Frida ‘انا مين - Ana Min’
“I'm as free as I allow myself to be.” — Frida
Ana Min is a love child born at the moment. To Frida, her latest album is priceless. In this life of ours, everyone has once asked themselves the question of who they are. The odyssey of individuality and life’s meaning is often followed with deconstruction and rebirth. Having gone through the process for more than once across decades, Frida shares her wisdom.
“I had believed that to know myself meant that I should be able to describe who I truly was with clear and simple words,” she recalled. “After years of deconstruction and reshuffling of all I thought I was, I realised the trap in this quest: every attribute I give myself quickly becomes a prison.” Letting go and allowing the free flow of everything that exist within her, consciously and subconsciously to simply be as they are— that’s the heart space and mind space of Ana Min. For once, the question of what it means to be free doesn’t need an answer. There’s no need for definition.
Releasing itself from the constraint of genres, harmonies, dissonance, resonances and everything within our known structure, Frida and band began to explore and experience sounds and music in a new way. What would music sound like to be truly free?
The spirited Ana Min lays parallel to life itself, rising up to the spiritual and philosophical realm. Earthy instruments, drawing the familiar sounds from our humble daily life, represents a fusion of culture in its most vibrant way. Different musical backgrounds and cultural depth emotively respond to her storytelling while the phantom of rhythm and dances find themselves being naturally a part of the groove.
Ana Min doesn’t stray far from where its roots and origins. It embraces the moment of now, past and future, gazes beyond the sky, envisioning the other side of the sea—full of imagination and possibilities. At the same time, it’s a reflection of every element that makes us who we are — as a part of nature, as a person in a culture, as an emotive, spiritual being, as a visionary, as a micro universe on its own. The list would go on and on.
In this interview, we chat with Frida about her genre-bending album and the rituals she goes through in preparation of music performance, and more.
Punk Head: “Ana Min” asks the question of “who I am,” and the sonics response/build on the quest. Can you tell us what stimulated the creation of this intense and expressive song?
Frida: The quest for true identity is a recurrent theme in arts, philosophy and all introspective practices, and it came into my life quite early, back when I was at school and discovered the almighty "know thyself" and the Oracle of Delphi. At that time, my perspective of knowledge was quite limited by intellectual attributes, and I had believed that to know myself meant that I should be able to describe who I truly was with clear and simple words.
After years of deconstruction and reshuffling of all I thought I were, I realized the trap in this quest: every attribute I give myself quickly becomes a prison, an expectation I have of myself, therefore standing in the way of me and my absolute freedom.
The last identity I was still unconsciously hooked to was that of the Dignified Warrior: chin up, straight back, and off to face adversity... Until I realized that, until I no longer identify with that archetype, I ll need to manifest wars and battles to justify my existence.
And that's when Felix Fivaz (drummer) sent me this magical tune. I knew it was time to break free from all those conditional identities, and activate my sense of self as an expansive channel that was born to accommodate Love and Freedom.
Punk Head: I really like the energy and the spiritual aspect of your music. When you sing/perform, do you have a special place that you go to?
Frida: Thank you for this question and for perceiving that energy in my songs and performances. It was indeed through my spiritual awakening that I walked into music making , and with each passing day, I become even more aware - and grateful - for the transformative power of Music 😍
And that's probably why I am so uncompromising in my preparation for a performance : I spend the day in a lot of silence and gratitude, making sure I'm deeply connected to my body and heart, and that the mind is rather still, only entertaining inspiring, empowering thoughts if any.
The musicians and I also stand in a circle and meditate together right before a performance, making sure we're all aware of the Oneness of our hearts and minds when fueled by Love.
Then we're off to the stage, where my first thought and intention always is: We are all far greater than we know, and tonight, we're gonna see some of that in action!
From there, I melt into the Now, feeling like my main role is to honor and serve the sacredness of the moment.
Punk Head: Can you tell us more about the collaborative process of making this record?
Frida: This album is the love child of the moment, and this for me is priceless. It came to be what it is today because all of us in it were there for the love: the love of music of course, but also the love for each other and for this incredible gift we knew we were lucky to have: making music born from and for the Now.
We had already recorded an album in a Live setting last year, Felix (drums), Florian (bass) and I, which gave us quite the foundation to venture into new melodic realms…. Enter Scarlett (piano) and Ramy (Qanun) and their distinctively soulful sounds, joined also by Patrik Abi Abdalla , great drummer/percussionist and the first musician I ever played with, and you get yourself quite the fertile playground for harmony, creativity, and enough madness for it to feel like home!
Punk Head: Is there any challenge you faced while making the album?
