Weekly5

A warm welcome to the final Weekly5 edition of 2023. It's time to celebrate—not only another year filled with exciting and captivating new music but also the 100th edition since Weekly5 returned in January 2021.

With today's edition, Weekly5 has been published 30 times this year, recommending 150 songs.

I want to thank all of you for your interest, loyalty, and support over the past few months. Curating music is more fun when you know other people appreciate it. And if you think I did a good job providing you with regular inspiration and I deserve it, consider supporting Weekly5 with a Premium subscription.

But now, let's move on to our current selection of new music: After last week's electro-heavy edition, we're hitting tender notes with the soft, emotional tracks by Stu Larsen, Adna, and Isaac Roux.

French multi-instrumentalist BLEU REINE leads us into a sinister yet atmospheric universe, and with a remix of Martin Kohlstedt's AMS, we say goodbye but in anticipation of the future.

Stu Larsen – Running Out of Time

Running Out of Time by Australian indie-folk artist Stu Larsen is again heartfelt proof of his ability to evoke heartache and longing. The single, a third announcement for his upcoming EP, Songs I Wrote, «follows two lovers from beginning to end and asks the question: «Is time the open door or the cage?» The fleeing moments of life are captured with nuance and sensitivity, accompanied by the melancholic slide guitar and Larsen's warm voice.

BLEU REINE – Pâle Lumière (feat. Alcest)

Taken from her latest album, La Saison fantôme, BLEU REINE's collaboration with atmospheric blackgaze band Alcest is called Pâle Lumière. The French multi-instrumentalist opens the portal into a sinister universe that shines in gloomy beauty. Crystalline guitars dance over a foundation of densely layered synth darkness. And there's the conjuring voice, supported by the faint cries of Alcest, that round the mystical atmosphere.

Adna – Beautiful Hell (Acoustic Version)

Born in Northern Sweden, with Bosnian roots, and now living in Berlin, Adna has released a small EP with acoustic interpretations of previous songs. Beautiful Hell, originally from her 2015 album Run, Lucifer, is one of the chosen ones. The acoustic version strips away the stomping beats and lays the song's soft core bare without losing any of its goosebump-provoking ability.

• Buy this song on Bandcamp

Isaac Roux – Autumn Love

Educated in Paul McCartney's co-founded Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Belgian indie-folk newcomer Isaac Roux displays vulnerability and sonic brilliance in his latest single, Autumn Love. In the best Bon Iver style, the song embraces tenderness and self-doubt humans tend to express in the colder seasons. The instruments, mainly a shiny acoustic guitar and a warm piano, perfectly underpin Roux's nostalgic vocal performance.

Martin Kohlstedt – AMS - Mollono.Bass Rework

Inspired by attending a concert by pianist Martin Kohlstedt in 2018, German electro artist Mollono.Bass couldn't get the piece AMS out of his head. Now, five years later, they released a remixed version together. It's not the first collaboration with an electronic artist, but certainly one of the best: AMS's urging and driven yet still playful sound integrates perfectly with Mollon.Bass's almost archaic drumming sounds. The result is simultaneously danceable and transforming.

Coincidentally, the 99th edition of Weekly5 became dominated by more electronic sounds. However, you can expect more than shattering techno beats.

There is Am Tae's enigmatic composition, Midweek's 80s reminiscence, and oaielup's cathedral-worthy synth hook. Even the more classic electro tracks from Vanita and Boris Brejcha both have some surprising tricks up their sleeves.

So, even if you usually avoid electronic music, it might be worth giving this edition an open-minded spin.

Am Tae – SWIM (feat. MAROO)

Swiss singer-songwriter Am Tae collaborated with producer MAROO to create the eclectic single SWIM. Flickering synthesizers collide with Am Tae's mystical vocals, hovering over a garage-like beat. SWIM is surrounded by an almost gothic atmosphere, a dreamy ambience—pushing the song into the realms of avant-garde electro-pop.

• Buy this track on Bandcamp

Midweek – The Way

What if you take Bronski Beat's Smalltown Boy vibe and transport it into the 21st century? The answer probably sounds something like The Way by Midweek, a quintet based in Mexico City. The song sparks captivating 80s energy, interlaced with contemporary, even epochal, synth-pop that morphs into something utterly danceable.

