Reviews

With his debut album, Norway's indie soul hope Beharie presents twelve songs with a kaleidoscopic range of tones, sounds, and colours—tied together with his raw singer-songwriter lyrics, swinging between self-confidence and vulnerability.

In 2021, Beharie won the Spellemann prize for his second EP, Beharie // Beharie, and was nominated again a year later for the subsequent EP, Beharie, the Third. Both moments demonstrate the artist's rising profile in his home country and beyond.

In Are You There, Boy?, Beharie delves into the aspects of his identity as a queer person. Artistically abstracted into different characters, each song is a fragment of Beharie's self, meeting in their common urge for belonging. Or, as Beharie puts it:

Sensu's career shows an undeniable upwards trajectory—not only regarding exposure but very much artistically. The Swiss producer has come far since 2017 when she debuted with the EP Lose Sight.

The early work is heavily inspired by hip-hop's slow beats and a soul-like vibe, clearly audible in her debut album Embrace, released in 2019.

One year later, Sensu was nominated for a Swiss Music Award—as the first woman who «only» produced sound, not as a singer. The jury at SRF 3 Radio wrote in its nomination: «The electro producer breaks down clichés of electronic club music and has created her own music genre.»

Jasmin Peterhans, aka Sensu, started playing the piano at seven. 2010, she began producing her own music. «I wanted to contribute something to hip-hop culture,» she said in an interview with The Pit London. But she gradually shifted towards more intricate electronica, prominently marked by the 2021 single Drawn and the EP Inner Monologue, which draws from both sonic worlds.

The transformation to one of the most lauded electronic acts Switzerland has to offer was completed with last year's EP Numéro LDN. While hip-hop vibes are still present in tracks like Both Sides, a collaboration with rapper Denyher, or Pink with Jamal Bucanon, Sensu's sound now was clearly inspired by UK garage and jungle.

After releasing Numéro LDN, Sensu shared five tracks with us that inspired her in the process, like Overmono's So U Kno. «When I first heard this song in London, I was utterly blown away by the euphoria it triggered in me. […] The details and the build-up are absolutely insane. Overmono are definitely one of the most inspiring acts in the past half-year,» she wrote then.

5 Tracks That Inspired Sensu

Swiss electronica artist Sensu has released a new EP. In this special edition, she shares five tracks that inspired her creative process.

Negative WhiteJanosch Troehler

2023 marks another milestone: AM___PM, released on June 9th, is a small but precious four-track collection showcasing another progression.

While three of the songs have already been released as singles, the collective gathering on the EP prompts a deeper reflection on Sensu's latest work.

Opening the sonic experience is Fuse, featured in one of this year's Weekly5 editions. The track fiercely raves although the UK garage vibe is less present.

However, the gap gets filled with a constant rush of beats, foggy synthesisers, and an alarming melody. Fuse spreads excitement without indulging in cheesy cheerfulness.

Instead, Sensu's sound often sounds more melancholic and thoughtful, compellingly contrasting electronica's pumping nature.

The sombre, almost sinister atmosphere continues in Perfect Life—a collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Lawrence Hart. Here, UK garage makes a comeback, referencing a beat similar to 2022's Hypnotize Me Baby, just faster and crisper.

Perfect Life advances and retracts repeatedly; sometimes, the composition is reduced to its bare minimum, only displaying the beat or the melody, making it even more impressive when Sensu and Hart open all the tabs to unleash the entire arrangement.

Clear My Mind then pushes the pedal to the metal: The hyperactive beat alongside the heavily pitch-shifted vocal sample creates a frantic, restless track, yet grounded by a deeply humming bass in the background.

However, the song's nervousness cannot drown out the fact that Clear My Mind remains the track that requires the most getting used to and is probably the EP's weakest entry.

AM___PM's only previously unreleased track closed the EP. Night Drive features an upbeat ambience; it's almost galloping in its breakbeat.

But at first, the track misleads you: «At the beginning, it appears to be a somewhat harder rave track that could be played in a dark cellar. But then the Arp sounds suddenly pull you into a kind of dream world, and it gets brighter again,» explains Sensu in the press release about one of her favourite tracks on the EP.

«The energy stays until the break and then it feels like a free fall. In the second drop, the euphoria sets in.»