Frida: Not really 🤣😂
Of course we had many things to figure out, adapt to and find solutions for - especially given the originality of both the creative and recording processes - but I don't think we can call them challenges, given how they always felt like a new playground to explore together, a place where we could expand our creative expression and get to connect to each other on even deeper levels.
It's also a bit what stands at the core of my belief and practice: as long as we're having real fun, every new challenge feels like a new toy 🤷🏻♀️😂
Punk Head: One big thing that you learned in the past year/from making the album?
Frida: I'm as free as I allow myself to be, and I'm ready for the fullness of me
Mendry ‘Follin With a Heart’
Even with their debut release, Mendry is here to leave an impression in your heart, one that gets under your skin, one you can’t shake off for days. From picturesque slow burners to stadium-filling rock n roll, Follin With a Heart is a well crafted drive full of contrast and surprises. With influences drawn from the diversely vast genre of rock, the album sparks nuanced nostalgia while each song is a micro odyssey enriched with rare sceneries.
The title track “Follin With a Heart” introduces us to a washed-out post-punk landscape as the Polish band unravels a lonesome tale about love and constraint. A dash of reverberant coastal feelings and drifting harmonious vocals evokes a mood-filled melancholia that seems to be nowhere and everywhere, spreading out to the edge of the sky. The guitaresque paints a mood that is bigger than peculiar feelings yet rich with emotions. The chorus, on the other hand, shifts to a grayish bleakness with an indie rock’s radio-esque feel. “Follin With a Heart” sees poetry and edginess stirring the boundary and fences while still remaining a soft and sensitive heart.
“Learning” breathing out a darker edge, where the turbulence of psychedelic meets rock n roll with a southern blues twang. Adheres to the aesthetic of being filmic and atmospheric, the gorgeous track sees an expansion of soft rock, spreading in your ears, filling up the entire world. With road-worn vocal and weary heart yet still remain hopeful. An authentic southern rock twang in the solo is quite a surprise and marks a change in the sound. It’s clearly from that point that Mendry has more to tell in what they had yet to show. Mesmerizing and delicious, “Learning” is very impressive.
“Jane’s Moon” dives into the heat of rock n roll with its touch of dizziness mixing with 80s’ floral back vocals. Faster and more chaotic. Ambitious, cruder and dimmer: The harder track makes both a sensuous and moody experience. “Rainbow,” on the other hand, immediately draws a Radiohead vibe. Like a sweeter “Creep” in three-time waltz, the classic, nostalgic sounding track is beautiful with a dark twist.
“Symphony” is glorious in its metallic buzz. Grassy and immersive, the anthem carries a slight western impression that feels very intriguing. The eclectic “Command” heads out to the progressive side. The ever-evolving track is hard to pinpoint, storming into the disobedient, experimentation of “Need” rich of strangeness and dissonance. “Go Into Love” concludes the album with a mainstream love appeal, though it doesn’t abandon its indie aesthetic. It feels good having the classic rock sounding single hits home with golden melodies and fuzz-jangling guitar.
5th PROJEKT “Vagabond”
Oftentimes, we like to believe that more would result in abundance yet the reality is the opposite. More feeds a bottomless hole of greed and desire, dragging you into the never ending cycle of lacking and emptiness you cannot fulfill. Stripping materialism off is the painful journey of purification until one has reached nirvana—this is where “Vagsbond” was born. Inspired by weeks-long pilgrimage across the mystic Camino Santiago de Compostela across Europe, 5th PROJEKT shares their ritualistic first single from their upcoming album, The Wolf.
“Vagabond” evokes soundscapes of solitude and wild fire. As if Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana and Thom Yorke had a brain child all together, the single sparks poetic otherworldliness with a sense of grunge. The sounds in the ears remotely resemble the familiar instruments we know, electric guitar, bass, drum, and vocal, which in reality they are, but they too have gone through the alchemy of rebirth, shivering in rarest palettes and textures. The sounds in there sound like metal and stone, baked in sun and beaten in water and wind. It’s something that feels ancient and authentic. The experience of listening to them feels like remembering what we’ve forgotten.
“Vagabond” is the keenest cry of sovereignty. Edgy and primal vocals wrapped in ambient psychedelic guitarscapes that remain conscious and intuitive, resulting in a nuanced high fresco. “Vagabond” has an early PJ Harvey picturesque rawness to it, an edge, an exposed vulnerability, an attitude that’s hard to ignore. The track hits very differently, even compare to 5th PROJEKT’s previous releases.
