Bursts

It’s been a difficult week: After an overdose of amazing releases last week, intense digging was necessary until I had assembled a selection of songs that I could present in good conscience.

Weirdly, I somehow feel better about today’s curation. Maybe because I didn’t have to kill darlings, maybe because it took more effort than usual.

The result of this week’s harvest is a colourful bouquet. It’s one of these episodes I could refer people to when they ask me what kind of music I listen to. There’s ecstatic electronic music, driven indie sound, hammering metal, raw rock, and fantastic composition.

Today’s songs all burst in their own regards.

Enjoy,

Pablo Nouvelle – La Sensación Es Real

It’s not a secret that Swiss producer Pablo Nouvelle is capable of creating veritable banger songs—even when he just remixes an existing track like Audio Dope’s Absence of Gravity. So obviously, it’s no surprise that his latest release, La Sensación Es Real, is an exciting beast.

In his songs, Pablo Nouvelle features this odd mix of glimmer and addictive catchiness of pop, the ecstatic nature of electronic dance music, and yet, it never feels cheap or plastic. La Sensación Es Real is a sensational burst, a sunny explosion, synchronising hearts with its deep bass, pushing drops of sweat out of the skin with its joyful synthesizers.

Joy Wellboy – The Golden Age

Joy Wellboy launched their career in 2009 in Brussels. The duo, consisting of Joy Adegoke and Wim Janssen, regularly dabble with unusual melodies. It’s hard to pinpoint their sound: Lay Down Your Blade feels like a ballad, Out Of The Blue is an opulent hymn. The common denominator: a heroic nature.

The Golden Age, Joy Wellboy’s latest single, will snatch the hearts of post-punk and indie-rock fans alike. It’s a song that pushes the gas pedal; the ambience swings between melancholic longing and hopeful urge. The voices of Adegoke and Janssen weld both worlds together. The Golden Age is urgent, bursting, and sparkling.

Zeal & Ardor – Church Burns

“Set a house on fire in my hometown. Who dares to come and get me?” Zeal & Ardor’s latest release, Church Burns, references the dark 90s origins of black metal when a multitude of churches went off in flames in Norway. It seems a fitting topic for the Swiss band around Manuel Gagneux, who set out to fuze black metal and black music.

Church Burns is a heavy, stomping beast, but one that starts its march quite innocent. But soon after, the band tears down the facade with an outburst of monotonous riffs and shattering drumming. The instruments don’t seem to contribute much to the melody; instead, the vocals do the heavy lifting. It’s ritual, archaic, and powerful.

ANGER MGMT. – This Is It

Swiss trio ANGER MGMT. released their debut single This Is It. A raw rock song with hardcore vibes and a pop-punky chorus, a song that stands out loud and proud. Simultaneously angry, despairing, and vulnerable. It’s an honest and sinister glimpse into the soul of the band’s frontman.

Nik Petronijevic is outspoken about his anxiety disorder, actively pushing to destigmatize mental health issues. It’s no wonder, This Is It, written five years ago, feels so intimate. Nik delivers his lines somewhat rough and emotionless but breaks into aggravated shouting: “A-N-X-I-E-T-Y!” This Is It is a chilling experience that drags your mind into a dark cage.

Hanreti – The Afterdark

Lucerne’s indie quintet Hanreti are about to release its fifth record, The Afterdark, a concept album about Antarctic exploration. However, as Timo Keller explains, the idea isn’t as romantic as it might appear:

The image of the polar explorers stands for the arrogance of mankind to penetrate the last gap of the unexplored and the absurdity of wanting to dominate everything. On the other hand, Antarctica represents the last nothing, the last white spot.

With their second single and the album’s namesake song, Hanreti abduct you in an unbelievably diverse soundscape. Warm folk tunes melt like polar ice, Krautrock creates obscure yet beautiful shapes. The brass section adds a sense of infinity to the white fields of Earth’s most southern continent.

For five minutes, The Afterdark remains an ambient masterpiece and transforms suddenly into a fast-paced, urging indie-pop track. This 7-minute cinematic abstract definitely builds anticipation for the whole album.