The song feels like a shimmering reconciliation, a sharp handbrake turn away from the gloomy vibe AM___PM features in its other tracks.

«Night Drive is a journey, just like all the different phases of life that we go through,» says Sensu. «The energy stays until the break, and then it feels like a free fall. In the second drop, the euphoria sets in.»

With AM___PM, Sensu again highlights her entitlement as one of Switzerland's most intriguing electronic artists, one that pushes boundaries and explores new territories. Her compositions are highly detailed, precise yet playful, often unconventional and complex.

But what truly sets Sensu apart is her ability to infuse her music with genuine feelings. Whether it's the melancholic atmosphere or the euphoria of a soaring melody, her compositions are always emotionally resonant.

AM___PM is a testament to Sensu's musical skill and commitment to creating music that speaks to the soul and body.

It all began in 2007 in the London borough of Ealing. Charles Cave, Jack Lawrence-Brown, and Harry McVeigh created the band Fear of Flying. The hobby turned into a project with serious ambitions after the three had finished school: curtain up for the White Lies.

Two years after the band was founded, the first album was released: To Lose My Life… hit like a bombshell. The lead single of the same name or Unfinished Business or Farewell To The Fairground—the record is peppered with timeless anthems. Almost overnight, the trio—together with the Editors—became the spearhead of the post-punk revival that conquered the world from Great Britain.

«We concentrated on the melodies»

In 2011, the White Lies followed up with Rituals and took their anthemic qualities to the extreme in songs such as Bigger Than Us and Bad Love. Singer and guitarist McVeigh created longing and melancholy. The gloom of post-punk permeates the album.

But Rituals already revealed, at least retrospectively, the band's great dilemma: to this day, they are measured by their greatest hits. Yet Rituals was already an album full of variety: alongside the high-flying tracks, there is also the slowly stomping, electronically dominated Turn The Bells. Or the balladic Come Down. But these strong songs are less memorable than Strangers, for example.

With their third album, Big TV, the White Lies attempted a break: brighter, poppier and more harmonious. Above all, however, post-punk and rock elements moved into the background. Of course, the melodic brilliance still shone through, but no longer in the dirty underground, but in the glamour halls of the eighties.

Bass player Charles Cave said in an interview with Negative White in 2013: «We didn't pay much attention to the sound, but focussed on the songwriting and the melodies. It's mainly the melody of the voice that sets Big TV apart from the other albums.»

Emancipation from Post-Punk

The musical tendencies that White Lies explored on Big TV were then perfected on Friends (2016). With 14 songs, it is their most comprehensive album. They have retained their trademark: Friends is full of infectious melodies.

They delivered a perfect rock show at Kaufleuten in November 2016 and proved to the critics that the new songs work and fit seamlessly between the old hits. And yet it was clear from the disc that the White Lies have definitely grown beyond the palatable melancholy of post-punk.

The White Lies' fifth album—simply called Five—will be released on 1 February. There is space for nine songs. Time To Give, the opener and first single, already demonstrates self-confidence. A spherical introduction lasting over seven minutes. The melody is carried almost single-handedly by McVeigh's vocals.

Time To Give is not an easy start; you have to «earn» Five. Then the fireworks begin. With Never Alone, post-punk is back in a modern version, fast and driving as ever. Finish Line surprises with an acoustic guitar intro and turns into a powerful ballad. The trio continues bluntly: Kick Me is just as creeping as Finish Line but flirts with country and Americana.

After the first four songs, the album has thrown you into four completely different flavours of White Lies. Is this a brilliant move—or does the album fall apart? That's the big question for Five.

As the fifth of nine songs, the single Tokyo is the heart. And what a heart! This is where the band's entire artistry comes together. Expansive, longing, full of groove. The 80s shimmer warmly through the sound, the melody captivating.

With Jo?, the trio puts the pedal to the metal. The guitars lurch sharply around the bend, and the rock attitude is more present than ever in their sound. Their songs have always been powerful, but Jo? feels different. Denial slows down the high tempo, but the chorus is exuberant and pompous, like on To Lose My Life. And again, the edgy guitars show up.