Spirituality, mysticism and anti-materialism have been recurring themes in the band’s catalogue. 5th PROJEKT are certainly delving deeper to the core of things. “Vagabond” gives you the same unexplained feelings when you look into the flame of fire for long. The dance of the flickering light takes you somewhere yet you’re more than ever present in the moment. Experience like this makes us question our deep-rooted believes and presumptions, and it would be truly amazing to see what has yet to come for 5th PROJEKT.
Nocturnal Animals ‘Paint A Picture’
Nocturnal Animals are finally here with their highly anticipated debut EP Paint A Picture. What did they paint exactly? Well, one thing we could say for sure is the picture of an exceptional rock band with so much potential. Paint A Picture is ambitious and expressive as the title suggests. The EP intertwines mood and expression, energy and power in droning distortion and moody vocals, sewing illusive psychedelic, mood-filled post punk, wrenching vulnerability and haunting dream pop sensibility into a six-song epic.
Recurring melodies in the humming noise, in the torn and weary screams, in the low and alluring chants, bearing a haunting imagery throughout the record. The lows are lurking and tempting. The highs are deformed and torn. At times, a flower-power washed-out surreality walks past the door and leaves a gaze that stars into your soul. There are so many great moments in Paint A Picture that remind you of the best and the worst of rock n roll, and Nocturnal Animals certainly stretched themselves enough to reach the unlikely places.
The record opens in the slow-burn buzz of a defining rock charm. “All My Care” sees Nocturnal Animals turning their stadium-filling volume all the way up. Minimalistic, yet the sinister riff and deeply burning vocal leaves a mark in your heart like the devil approaching. Yet it isn’t just here to haunt you. It’s here to claim you. The power chords can’t help sneaking in a twang, the drone-like distortion shift-shapes into a reverberant surf soundscape. As the vocal climbs up in register, he shows you a side of himself that’s young and rebellious. With such moodiness and almost psycho unpredictability, they remind you a little bit of A Clockwork Orange.
“King of Dolphins” drops the first hint of illusion, painting a dream-like, ethereal soundscape. Unmistakable drum and in-your-face lyrics with an even darker undertone. “A Simple Fuck You” is self explanatory. The track speaks your darkest desires, sometimes, just the ill wishes for someone who crossed you on the bad sad. It’s interesting that even though the lyrics are tied up with punk aesthetic, the soundscape explores a broader, picturesque impression, driving it further into a spiritual appeal. It eventually escalates into something completely mad.
“Tyler’s Song” shakes things up completely. From a chaotic, explosive, almost plastic vision, the track drops into a melancholy dream pop sensibility. The edge of rock n roll meets indie pop, splashing the unmistakable sexual energy all over in your ears. A hint of Sex Pistols and The Police in the sound, yet coiled in modern appeal. It hits differently, loud and full of contrast, the mentality of spiralling down, losing control in adrenaline-charged allure.
“Passive Tone” stirs in black and white, tackling the toxicity of passive tones, channeling something dark and ugly in a complete melt down. It’s a visually powerful track, and hard-hitting. The collective energy of spinning out of control reminds you much of Nirvana’s live performance. “Picturesque” then concludes the EP with a melodic lonesomeness. A bit of hip-hop wrapped up in the beginning, but the punchy vocal draws you back into something more confrontational and raw. The storming single then has a bit of Inhaler in its with vocal and guitar intertwined drastically in a gut-wrenching storm.
MONSTERS DUE “Real”
The debut release of MONSTERS DUE feels like love at first sight. The sonics, the poetic intertwine of synthwave and electric guitar riff, instantly stir your heart and soul. “Real” is irresistibly appealing. MONSTERS DUE’s sensitivity bleeds through the song, bringing a fresh dose of youth with naked vulnerability into your ears. Drawing from post-punk aesthetics, the track bond to the code of not anger or energy but mood and expression.
Cryptic lyricism seems both like a self expression or addressing the disaffected desires. The track takes a dive, exploring mentality, self, isolation, loneliness and longing for genuine connection. The obscurity of MONSTERS DUE’s lyrics mends romanticism and wit. It doesn’t give in to explicitness, but highly relatable. Like a mirror that reflects your most vulnerable self and thoughts. It’s an experiment on its own.
There’s a lot of stop and motion in the rhythm section, while the opening riff and synth mend themselves into a recurring melodic impression of the song, a haunting undertone almost. MONSTERS DUE’s treatment of percussion, on the other hand, induces vivid imageries, though most of them hard to describe.
As if on the move, in a car, there’s that escape and urgency of a rumbling bone that the drums add into the music. An old-fashioned swinging rhythm snaps its fingers and sneaks in during the verses, then there’s the double-time spiral, a speed-up that intensifies the mood in an instant. There’s a lot of different stages of feelings that “Real” tackles.
