Janosch Troehler
Editor
Edition #138
This week, we recommend the new songs by Alina Amuri, XHER, Hathors, Dressed Like Boys, and Minor Conflict.
From afrobeat to avant-garde. From the darkest corners into the sunny warmth. Yes, today’s edition stretches quite far. Enjoy our latest, considered picks.
❶ Alina Amuri – Take My Time
The dragging rhythm seems odd at first, but then you get hooked. Alina Amuri’s Take My Time is a hymn to deceleration and the perfect tune to unwind and celebrate the moment surrounded by a captivating fusion of afrobeat and neo-soul.
❷ XHER – Sobriety
Sobriety is the debut single of Zurich-based Polish-Ecuadorian artist XHER. A promising clash of hyper-pop, post-punk energy, and Goth aesthetics symbolising the darkness in a digitised dystopia.
❸ Hathors – Special Bird
Taken for their new album, When The Sun Is Out (When The Skies Are Grey), Switzerland‘s Hathors find the balance between a raw grunge-styled rock anthem and a regretful, heavy-handed ballad in Special Bird. As if the Foo Fighters fell into depression.
❹ Dressed Like Boys – Jaouad
Jaouad is a heartfelt and touching admiration of Muslim LGBTQIA+ icon Jaouad Alloul. Within the song lives hope and strength—for anyone who needs to hear it: «Do you wanna be understood without having to be understandable?»
❺ Minor Conflict – Parallels II
A weird and unique sound is hailing from Bristol. Trio Minor Conflict’s Parallels II brews an unusual yet eclectic cocktail of folk, drone, post-rock, field recordings, and krautrock. An easy-listen? Definitely not! But for the brave and experimental minds: Give it a spin.
Alrighty Aphrodite premieres video for «Loud But Silently»
German-French indie rock artist Alrighty Aphrodite shares video for his single, «Loud But Silently». Watch the premiere here today.
Nostalgia for the early 2000s indie rock—that is undoubtedly the first thought that springs to mind when you listen to Alrighty Aphrodite’s song Loud But Silently. A snotty attitude, a roughness to the sound, but also an unparalleled honesty.
Loud But Silently was already released in July 2024. But before Marc Feldes, the creative mind behind Alrighty Aphrodite, unleashes the first single of his debut EP next year, Loud But Silently receives some more love with a new video.
Directed and shot by Thea Seddig, the sepia-toned video underpins the song’s vintage aesthetics. Today, Negative White is proudly hosting its premiere:
But before you dismiss Alrighty Aphrodite as yet another retro cosplay with no substance, Loud But Silently does actually have lyrical depth in the pockets of its upbeat sonic outfit.
The juxtaposition of «loud» and «silent» metaphorically represents outer appearance or perception and inner struggles, respectively. The moral of the story, however, is not about these challenges but a worthwhile reminder:
And then you're asking me, ‚What's it all about?‘
And then I'm telling you something, honey, life’s about
How you, yeah, how you live it
Not how you make it the most vivid
Between living life fearlessly and consciously, the lesson ultimately is to find a mindful balance. To find meaning and joy. To find the right path for you, unbound by external expectations.
The November Playlist Updates
Our exclusive playlists «Capacitor», «Shadowdancer», and «Mindwanderer» received extensive updates. Check the latest here.
Edition #137
This week, we recommend the new songs by Searows, Melicious, Mary and the Sharks, Albert af Ekenstam, and Moyka.
❶ Searows – to be seen
Taken from his new EP flush, Searows’ to be seen is an exceptional work of beauty, exploring the urge to be fully recognised by a loved one. Alec Duckart arranges his haunting voice with piano and strings to a profoundly intimate ballad. It’s a touching, even heartbreaking song.
❷ Melicious – Flooding The Bus
How explosive can a track about crying on the bus be? Switzerland’s Melicious says: Yes! Flooding The Bus is the perfect amalgamation of pop music with the driven energy of fun punk. You should check out the new EP Ugly Starts and Promises.
❸ Mary and the Sharks – Prophecy
In her new single, Prophecy, Berlin-based Mary and the Sharks farewells juvenile jauntiness with a pinch of regret and nostalgia but also welcomes the continuous change and grounded moments coming with age. Underlined with an almost post-punky indie-rock.
