Premieres

Bursts of eerie droning, creating haunting resonances and extracting otherworldly sounds. What we experience in Extraits de l’album Synesthesia is an experimental journey travelling deep into the unknown.

French artist Ronan Courty is about to release his album Synesthesia on Friday. Named after the perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway, the extracts Courty presents today underline the fitting title.

„For several years now, I’ve been researching sounds and techniques on my double bass linked to the objects I associate with it: clothespins, drumsticks, plastic, tuning forks… In Synesthesia, my aim is for the prepared instrument to generate sufficient resonances and harmonics to become polyphonic and enable me to envisage this solo as a dialogue, a duo,“ explains Courty.

The Metaphor of Bondage

Courty’s meticulous research results in an alien soundscape, cinematic in its quality, widening the field of view to a staggering size, and slowly filling the canvas with shades and shapes.

In the video, directed by Mathieu Fisson, Karine Laur performs Shibari on the double bass. Courty elaborates: „The idea of Shibari on double bass as a metaphor for my instrumental practice became obvious as I came to see this inanimate object as a living thing, adding objects and techniques without damaging it.“

Director Fisson adds: „I wanted to film the knots being tied on the double bass the way I like to film musicians playing: close up and in motion. There’s something raw and hypnotic about Ronan’s music.“

Yet, there’s also a notion of juxtaposition. One could read the constraints of bondage as a symbol for the instrument’s traditional intent, contrasting Courty’s unconventional approach to eliciting fantastical sounds. But what connects all three artistic practices—videography, Shibari, and Courty’s music—is a clear sense of beauty and attention to detail.

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.

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.

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.

The beauty of Florence Besch lies in the juxtaposition. Her soothing and velvety voice collides with energetic and almost punkish instruments. A pinch of the 90s alternative completes her sound to something one could describe as dream grunge.

Gathering Hearts is the title of this Luxemburgian-German artist, which was released last Friday. But it’s also the namesake song that receives special attention with a new video premiering here with Negative White today.

Gathering Hearts, the song, remembers difficult moments. Without sugar-coating, Besch still emphasises perseverance. «Gathering hearts, growing my skin / Collecting sparks of who we have been,» she sings, symbolising finding strength within one’s own identity.

The song’s message here isn’t convoluted; it’s staring you in the face. And it highlights the two sides of struggles: Vulnerability and even despair, represented in Florence Besch’s soft voice. And the new strength from which one can virtually resurrect from such times which is reflected in the unflinching rock sound.