Vanita – Let Me In

Switzerland's Vanessa Spolidoro, aka Vanita, has released Let Me In, a single that misleads you into thinking it's just another sombre techno track. However, Let Me In surprises the listener with a prominent piano and its almost detached dance over the stomping beat. Vanita creates something that features a distinct club vibe as well as conjures new spheres.

oaielup & TALYA – so drunk

Tiemo Hauer's latest endeavour, oaielup, sounds promising: Together with singer TALYA, the single so drunk becomes an opus, a larger-than-life pop composition heavily leaning towards electronica. The song quickly swells to overwhelming size and collapses into intimacy, over and over again. And the synth-hook is a sound to behold.

Boris Brejcha – Dimension

The masked master of minimal techno is back: Boris Brejcha's Dimension actually transports you into other dimensions. Despite the straightforward beat, Brejcha's talent lies within his playful style. There's not a single moment where nothing happens; he constantly adds and removes elements, building towards a constant discovery.

In today's selection of new tracks, we travel around the globe, from smooth Australian jazz by Nina West to IAMTHELIVING's soulful R&B originating in Vancouver. We lay over in Germany for the haunting compositions by ÄTNA and Edwin Rosen.

The final station is Scotland, where «it's raining all the time.» But when Theo Bleak sings it, it's not so bad after all.

Nina West – Trouble

Trouble, the debut single by 21-year-old Australian/British multi-instrumentalist Nina West, is a shimmering outlook to a bright future. The song's jazzy soul vibe invites to relax; however, the lyrics tell the story of ignoring red flags. Trouble isn't easy, but a demonstration of West's musical sophistication with her not only singing but playing the piano, alto sax, and bass.

ÄTNA – Alive

German duo ÄTNA are known for their delicate and eclectic electronic songs like Come To Me. However, in their latest single release, Alive, they sound refreshingly reduced and acoustic. The piano takes centre stage in this balladesque song, while Inéz Schaefer's voice still evocates the same atmosphere that ÄTNA's tracks usually encompass—a beautiful piece.

IAMTHELIVING – Make It Home Alive (feat. Jake Isaac)

Raised in Peckham, London, Rian Peters is now working out of Vancouver as IAMTHELIVING. Collaborating with South London's rising neo-soul star Jake Isaac, he released the compelling single Make It Home Alive. Their voices complement each other perfectly over a laid-back yet soulful rhythm. It's a song that drips like honey, immediately prompting an emotional bond.

• Buy this track on Bandcamp

Theo Bleak – Raining All The Time

Hailing from Dundee, Scotland, Theo Bleak released her fourth EP, Pain, on October 31. With a bit of delay, we still wholeheartedly recommend the EP's closing track, Raining All The Time. The song starts innocent, like a classic indie-pop ballad, but then erupts into a louder, rockier chorus while Bleak's voice ethereally hovers over the dark, rumbling composition.

Edwin Rosen – kontrollverlust

Edwin Rosen: Posterboy of Germany's new wave of post-punk artists and child of pandemic bedroom sound. After a surprising breakthrough with single releases like leichter//kälter in 2020 and Vertigo (2022), Rosen follows up with his second track this year, kontrollverlust. Pushing his fast-paced sound again, combined with pleading, echoing vocals, the song is another anthem for the lost youth.

In today's Weekly5, we cheer to the long-hoped return of the gloomy Swiss band Les Yeux Sans Visage, question the state of the music business with LNA, and chuckle at Hearts Hearts' sarcastic new track.

You can also blow off some steam with Taranja Wu or dance away to Compact Disk Dummies. Enjoy another broad and handpicked selection of the latest music.

Les Yeux Sans Visage – Roman Reports

After their debut album, Tomorrow Is A Million Years, in 2013 and a reformation of the band in 2018, Les Yeux Sans Visage finally announced their sophomore record, Chair Of The Desolate. With Roman Reports, the Swiss quintet offers a convincing, eerie glimpse of their gloomy sound.

• Support the band on Bandcamp

LNA – WANT WANT

Thematising the workload of musicians, LNA's new single WANT WANT is not only bold fingerpointing at the current state of the music business but also a captivating track, drawing from R&B, electro-pop, and some Middle Eastern flavours mixed in between.

• Buy this track on Bandcamp

Hearts Hearts – STOP BEING POOR!

Austrian's indie-rock rising stars Hearts Hearts take a sarcastic stab at the rich kids' lifestyle with their latest single release, STOP BEING POOR! The short track comes with a rough, fuzzy groove that builds up to a massive, brass-supported chorus—demonstrating once more the band's hymnic qualities.

