Before Summer Breaks
The last edition before the summer break brings you new tracks by Tim Freitag, The Haunted Youth, Soft Captain, Juan Ithemba, and a collaboration between Gina Été and DJ Real Madrid.
One last time before the summer break, I will recommend five new tracks to you. The Weekly5 will return on the 28th of August with freshly curated music sent directly to your inbox.
Before the summer break actually starts, you can expect a look back on the past months where I underline some of my personal sonic highlights.
Thank you very much for sticking around during this first season in the second year of Weekly5. I appreciate your attention, feedback, and support for this newsletter.
As far as today's selection goes, you can expect some thoughtful tunes, summer vibes, dreamy soundscapes, and melancholic melodies. Basically, everything that the Weekly5 provides week for week. We revisit previously featured artists and dive into new discoveries.
Enjoy,
Tim Freitag – Brick by Brick
Fate has dealt the Swiss indie band Tim Freitag a difficult hand. After realizing a handful of astonishing singles, their debut record, Monsters Forever, came out on the 13th of March 2020. The pandemic hit them with full force.
They played some gigs in the past months, but fans couldn't enjoy any new material. That changed finally last week when Tim Freitag dropped Brick by Brick. It's a beautiful, thoughtful indie-pop track about the inevitable but complex process of letting your parents go and building your own life—brick by brick.
Compared to previous hymnic compositions like By Your Side or Tip Toe, the new single takes a more relaxed approach without losing Tim Freitag's impeccable catchiness. Especially the brass highlights on the beat make Brick by Brick a subtle and relatable spectacle.
Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 27, 2019
The Haunted Youth – Broken
It feels like a lifetime, but it's, in fact, only a bit more than a year ago since I've featured The Haunted Youth's debut single, Teen Rebel, in the third Weekly5 edition. It's a song reminiscent of dream pop and post-punk.
Since then, The Haunted Youth, a Belgium-based band around 28-year-old Joachim Liebens, have released four more tracks, the latest being Broken. And what a track this is!
Broken is clearly driven by an 80s vibe, much more post-punk yet too dense, too wave-like with its meandering guitars to be a purebred post-punk song. Liebens' smoothly whispering voice tells the tale of lost love. And still, despite Broken's undeniable melancholia, The Haunted Youth don't fall short on their indie rock influences which shine bright in the extended instrumental part. I call it brilliant.
George Saunders
Soft Captain – Too Long
There's not much out there about Soft Captain yet. No wonder, as Too Long is their very first song for now. And with a grain of irony, Soft Captain calls their sound "yacht rock."
However, Soft Captain has already caught international attention because Manuel Gagneux, the mastermind behind Zeal & Ardor, is part of the project. Reactions to Soft Captions, however, are pretty surprising as the stylistic route differs from black metal. On the other hand, Gagneux is originally an indie-pop musician before he found exceptional success with Zeal & Ardor.
And the musical talent, no matter the genre, shows in Too Long. Together with Samuel Tschudin and Flo Haas, Gagneux has created a smooth, sunny hymn to past summers. Too Long is the perfect soundtrack to lie in the grass and enjoy the warm breeze caressing the skin.
Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 15, 2022
Gina Été & DJ Real Madrid – Attention
There's a nail studio in Zurich called Hotmailhotnail. Behind the studio are four women who see female empowerment in their work and want to disrupt the clichée of nail studios.
For Hotmailhotnail, the Swiss artists Gina Été and DJ Real Madrid have collaborated on a track called Attention. The result is a stunning mix of emancipating hymn and summer hit. It hooks you right away with its vibe.
Attention is also astonishing when you think about who's behind this pumping, RnB-esque banger: Été, a trained violinist and acclaimed art-pop composer, and DJ Real Madrid, a trained jazz trombonist who works for Faber and creates crazy experimental sounds as part of Skiclub Toggenburg.
Juan Ithemba – Criminal
The fusion of melancholic melodies, dreamlike soundscapes, and exciting beats and rhythms are the foundation of Juan Ithemba's music.
Criminal is the fourth single by the young artist that already shows high maturity. The track, also a teaser for his upcoming EP Thoughts, is as effective on the dancefloor as on the couch reflecting on life.
The dualistic nature of Ithemba's electronic music is highly intriguing, not at least because of his use of long-forgotten acapella vocals. The echoing, defamiliarized sample gives Criminal an almost ritualistic, archaic atmosphere. There's no doubt: We can be excited about Juan Ithemba's new material.
Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 14, 2021