Believe It again creates contrast with its striking synthesiser bow. McVeigh sings in a refreshingly monotone. Once again, the 80s are revealed in all their splendour. With the repetitive «Believe it» in the chorus, the White Lies create a whipping urgency.

Fire And Wings concludes Five as probably the most unwieldy of all the songs. A beacon that collapses into silence and then explodes again like a volcano.

A New Chapter

Back to the question that inevitably arises with Five: Is the album falling apart?

No. The White Lies have always worked with variations. You only have to listen to The Price of Love from To Lose My Life or Peace & Quiet from Rituals to hear that.

But with Big TV and Friends, the band redefined the boundaries of their sound. That's why the facets on Five are clearer. «The album is a milestone for us. It marks the decade of our band, which has driven us to expand our sound. We have reached new artistic territory,» says the band. Five is the start of a new chapter.

In fact, Five is many times stronger than Friends. Even if the sound varies greatly: The new songs are all on a level which the band only sometimes achieved on its predecessors. The arrangements are tightly knit, the melodies more refined and unexpected. There are skilfully interwoven breaks. Thick layers give the tracks a rich sound—and enable new discoveries to be made again and again when listening.

In short, Five is a magnificent album.

White Lies – FIVE

Release: 01/02/2019

1. Time To Give
2. Never Alone
3. Finish Line
4. Kick Me
5. Tokyo
6. Jo?
7. Denial
8. Believe It
9. Fire and Wings

The world has had to wait four years—a hellish eternity—for the latest spawn from Behemoth. After the brilliant album The Satanist, the Polish band now present their eleventh album: I Loved You At Your Darkest. The four-piece already warned in advance that this album would clearly stand out from the previous ones.

The fact that these were not just empty threats from frontman Nergal and his cronies is already evident in the title of the album. It seems strange in the Behemoth universe. The songs are surprisingly varied, even though the band was not considered monotonous before. They boldly enrich their devilish mixture of black and death metal. In God = Dog, electronic distortion hums over the chorales, while in Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica, you are suddenly assaulted by an intermezzo of acoustic guitar.

Come to me, Bartzabel

The stylistic richness makes I Loved You At Your Darkest less accessible than The Satanist. But the new album—like good wine—needs time to mature. Little by little, this bouquet unfolds. Behemoth continue to conjure up darkness, driving and powerful. Wolves Ov Siberia or Rome 5:8 tear open abysses with brute force. We Are The Next 1000 Years also creates this powerful wall of sound but then flows into an expansive ambient escapade.

Celebrating the dark rite, Bartzabel remains the most fascinating piece on the album: between archaism and demonic rapture, between pathos and raw rebellion.

I Loved You At Your Darkest is a rousing maelstrom—and Behemoth completely fulfil expectations. But it offers far more than the familiar and tried-and-tested: With this album, the four musicians explore the spectrum of their black-washed cathedral of sound. The facets of satanic art shimmer through the dark stained glass windows of their temple.

Behemoth prove once again that they belong to the avant-garde of metal. Despite their explorations into new corners of musical possibilities, their signature shines through. The infernal elemental force rains down on you relentlessly, accompanied by the quasi-religious imagery that Behemoth manifest as a cult.

Behemoth – I Loved You At Your Darkest

Release: 05/10/2018

1. Solve
2. Wolves ov Siberia
3. God=Dog
4. Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
5. Bartzabel
6. If Crucifixion Was Not Enough…
7. Angelvs XIII
8. Sabbath Mater
9. Havohej Pantocrator
10. Rom 5:8
11. We Are the Next 1000 Years
12. Coagvla

Zeal & Ardor are currently Switzerland's most successful music export. The story of the project by Swiss-American dual citizen Manuel Gagneux already reads like a myth today: in search of inspiration, the musician ended up in the abyss of the Internet: the forum 4chan. Incompatible genres were sought there. One suggestion for a synthesis: «Black metal and ni***r music.»

Gagneux, a black musician, was at first piqued, then fascinated. What if the slaves in the Southern USA had given themselves not to God but to Satan? He couldn't let go of the idea. He began work on Devil Is Fine and put the demos online. They were discovered by Kim Kelly, a music journalist in the USA. The hype took its course.