One thing that’s really surprising to see is how MONSTERS DUE manages to cross into a very refreshing pop sensation with an almost exclusive rock vocabulary. A touch of destiny — It seems to be a natural chemistry that has occurred between the sonics, voices, and melodies. The catchiness, the energy, and the youthful appeal work so well together bringing a multi-faceted sonic experience.
Slim Loris “Sticky Toffee Pudding”
Slim Loris came bearing gifts. The Stockholm-based indie rock band is gearing up for a new album. The first single will be released in the early 2023. Before then, they offered an update on their pre new album sound. “Sticky Toffee Pudding” sees the band embracing their universal sound in a hauntingly mesmerizing sing-along. A speck of Swedish melancholia played into the catchiness of britpop and authentic garage rock aesthetic.
The track opens with a moody guitar riff, mending the undertone of a haunting melody into chord progression. Lead singer Mattias Cederstam counters it with wit. “Sticky Toffee Pudding,” just like the deliciously mysterious title, sweetness and optimism with a pinch of grittiness, like a nuanced bittersweet, with spirit-lifting sweetness being the dominating taste.
But the undertone of melancholia and moodiness does play into the core of their music. It’s just a hint, not so much. The more you listen to Slim Loris, the more you begin to understand their spirited, almost humorous way of life, creating good memories and uplift souls. The music video of “Sticky Toffee Pudding,” for example, plays very much into a very likable, creatively articulated humor. Maybe the darker undertone, like a hint of bitterness in a toffee pudding, is essential to the perception of sweetness. It makes it all more precious and meaningful.
One thing that Slim Loris has been known for, giving that they have been in the music scene quite some time, is the relatability of a universal sound. They draws the same energy from the classic tear-jerking, stadium-filling moments while creating their sing-along momentums. It’s hard not to get worked up by the rich vibe and appeal they naturally have in their melodies and progressions.
Gaby Duboisjoli “J'veux des frissons - Häx Han Remix”
Häx Han’s reimagination of Gaby Duboisjoli “J’veux des frissons” places listeners right inside a David Fincher movie with soundtracks from Trent Reznor. Piercing deep house aesthetic meet Duboisjoli’s hauntingly sensuous vocal in a chilling, highly addictive sonic experience that engages your body and mind in an unexpected, deeply evocative way. Like journeying into an industrial part of town and discovering its own secret, cult-like underground dance scene, “J’veux des frissons” creates a listening experience quite unlike others.
On the original track, Gaby Duboisjoli evokes poised, haunting chant-like melodies that never fail to seize your heart and mind. Her voices haunt you deep at core, like the gaze from an all-seeing eye with deep compassion and understanding yet it remains a little distance. With Häx Han adding his hypnotic, mouth-watering backdrop, Duboisjoli’s vocal becomes so much more vivid in color, looming the track like a sensuous ghost in light, floral petals.
As a track of deep house, it’s overwhelmingly poetic and impressionistic. It’s even more haunting when Häx Han adds a shadow layer to Duboisjoli’s vocal. In a slight delay, it repeats what she sang in a kind of deeper obscurity. With all the sonics flashing and formlessly paced into the track, “J’veux des frissons” becomes an invitation of the most daring movement.
It’s hard not to lose yourself in the music. “J’veux des frissons” has the ability to transform you into another space and time. It’s penetrative and percussive. The dynamic but chilling metallic beats places you somewhere unlike any mainstream night club. It’s its own vibe, a fully-rounded, immersive experience where listeners could dissolve into, like a drop of water into the ocean. Its’ ability to shift perception and stimulate sensations taps into the field of psychedelic, which also seems well-deserved.
virgin orchestra “on your knees/give in”
Virgin orchestra, an exceptional experimental post-punk band based in Reykjavík, is gearing up to release their debut album. With a double single release, “on your knees” and “give in,” the three musicians of diverse musical background give listeners a sneak peak of the unusual phenomena they’re about to bring to the world.
Virgin orchestra describes “on your knees” as an “anthem of tragedy.” The track opens with a fluctuating melancholy. Immediately, the bleakness of a piercing guitar takes listeners to where the post-war captives were executed. The drastically tragic single evokes a sense of urgency, leveling between humanism and grim. Uncompromising narrative meets a picturesque post-punk glitch, together in an avant-garde soundscape. “On your knees” is confrontational but deeply sensitive.
The lead vocals in the track reminds listeners of the unorthodox singing voice of PJ Harvey, whose vocal performance alone is a poetry of extreme and atmospheric expression. There are a lot of grounds being challenged here in “on your knees.” Artistic expression in the post-avant garde world seeks more from non-linear and immersive storytelling, and that’s where their sounds seemed to be headed.
