Janosch Troehler
Editor
December 2024. It‘s late in the year and late in life to finally close a glaring and shameful knowledge gap. Leech is a prestigious name; well-known in the post-rock community. No wonder: This Swiss band has been making waves for almost 30 years.
Then again, I‘m not that into post-rock, and frankly, the reason why I find myself in the concert room of Zurich‘s youth centre Dynamo is not the christening of their new album, Sapperlot but mainly the support act. That‘s also a rather rare occasion. But ever since I heard Hugo Trist‘s Say It, Mean It earlier this year, I‘ve been obsessed with his future garage sound.
Hugo Trist is the brainchild of Leech’s founding member, Urs Meyer. Influenced by the sombre sounds of the 80s, Trist‘s music features a certain sadness, soulful vocals, and atmospheric synth compositions.
Janosch Troehler
How will it work on stage? And will I fall in love with Leech, too? Those questions lingered in my mind as I nipped on my small beer.
Hugo Trist did not play Say It, Mean It, and that’s one of two disappointments. The other: the gig was way too short. But well, what are you going to do with just a handful of songs out yet?
Apart from these minor complaints, Hugo Trist delivered a stunning show with a full lineup: drums, guitar, synth, and the mystical qualities of Nin Lil. The singer already contributed her stunning vocals in several recorded songs on Hugo Trist’s debut, Ready For the Fix, like Rest A While. Even De-Identify received her treatment—and it worked perfectly.
And these tracks, Rest A While and De-Identify, were definitely the highlights; the pressure and the spherical flow met and created the perfect dream-dance soundtrack.
With the live instruments, the soulful and clean sound evolved to something grittier and dirtier on stage—getting a more handcrafted rock-like vibe but neither losing the melancholic ambience nor the danceable groove. And with the disco-ball outfits and a seethrough, LED-lighted guitar, Hugo Trist was equally attractive for the eyes and ears.
Conclusion: I can’t wait to see Hugo Trist live again.
Now, it’s hard to put onto the page what Leech delivered after a convincing show by Hugo Trist. Of course, with decades of experience, you’ll expect a certain tightness, but man, nothing and no one could have prepared me for this.
The dynamics, the precision, the complexity in their purely instrumental post-rock were beyond. Time became like rubber, meaningless really, and melted away like the clocks in Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory.
I’ve seen a lot of artists without vocals perform on stage. However, it has never felt like with Leech. Maybe because there was still a quintet on stage, maybe because rock music traditionally comes with a singer and a frontman. But the musicians faded, and the music took the spotlight.
And the music became an elemental force, a wave building up in slow motion, towering higher and higher until it violently crashed over you—stripping away every thought.
The constant build-up of anticipation has a strange familiarity with electronic music—you’re awaiting the drop, trying to prepare for a shattering coming down. It was a mind-altering frenzy, archaic, dystopian and utopian.
Conclusion: Better late than never, and hopefully again.
The Most-Read Stories in 2024
These posts drew significant interest throughout the year.
Over the past almost twelve months, more than 22’000 people visited Negative White and generated 63’000 page views. However, it’s hard to assess whether these numbers are good or bad without comparison.
From my journalism experience, I know that national media in Switzerland consider a story with 63’000 pageviews per article to be well-performing. In that sense, Negative White is undeniably niche. And that’s okay. Even though music consumption has never been this high, only the most dedicated and passionate are interested in music journalism.
I try to ignore metrics as much as possible. To Negative White, as a newsletter-focused platform, the number of subscribers is far more significant than page views. And as a member-funded publication, the number of paying subscribers is the most crucial.
That said, I review our analytics at the end of the year to gain insights and draw conclusions. (Sidenote: We use Plausible for analytics, an EU-hosted, GDPR-compliant software.) Today, I’ll transparently share which stories drew the most readers.
Nemo broke the code
In February, I received an email about a traffic spike on Negative White. Since I haven’t checked the news yet, I couldn’t understand why a short news from 2023 about Nemo identifying as non-binary would suddenly go through the roof. The answer: news broke that Nemo would compete at the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland. As Nemo’s career was limited to Switzerland up to that point (he mostly sang in Swiss-German), nothing about them was available in English except for this meagre post by Negative White.