Flogging The Borders

That was two years ago now. Gagneux took the demos off the net again, continued to fine-tune the sound and then released the first album, Devil Is Fine, last year. A compilation of nine songs, acclaimed for its uncompromising nature and creativity. In a metal scene plagued by self-referentiality, Zeal & Ardor pushed the boundaries of what was previously possible.

The music press flew in from all over the world for the band's first concert at the Kaserne Basel. It quickly became clear that Zeal & Ardor were not just a bold studio project but also a gripping live band.

Today, Devil Is Fine seems less like an album and more like a demo. A first step in the exploration of what Zeal & Ardor is capable of being. The work is a patchwork of ideas, a sketchbook. The first proper album is called Stranger Fruit and will be released on 8 June 2018.

Soul meets brute force

On Devil Is Fine, songs like Blood In The River or Children's Summon attempted to fuse slave spirituals and black metal. For the most part, however, there was a back-and-forth between the two elements.

On Stranger Fruit, the fusion is seemingly effortless. The concept has been given more space. Zeal & Ardor do not limit themselves to black metal and gospel. Metal, core, blues, soul, Rhythm and Blues, and country noir mingle in a wild maelstrom. The fear that the original idea behind the project would quickly run itself to death: it fades in the face of the 16-track album.

Whereby the number 16 is relativised. Intro, The Hermit, The Solve and Coagula interrupt Stranger Fruit in much the same way as Sacrilegium I-III did on the first album. They are short breaks that also act as mortar between the songs.

It is only with Gravedigger's Chant, the first single, that the fascinating world of Zeal & Ardor begins to unfold. A heavy blues, underpinned with crashing guitars. The song is the first indication that this is not a monotonous metal album.

You Ain't Coming Back is one of the most exciting compositions. Pure R&B soul, the drama of which is emphasised in the chorus by the raw, instrumental violence. Such tightrope walks make Stranger Fruit an exciting adventure.

Danceable Metal

Needless to say, the album offers plenty of fodder for fans of heavy sounds. There is the hellish inferno of Waste—pure and abysmal black metal. Or the groovy Servants, which has already established itself as a concert highlight with its heavy boot stomping. Fire Of Motion and Ship On Fire are also aimed at the hearts of metalheads.

But if there was a prize for the most captivating performance, no song could hold a candle to Row Row. The ritual power of repetition, the desirous rhythm, the rumbling and crashing. Metal has never been more danceable without succumbing to pop.

Wir brauchen Blut für den neuen Gott!

It would be no problem to write a separate article about every single song on Stranger Fruit. Each track is unique, and yet the album seems self-contained and worlds more consistent than Devil Is Fine. This seems paradoxical, but Zeal & Ardor have mastered this immense challenge.

They are now passing the ball to their audience: it is not an easy listening experience. With its presence and diversity, Stranger Fruit demands absolute attention. Even within the songs, the band never lets you relax: We Can't Be Found changes style in practically every verse and even surprises with German lyrics.

Impermanence as a constant

Stranger Fruit is a curious labyrinth in which Zeal & Ardor are always one step ahead. They lurk around the next corner to confront you with another idea. Nothing symbolises this constant of impermanence more than the expectation built up by the epic Coagula as the penultimate track. Followed by what is probably the widest and poppiest song Zeal & Ardor present on the album: the third pre-release single, Built On Ashes.

Based on the simple formula «metal + x», they explore the possibilities of sound. As simple as this may seem, the results of their research are multi-faceted. As a listener, sometimes all you can do is listen in amazement at the risk the band is taking. And it's a relief when you realise that Zeal & Ardor know exactly which walls they can break down. You can always feel the passion - and the will not to rest on their laurels but to push themselves further and further.

What Zeal & Ardor hinted at as a blueprint in Devil Is Fine finds its fulfilment in Stranger Fruit: The experiment is at the centre of their universe.

Zeal & Ardor – Stranger Fruit

Release: 08/06/2018

1. Intro
2. Gravedigger's Chant
3. Servants
4. Don't You Dare
5. Fire of Motion
6. The Hermit
7. Row Row
8. Ship on Fire
9. Waste
10. You Ain't Coming Back
11. The Foolk
12. We Can't Be Found
13. Stranger Fruit
14. Solve
15. Coagula
16. Built on Ashes