If “on your knees” is where blood drops became spots of black, “give in” is the somber dance between a blurred-edged mellowness and drastic horror. The sonic palette evokes a confessional contrast as the scale tips from one end to another. On on end, a fantastic drop of substance dissolve in the blood, blurring the line between poetry and sound, reality and surreality.
The hypnotic, psychedelic soundscape feels eternal, but all of a sudden, the color changed, so violently. Like the surroundings have frozen into darkness and deserted abyss in high resolution, the true horror of being “awake” has never been so close. Virgin orchestra tackles substance abuse with such palpable sonic depiction that is truly provocative.
Staytus ‘Disease Of The Mind’
Staytus is an artist of sounds and ambition. She imagines the unimaginable and executes her ideas with precision. Yes, her music is as mad as they are extreme and conflicting, but she sees beauty in the most unexpected place and captures the rarest sceneries into a sonic realization. As an artist, Staytus doesn’t waste her talent and skill. She brings heart into her music. In her debut album of Disease of the Mind, she tackles trauma, mental heath, and modern struggles, bringing her sound closer to the matters that deserve to be talked about more.
The album opens with a sonically unlikely spectacle, a drastic visual in the characteristic serrated drums of strings. The album opener takes off as if a vulture made out of swords and metallic tubes. Industrial meets metal meets grunge in the most daring form. Staytus’s vocal refuses to obey the rule of melodies. She refuses to please anyone but to be something of her own. The beauties of disobedience aggression and extreme present themselves with a twist of dark satisfaction. Before you know, you already fall in love.
From “An Echo in Space,” Staytus takes on a splitting contrast between micro-tonal dissonance and classic resonance while she dances with metal and grunge in a dark whirlwind of chaos and deterioration. The track feels like Kurt Cobain screaming in hell. It has that hauntingly chilly vibe in her vocals.
Maniacally absurdist seems to be one word to describe an aspect of this album. It also carries the genre breaking daring news of Nine Inch Nail. “Arrhythmia” provokes a Linkin Park’s style anthem in an end of world storm. Constant in full contrast with oneself, creatively and sonically. “Arrhythmia” is where her vocal goes to Courtney Love, hysterical with no holding back.
“Crawling” sees a wailing vocal in frying distortion, but highly relatable. “Don’t Die” on the other hand is bloody, violent, raw, and vulnerable. From there, an interesting merge between gaming culture and music become visible. It does make sense, the gunfire-infused, glass-breaking sonics become more palpable than ever. But the escalation and extreme isn’t just about the most obvious representation, it also processes a mental energy that sheds light on psychological struggles.
MAUGER ‘SHINY’
In a warmer tone, alternative rock band MAUGER brings an immersive, picturesque album SHINY. The scenic album takes a deep dive into the brilliance of full-band sonics. With just one or two songs in, MAUGER is easily on the top of a list of bands and artists that deserve some heavy replay.
Breathtaking and thought-dissolving; “Minute to Rest” has a warm, campfire vibe to it. The drums are keen and spirited. Imaginative guitar solo hits the right spot. The track places listeners atop of a mountain at dawn. The air is cooling down and the sky is dissolving in nuanced, beautiful colors. There’s playfulness in the dance of dissonance. The first hint of experimentation in the album has the spark of Radiohead in it. Undoubtedly, the first track sets quite a unique tone for the album.
Front man Mauger Mortier’s vocal is aesthetically pleasing and atmospheric. Melancholia at times, but like a mood-filled impressionistic painting, his voice is more of an impression that doesn’t seem to dissolve or become forgettable in time. His light falsetto has quite some Thom Yorke in it. At times, he shows you a side of childlike wonder, and at times, he’s off a 20 year old, still raw and passionate; then the other times, the maturity and deeply haunting emotions make you doubt if this is coming from the same person.
“Own Me” and “A Mindless Move” are on the more edgy side of the album, where the bands stirs up the arrangement a little, exploring different tones and sounds. “Own Me” features a characteristic bass that runs parallel with the vocal before blossoming into a full band sound. “A Mindless Move,” has a deep melancholia in the soundcapes while exploring gentle conflicts. The ode gives you a feeling as if standing on the edge of the world. Light marimba, deep bass, soft guitar and sensuous piano. The celestial backing voice adds something so different to the imagery.
“Ma Ja” gives out a guitar riff on the move. Like a flock of birds leaving or heading somewhere else, it provokes the feelings of on the road. The fast paced track is uplifting. “So Shiny” explores a softer folk side of the band with a sense of nostalgia. Many tracks in the album also evoke certain familiarity, like the sounds and melodies have existed in space for long and MAUGER captured them so perfectly and put it in songs. Mesmerizing and evocative. There’s mystery around SHINY.