Together with another news post covering their participation’s official announcement, stories about Nemo brought over 14’000 visitors to the side—more than half of all other stories combined.
Janosch Troehler
Artificially generated music
Throughout the year, multiple stories about artificially generated music and fake albums also captured high interest. In January, I reported on the Swiss band Bell Baronets, which had been subjected to an AI scam: The scammer uploaded an AI-generated album to their Spotify profile. That’s only possible because aggregators like DistroKid have lacklustre security measures. Later, I discovered that even more of these scams were affecting Swiss bands. And in April, I wrote a ranty piece about Obscurest Vinyl, an example of a fake artist with AI-generated music taking away attention and money from real human beings.
These three stories intrigued 1200 readers.
Janosch Troehler
Interview, music, and other stories
Aside from the larger AI trend and the interest around Nemo, a couple of other stories reached the top ten. For example, the news about the passing of The Soft Moon’s Luis Vasquez or my retrospective on switching from Spotify to Apple Music.
Equally successful was the interview with Son Mieux’ Camiel Meirresonne, and two premieres also snatched a top spot: Lioba’s Paperthin and Jenobi’s Makeup.
Janosch Troehler
Metric-wise, 2024 has been an exceptional year. The Nemo-infused traffic won’t happen again anytime soon. Yet, the success of these news posts is undeniable and might prompt an easy solution: just publish more news. However, as the only writer for Negative White, I don’t have the capacity to do that reliably. And more importantly, it bores me to death.
I don’t intend to create a news-driven platform but something that takes news and asks: What does it mean? A secondary publication aimed towards analysis, critique, and perspective.
Decide on our editorial focus
Instead of running an annoying survey where you can evaluate our work in the past months, I decided only to ask you a simple and straightforward question:
What would you like to see more in 2025?
Your opinion on this is crucial; it helps me focus on what matters to you. Thank you for voting today.
Edition #139
This week, we recommend the new songs by R o n i a & Thelema, Them Flying Monkeys, Aliston, Kasper Bjørke, and Lapcat & Hawkfather.
Speeding towards something you might call the season finale with an unusual selection: typewriter chamber music, punkified French pop, heartfelt folk, a self-inflicted remix, and continent-spanning electro.
❶ R o n i a & Thelema – salty water
The waves crash, the seagull cackles, and a typewriter creates the beat. The collaboration between R o n i a and Thelema, called salty water, is an outstanding bit of contemporary chamber music— and somehow quite frightening yet fascinating in its gripping atmosphere.
❷ Them Flying Monkeys – Les Gens Sont Fous, Les Temps Sont Flous
Originally by French pop artist Jacques Dutronc, Portuguese rockers Them Flying Monkeys took Les Gens Sont Fous, les Temps Sont Flous and warped it into a shredding, punkish jackhammer of a track. It’s angry, it’s loud, and it’s excellent!
❸ Arliston – Disappointment Machine
Arliston’s new single, Disappointment Machine, comes alongside a touching and cinematic video. The London-based duo explores loss, longing and confusion with a careful and warm song, prompting introspection and compassion alike.
❹ Kasper Bjørke – I Was There (Kasper Bjørke <3 NY Remix)
Can you really remix yourself? Who really cares when it’s as groovy as Kasper Bjørke’s Kasper Bjørke <3 NY Remix of Kasper Bjørke’s I Was There. Jokes aside: This minimalistic tune has an addictive flavour—a moment on the lips, hours on dancing hips.
❺ Lapcat & Hawkfather – Ringo (Magical Arrangement)
A bold open: Ringo (Magical Arrangement) by Lapcat & Hawkfather punches you with a hard beat. The humping rhythm pumps the blood through the track’s intricate veins, fuelling the heart, which definitely is the soulful vocals contrasting the electronic composition.
Missed Darlings
A Weekly5 special edition recommending five songs that slipped through the cracks this year.
As 2024 heads to a close, we’re also on track to end another year of Weekly5. With the two editions ahead, we’ll hit a new record: 40 selections, amounting to 200 recommended songs in the playlist.
