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.
Edition #136
This week, we recommend the new songs by IDER, Jack White, Welsh Wolf, Oh Hazar, and AVEC.
❶ IDER – Know How It Hurts
UK’s duo IDER tease their upcoming album with another single, Know How It Hurts. With an intriguing 80s electropop groove, the song is a feminist anthem that, unfortunately, is more relevant than ever. Despite its depressing theme, Know How It Hurts finds the strength to keep on fighting through empathy.
❷ Welsh Wolf – When You Cry
As a songwriter and musician for big names like James Blunt, Chris Cornell, or Robbie Williams, Paul Freeman has nothing to prove. Now, he kicks off his solo career as Welsh Wolf, and the second single, When You Cry, sounds like a threesome between Springsteen, Rod Steward, and The Killers.
❸ Jack White – You Got Me Searching
The walking anachronism is in a release frenzy. Relentlessly pushing for handmade music, Jack White praises heavy blues rock again in the latest single, You Got Me Searching. The wild guitar sounds misplaced in today’s music landscape, yet refreshing for exactly that reason. Rock’s never dying.
❹ Oh Hazar – Down
Introducing the German-Dutch art-pop band Oh Hazar: Their new track, Down, is a juxtaposition of relaxed verses and an explosive and loud blues rock chorus. The groove is addictive, and if one listens carefully, there are many playful details hidden in the escalating composition.
❺ AVEC – Everywhere
The Austrian artist AVEC has a unique sensibility for emotive pop songs, shaded with folky aesthetics and walking the line between accessibility and complexity. Everywhere again demonstrates her skills impressively. A galloping rhythm meets touching vocals, highlighted with sprinkles of guitar decorations.
Lose Yourself In Kush K’s «Humble In Your Highspeed»
Today, we host the video premiere for Kush K’s brand new single «Humble In Your Highspeed»—a song that pulls you in and keeps you there.
Between the feeling of drowning and a feverish dream, a song from the beyond hails. A subtle and nuanced composition seeking infinity and finding beauty in the minutest of details.
This is Humble In Your Highspeed, the new single from Zurich’s quartet Kush K, celebrating the video premiere with Negative White.
Humble In Your Highspeed is, initially, at least, soft to the touch. The guitar pulls you into an endless, dark space—accompanied by the whispering voice. But you can already hear many things moving out of your sight.
And so the song gets louder, wilder, almost chaotic. The repetitions add to a psychedelic quality. Towards the end, Humble In Your Highspeed is literally hammering away. Slow, stomping, with only the vocals remaining in the realm of dreams.
It is, by all means, a bold song. One that doesn’t compromise and requires your entire attention, and then, in a sort of demanding and merciless act, draws you into its paralysing power.
After the album Your Humming in 2021, Kush K announced—with Humble In Your Highspeed as a first teaser—their new EP, Drum Therapy, scheduled for December 6.