If “So Shiny” is one person’s journey, “I Waited Up” is a carnival. The track opens with a stadium-filling warmth. In a change of sceneries, featuring a playful piano and jangling guitar, the track puts you in a road trip mood. “Don’t Carry Too Much Weight,” then feels like sitting at a bus stop where all the thoughts and feelings coming at you while your eyes are lost in the scenery. “Minute To Rest (part II)” concludes the album with a dynamic, clickety-clack rock phenomenon.
Jorge “Entre Células”
Between two cells, there’s an entire universe, epic, vivid, full of wonder. Jorge brings a special adventure through his album Entre Celulas, where he takes listeners for a spin in his own sonic universe. The unseen beauty, long forgotten in the smallest corner are being remembered and cherished through eight songs. From the illuminating moment of sunrise to the mythical night, Jorge invites you to witness something tiny but extraordinary woven together by ambience and electronics.
“Plea Manha” (In the Morning) kicks start the album with swirling synth and popping sonics that travel across your ears from side to side. The peaceful track has a light, obscure hopefulness in it as it illuminates softly. “Sonhos Teluricos” (Telluric Dreams), on the other hand, evokes some of the most primal feelings with the visualization of the unknown and darkness. The echoes that seem to attempt. The mystic that the earth holds in its rawest form.
“Para Onde Ir, Senao Aqui?” (Where to go but here) puts you right in the middle of a crossroad where the busy sonics depict the uncertainty with a speck of wonder and excitement. The nuanced track also has a side of tenderness that feels very special. “A Vida Debaixo da Pele” (Life Under the Skin), takes a trip under a microscope where things are splendid and epic. There’s so much you didn’t yet know that Jorge has passionately captured in his music.
“Olhares Sequenciais” (Sequential Looks) marks the most spirited track in the album with sounds chasing each other while evolving into something else. You could literally hear the different personalities that each layer of sound represents. It’s such a dynamic and vivid composition.
“Entre Duas Celulas, Cabe Um Universo” (Between Two Cells, A Universe Fits) hits home with an unexpected adventure in a gently colorful sonic palette. “Quando a Noite Cai” (When the Night Falls) then concludes the album with frizzled, swelling sounds and fleeing glitters — the earth and the sky, two that seems to have a different relationship at night, and you certainly won’t be thinking that way before listening to Jorge’s music.
Tom Saint “Death Ex”
Destructive but addictive, dangerous but vibrant, “Death Ex” is a lot of things, extreme, exaggerated, hard-hitting, and sinister — Tom Saint churns your ears with an emo, post-punk hyper pop track that blows your six senses away.
“Death Ex” opens with a signature Hellbound guitar riff, fully indulged in the darkly distorted atmosphere. Tom Saint’s voice is delicious and irresistible. He has the kind of voice that makes you feel a little guilty for how much you enjoyed it, like a forbidden fruit — not something you experience with every artist. The recurring chant of “death ex,” on the other hand, is simply haunting. The more you listen to it, the more it becomes a visualization, an impression that seem to leaves its mark in your soul.
Tom Saint’s music is quite overwhelming as it unravels. At first, you’d only think he’s making a strong impression, but the more time you spend in his music, the more psychedelic and sense-altering it really is. Maybe it’s not even intentional, but the way the bass, the synth, the beats, and the electric guitar and vocal woven together performs a very strange vibration that feels evocative and mind-bending.
Just like the title suggests, “Death Ex” is an autobiographical obituary of a destructive romantic relationship. All that crush and burn becomes hyper sensational in the track. It has a strong The Cure vibe, and just like that deadly relationship you can’t escape, Saint’s music also haunts you to core.
Modern Folklore “Vol. 1”
Vol. 1 is an album that really makes you look forward to a Volume 2 after listening. The world needs more honest rockers like Modern Folklore who write about the people, the life we all share. From the very first song, you absorb every sound and line Modern Folklore have to give and say, then you look forward to what comes next. That’s quite rare to how much you can come to love and feel for their music.
Vol. 1 is art in its purest, most authentic form. They write the earthy, unapologetic lyrics from the heart, based on life and inspired by life. In there, no matter the demons they fight, there’s always a speck of optimism and warmth that make you feel less alone. “This Pain is a Gift” is a meaningful track that reflects upon how the worst things happened in life could also be a gift. Setting its scene in a sultry, fantastical sonic landscape, the quarantine-inspired track tunes give us something everyone could relate to while gifting some light into the depressive reality.