While I feel that I have improved the quality of the curation again, there are certainly a few songs I wouldn’t consider again in hindsight. On the other hand, some songs either didn’t make the cut, or I discovered them weeks or months after their release. Let’s be honest here: It’s just impossible to listen to every new song out there.
However, today’s special edition of Weekly5 is dedicated to five of these missed or killed darlings. Because I believe they, too, deserve your attention.
Baula – Mercury In Retrograde
Heavy Heart, No Tears, the debut album of Gothenburg’s duo Baula, was released back in April, featuring the incredible song Mercury in Retrograde.
Still, I can’t decide what my favourite thing about it is: the relentless urging of its rhythm, the eerie contrast between the soft, whispering voice and the raw sound, the Western-noir vibe. Mercury in Retrograde is a sinister, haunting anthem—and one of my favourite tracks of 2024.
Francis of Delirium – First Touch
If you want to split hairs, Francis of Delirium’s First Touch was actually released as a single in 2023. But I discovered it on their album Lighthouse this year.
And, oh my gosh, what a chillingly beautiful and bittersweet song it is! It’s pure perfection, executed by Jana Bahrich, the 20-something frontwoman from Luxemburg. First Touch is, without any shred of doubt, one of the best love songs—ever.
Grace Cummings – On and On
What a voice, what a composition. Australian singer-songwriter Grace Cummings pulls off quite a stunt in On and On, found on her third album, Ramona.
The galloping in slow-motion rhythm carries poignant piano chords, soft organs, and a daring horn, while Cummings’ voice meanders almost detached through the thick of the arrangement. But this sonic caleidoscope never sounds overloaded; there’s always a new nuance to discover.
LYR – Profusion
Admittedly, spoken word isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But if you should give it a try, then with Profusion by the British trio LYR.
The evocative writing of UK’s Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, accompanied by the music of Richard Walters and Patrick J Pearson, bears a unique feeling with both components seamlessly intertwining, never overpowering the other. I won’t claim that Profusion is a song suited for mere background noise. Prepare: lay down, close your eyes, and immerse yourself fully and uncompromisingly.
Joshua Thew – Reveal
After a decade of being a dancer for the New York City Ballet, British Joshua Thew began pursuing music full-time, releasing the EP Endlessly in August—a collection of warm soul and R&B songs.
The closing Reveal is a touching highlight: Only a piano joins forces with Thew’s stunning, velvety voice, again proving how impactful even the most minimal can be. Yes, it scratches on kitsch, but sometimes that’s the comfort we need.
I hope you enjoy these 2024 darlings as much as I do and could discover some new artists enriching your music collection from here on into the future.
Matze Pröllochs processes Miscarriage in «Stay»
Today, Negative White hosts the premiere of «Stay», the first single of Matze Pröllochs’ upcoming album «BIRTH NO BIRTH».
At first, it seems like any other relationship song. Matze Pröllochs sings: «Hey, it’s been a long way already / Hey, why don’t you stay here with me.» And in a way, it is about a relationship. The one built with an unborn child, but one that unfortunately will never come to full fruition due to a miscarriage.
I won’t ever be able to fully understand this pain. The hopes, the imagined future, the uncertainty, and the unconditional love shattered. Processing the death of children has been put into music, Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton, for example. But miscarriages are rarely discussed publicly and even rarer from the father’s perspective—even though it is estimated that 10 to 15 percent of pregnancies end in one.
In his upcoming solo album, BIRTH NO BIRTH, the Berlin-based drummer, composer, and performer Matze Pröllochs explores the topic of birth and—in the case of Stay—grants space to the taboo aspect. The touching song, alongside an evocative video, premieres today with Negative White:
Stay certainly features a melancholic, even sad undertone, espcially when Joel Siepmann’s cello enters, yet Pröllochs keeps his position on the lighter and warmer side. Glowing synths lead the way into a colourful universe where art-pop‘s whimsical nature teams up with dream-pop‘s elusiveness.
Stay, unlike the largely instrumental album, features Pröllochs‘ soft, comforting voice. Somewhere between forgiving and pleading, the few lines carry the whole emotional weight. But there is no need for more words for a pain and loss beyond language.
