the past couple of days. But I think I've managed to compile five new songs that show a wide variety of styles from both well-established artists and fresh talents you should keep an eye out for.

Today's Weekly5 features atmospheric tunes from Markian and Husten. Lea Porcelain and Pink Turns Blue deliver songs between melancholy and optimism, while Odd Beholder appeals to our consciousness.

And as always, you can find the new tracks in the playlists:

• Spotify
• Apple Music

Markian – Misery

There's something archaic about Misery, the debut single of Lucerne-based artist Markian Dlaboha. It's a droning sound echoing in a pitch-black cave, created only with his voice and a looper. It's a journey to our deepest worries and the human error of repeating mistakes. "Would you mind telling me what is wrong with me? I never learn from history," Markian sings.

In 2019, Markian won second place in the band contest Sprungfeder and could produce Misery together with Anna Murphy (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) in Lucerne's Soundfarm Studios.

Out of the gate, Misery is neither light nor catchy. However, with a charismatic voice, Markian creates an incredible experience bordering on a hypnotic, religious ritual. I'm converted. Let's all attend Markian's service.