Taranja Wu – Leonora

After the early passing of the musical companion, Olifr M. Guz, the duo Naked in English Class is no more. But Taranja Wu ploughs on and presents with Leonora a breathless, raw track in the trenches between garage rock, synth punk, and gothic vibes. «It's out of control!»

• Buy this song on Bandcamp

Compact Disk Dummies – fomo

Belgian brothers Lennert and Janus Coorevits, aka Compact Disk Dummies, embrace the easy-to-remember melodies driven by synths and pulsating rhythms. Their latest single, fomo, is all about longing, envy, and the fear of missing out. It's electrifying and danceable.

Today's hand-selected curation of new music features the up-and-coming talents of Marlin, Panik Deluxe and Bo Milli alongside more established electronic artists like Moyka and Psycho Weazel.

From upbeat R&B, frantic indie-rock, and dark synth-pop to psychedelic and mystic electronica—today's Weekly5 has you covered.

Marlin – Juice

22-year-old Marlin from Aargau, Switzerland, released a hymn to self-confidence. Juice is a compelling and fast-paced R&B track about being enough and coming to peace with being alone. With Juice, Marlin should definitely end up on any artists-to-watch list.

Panik Deluxe – full stop

Taken from her debut album, without hope I am nothing, Panik Deluxe's full stop hides happiness in plain sight. The Austrian artist juxtaposes the theme with the dark and vibrant synth-pop sound that encompasses the entire record.

• Buy this track on Bandcamp

Moyka – Never Say Sorry

After multiple single releases, Moyka presents her sophomore album, Movies, Cars & Heartbreak. The self-proclaimed Norwegian pop witch's track Never Say Sorry again features danceable beats intertwined with a 2000s-feeling and Nordic mystique.

Bo Milli – Making Friends

Making Friends is the namesake song from Norwegian Bo Milli's latest EP. The 21-year-old indie newcomer plays herself into a coming-of-age rush, influenced by growing up during a pandemic yet ultimately countering existential angst with hopeful hooks.

• Buy this track on Bandcamp

Psycho Weazel – bateau abstrait

The retro-futuristic sound of Switzerland's duo Psycho Weazel is as eclectic as it is engaging. The track bateau abstrait, released on their motif Ep., transports a nostalgic feeling of electronic music, decorated with slight psychedelic elements, and finished with flickering synths.

For the most part, today's edition of Weekly5 is a raw, maybe even unhinged, collection of songs. From the slightly drunken sound of Botticelli Baby to the spoken word punk of Mr. Linus to Fomies' fuzzy attitude.

For those who are enthusiasts of melodies, we can wholeheartedly recommend the new tracks by Mary And The Sharks as well as Rosa Rendl.

Botticelli Baby – Poems

German outfit Botticelli Baby is known for incorporating an impressive number of variables in their sound: punk, jazz, blues, folk, funk, and Balcan elements. Their new single, Poems, stalks in the verses but then explodes with the band's brass section, creating an addictive stir.

Mary And The Sharks – Hollywood

A sinister beat welcomes us to Mary And The Sharks' fresh track, Hollywood. The Berlin-based artist created an empowering, unapologetic anthem for starting over where the dream factory stands as a metaphor for a broken dream. It's dangerously catchy: «Hollywood, you fucked me good!»

Mr. Linus – faust

Raw, direct, and angry; that's the essence of faust, one of three songs on Mr. Linus' new EP, Aporie. The Swiss trio returns after their well-received debut EP, Revue, in 2019. The indie-esque, melodic sound juxtaposed with the rather spoken than sung lyrics creates an edgy yet fascinating cocktail.

Rosa Rendl – Stonehenge - Edit

Originally released as part of Rosa Rendl's 2023 EP, Always, the edited version of Stonehenge adds a lot of electronic elements to the piano-driven composition. As a result, Stonehenge morphs into a lucid electro-pop song, indecisively meandering between dancefloor and dream.

• Buy this track on Bandcamp

Fomies – Glass Pyramid

Hauling from Vevey in Switzerland's French-speaking part, the quintet already announced their fifth studio album with the single Glass Pyramid. The fuzzy, escalating song is a delicious treat for everyone in love with heavy-stomping, borderline psychedelic rock.

• Buy this song on Bandcamp