“Jimmy and Donna, they lost their business like the others/ And I quit my job, yeah, it seemed like the right thing to do/ And lately alarm clocks, they sound a bit less condescending/Wish I could say the same of my interactions with you.” — it is lines like that: crude, artistic, and hard-hitting, that articulates everything you feel about life so well that makes you want to give them an applause.
“Sidewalks” tunes into the ups and downs of youth, so brutally honest about being a 20-something in the world, half a child, half an adult, making mistakes and learning from them. It’s interesting to see how the sonics and lyrics evolve across tracks. “Sidewalks” is more poetic in nature, “Silent Tongue,” intriguingly, taps into an abstract non-linear storytelling.
“Manchild” is probably the best track Modern Folore has yet to give. Sonically, “Manchild” captures a change of pace, blending the bouncy, optimistic and unapologetic attitude within the punk rock genre in fuzzy, slightly industrial atmospheric post punk surroundings. It’s expansive and cinematic and so rich in storytelling. The track has such a beautiful, epic ending that leaves all your feelings amplified, still ringing in the air.
Sonny Boy Sage “Ecdysis”
Born out of the most difficult times in Sonny Boy Sage’s life, Ecdysis is a concept album that revolves around the theme of transformation, death and reborn. You must go through the process of dying before you die. In those darkest, most painful moments, one also become the closest in touch with life and death, and Sonny Boy Sage aimed to capture these rare moments through music. Ecdysis is an epic, intimate, and intense project that intuitively sees the dark and light intertwined together in its most nuanced form.
Ecdysis takes place in electronic landscapes, expanding to other territories like progress rock, pop and avant garde. Sonny Boy Sage experiments and examines sung and spoken samples, chanted Buddhist text and a diverse combination of instrument throughout this project. The composer gets really inventive in this project, but there’s also the unraveling of nostalgia that are connected with memories and the past while sonically taps into the unknown.
“Gone, Gone” opens the album with a uniquely intuitive genre-bending blend, tackling the beauty and fragility of life in its most transparent form as it fades away. Though at times, the electronic channels intense feelings and emotions, but the tenderness in it shows resilience and light. It’s immersive and reflective. It’s fascinating how Sonny Boy Sage plays with the existing rhythm within a language, weaving it seamlessly in this atmospheric, electronic landscape that addresses both broad and concentrated feelings.
“Dead Now March” sets its scene in a flickering dark atmosphere where the feelings are being highlighted and passed across the surroundings. It’s haunting and unique, a listening experience that can’t be experienced elsewhere. In the shimmering sound, “Where is the One Without You Things Fall Apart” spirals intensely in dim whirlwind and misbehaving beats, but in between those turmoils, moments of peace seems more precious than ever.
OXLIP “I Said You Must Be Leaving”
Natural disasters had an unsolved connection with mystery. Life and nature confronts in the barest form, bearing the most haunting tales. Consisting of eight melancholy odes, I Said You Must Be Leaving feels like a prayer for the victims of a Japanese Tsunami. Oxlip, aka singer-songwriter Jayne Trimble intuitively tuned into the untold voices of the victims.
Without being able to retrieve the bodies, some of the families who suffered great loss from the disaster still carried items belonged to their loved ones, hoping one day they’d return. The unresolved nature of the Tsunami and the drastic nature of death became the undertone of the beautiful orchestrated album.
“I watched Unsolved Mysteries and wanted to intuit what I believed the victims of a Japanese Tsunami might want to say,” she said about the project.
From intimate narrations to childlike dances, to poignant lullabies to epic angsty roars, each and every song on I Said You Must Be Leaving had its own ghosts whispering into the creation, as if messages sent to those who needed to hear. A piece of memory lived in the songs and so were the souls, being preserved like photographs.
Haunting and poignant, the two words can’t describe the album enough. Though it sets in a dark, melancholy tone, the songs were hardly sorrowful. Oxlip’s songwriting and vocal style channels between Agnes Obel’s classic minimalist folk songs with a pinch of Harley Williams’ modern sensitivity. The arrangements on this album are clever and simple. “Wayward Woman” opens with an acoustic guitar in dim light, piano and a touch of light percussion. The track had a humming swing that felt like a lullaby whispered into listeners’ ears. Intimate, personal, and domestic, as if a woman sitting on a rocking chair, mesmerizing her life in the melodic ode.
“Gallows Hill” is a haunting ballad that drifts in bouncy melodies, tremolo strings, and marching percussion. “Maggie H.” taps into the cinematic, atmospheric side of storytelling. More drastic in volume with unsettling shakers, the darkly laced, dissonant piano had angst in it while the vocals harmonized and responded to what it said.
“Salt” runs a flowing piano arpeggio with trembling bells. Oxlips’ voice dissolves into the sonic waves that spread into the distance. It feels like the storm and the water. There’s the flowing quality and then there’s the thickly translucent stillness that silenced sunlight.