❹ Albert af Ekenstam – Ghost in Us
After six silent years, the Swedish singer-songwriter Albert af Ekenstam returns with the impressive Ghost In Us. A folk song that escalates ever more into this overwhelming and seemingly infinite composition. An experience that leaves you vulnerable and invigorated.
❺ Moyka – Rear View (Heartbreak Edition)
Moyka’s Rear View is a raving masterpiece of Nordic electropop. The Norwegian artist has released a severely reduced Heartbreak Edition of the track: no beats but vast synths expand, and her raw voice in the most stunning and chilling performance. Wow!
Songs Of A Lost World, Indeed
The Cure’s new album, «Songs Of A Lost World», resonates around the world. Let’s take a closer look.
What else can I write that hasn’t been put down on paper? Yes, Songs Of A Lost World, the new album by The Cure, the first in 16 years, is a masterpiece. And one wonders what diabolical pact this Robert Smith must have made to still sound 25 at 65.
The album has since climbed to number one in the album charts in both the USA and the UK. Comparisons were drawn with the band's undisputed opus magnum: Disintegration from 1989. As ever, The Cure sounded dripping with melancholy and full of world-weariness. And in general, no one disagrees with this conclusion.
Transience is a constant companion throughout the album. In I Can Never Say Goodbye, Smith heartbreakingly deals with the death of his brother. «As a memory of the first time, in the stillness of a teardrop / As you hold me for the last time in the dying of the light,» laments Smith in And Nothing Is Forever.
Songs Of A Lost World is a desperate beacon, written by an ageing man in an ever faster-changing world. What is actually the perfect template for something cringeworthy works because Smith laments but doesn’t point fingers. It has always been that way with The Cure: profoundly personal but with a way of finding yourself in the songs.
When I asked on the Threads platform why the album resonates with people, Alex Storer replied: «I’ve experienced a lot of loss, so the lyrics speak to me personally on that level, but it seems to go further than that; it’s about the passing of time, the sudden feeling of being old(er) and the realisation that the world you've grown up in and been shaped by has changed for the worse.»
And Chris Jakins added: «The message may be bleak, but there's hope in the fact that they’re still saying it and sounding so good.»
And my personal favourites among the answers were provided by these two users:
I remember walking the streets of Zurich at the age of 18 with the album Bloodflowers playing on endless repeat. The soul bathed in adolescent despair, accompanied by The Cure.
Even more than Disintegration, I see a direct kinship between Songs Of A Lost World and 2000’s Bloodflowers. Both have this meandering quality; both take their time in the sprawling compositions and celebrate a warming sadness.
The success of Songs Of A Lost World is both surprising and natural. The Cure have almost prophetically chosen the perfect time for the release: at the turn of an era, while dreams and hopes were shattered in the US elections and a shock wave of bewilderment was sent to Europe. Instead of anger, discouragement and disorientation are on the agenda today. And this album is the perfect soundtrack to the question: What is happening to us right now?
At the same time, The Cure deliver the perfect anachronism, at least musically. In a music industry in which algorithms increasingly influence songwriting, the band creates a bastion of escapist, writhing anthems. It often takes minutes for Smith’s voice to ring out. Hooks in the first three seconds? Not a chance!
The ultimate pinnacle of despair and escapade remains the overwhelming Endsong, the album’s closing track.
It’s all gone, it’s all gone
Nothing left of all I loved
It all feels wrong
It’s all gone, it’s all gone, it’s all gone
No hopes, no dreams, no world
No, I, I don’t belong
No, I don't belong here
Songs Of A Lost World is unwieldy, wants you to take your time. It’s a stew album: the longer it simmers, the more often you stir it, the tastier it becomes.
This is anything but a matter of course today, especially for younger generations. And yet, the album also resonates with them. Characterised by a drastic pandemic and fears about the future, a new wave of melancholy and thoughtfulness has emerged in music, inspired by post-punk and dark wave.
Society and young people today are too fragmented to make generalised statements. And generalisations are always dangerous. But the days of escaping into hedonism seem to be over. Hangover mood. The challenges are too great to simply ignore.
The Cure and their Songs Of A Lost World create catharsis not through ignorance of the world but through empathy. Robert Smith knows how to say with his songs: I see you and feel your pain. It’s okay to feel desperate.