“12 Blind Boys” goes back to the bouncy, child-like rhythm. Haunting, as if a picture frame of memories. “Bones in Clay” then concludes the album with a poignant message, charged with the darkly tension in the shivering high strings and unresting vocals.
Alex Kate “Lost In You”
The very thought “Lost In You” gives its listeners is the haunting feeling as if time has lost its track in its pursuit of beauty. Cinematic, sensual and sensitive, “Lost In You” revolves around a love that makes you want to abandon the rest of the world.
You can’t seem to shake Alex Kate’s vocal from your head. As light as it is innocent and cheerful, her melodies dance in your heart like the dreamful phantom. “Lost In You” makes quite a mood-filled impression of a rose-colored gaze, fixated on every detail of a smile that fascinates you. In this gaze, time has become frozen. Kate’s storytelling focuses on painting those sensual moments with her sonics and lyricism, creating vivid imageries through her graceful, sensitive storytelling.
The chorus of “Lost In You,” on the other hand, feels euphoric and liberating. Just like in the music video, we see a woman dancing freely in the middle of a country road. Embracing the motion of spiralling in love is a combination of dizziness and euphoria. For once, let yourself be happy, feel the happiness running through your veins, feel your heart racing like a horse.
The repetition of the chorus feels extremely haunting, mimicking the unshakable, mystic nature of love. It might not be the most impressive line in the entire song, but you can’t really get the simple melody out of your head after listening.
Daniel Newcombe’s ethereal soundscape did the magic of bringing this piece to life. The dreamful, traceless, yet tender sonic atmosphere is simply immersively perfect for the theme.
Adrenaline Kings “M.A.S.”
Adrenaline Kings is a band you can’t go wrong with. They excel at making mesmerizing, infectious music that perfectly balances the best from live performance and studio recording. As a band, they are so good at delivering an unforgettable listening experience through their music and taking composition and performance to the next level.
There are so many wonderful things happened in “M.A.S.” that you don’t get to hear everyday. The first thing to point out is that Adrenaline Kings have two killer guitarists who take improv to the next level. Vocalist/guitarist Matthias Schneider kicks start of the song with a wicked riff. Drummer Florian Hartl gives it a little push and it soon explodes into a full band intro. Here, Schneider drops his first killer riff effortlessly, and we enters the first verse with mesmerizing, anthemic melodies echoing, passing around between the lead vocal and a guitar.
Things only escalate from this point. Before you notice, the collective effort of Adrenaline Kings already places you below a stage with their stadium-filling vibe and lit energy that has you bobbing your heads and humming along. The mood and atmosphere keeps on heating to a boiling point that feels inspiring. There’s a light touch of nostalgic flying in the air, but not so much that it makes you sad, it’s the kind that lives and breathes in the presence.
What’s really interesting is that around the first chorus, the band have dropped all the important ideas, but moving forward, they showed you the hidden potentials behind what they wrote. Three vocalists adding their own interpretations to the familiar lyrics, each delivers a slightly different emotions with subtext that brings what was already written to the next level.
Matthias and guitarist Paulus Untermeyer joins together for a collaborative improv during the bridge, passing licks from one another, completing a full passage so seamlessly and effortlessly. At one point, you can’t really tell what to expect or what would happen next, but there’s an established trust and comfortability between the two guitarists that just keep the convo open, letting it to fly freely, taking you to places that no one has ever been before.
Drummer Florian Hartl provides a solidly lit sonic ground that glues the music together, but what’s interesting is how he seems to be able to express his own personality in the way he leaves out certain beat, double-time it, and in other times, simply rock it.
Maybe the reason Adrenaline Kings are able to deliver such a hot and wonderful track is because their music is a conversation that happens between these musicians. It revolves around the mutual liking of 80s rock and heavy metal, but around the topic, they exchange ideas and explore new grounds. They keep pushing each other and tuning listeners into this mystically fascinating sonic world.
Paul Cogley “Deep Blue Sky”
Deep Blue Sky is such a fantastic album that it feels like a loss for anyone who didn't hear it already. Paul Cogley orchestrates a captivating and expansive experience through 12 songs, taking you on a deeply awakening journey above the sky with your visions and imagination broadened. “Mr. Spaceman" produces an impressive 3-D experience as if the track itself is projected across a sonic theater. The sounds surround you, swirling from side to side, placing you in an interactive sonic space where they have become palpable.
In “Mr. Spaceman," Cogley's voice is as vulnerable as it is sensitive. It softens the edges of those highly captivating, cleverly orchestrated, reoccurring riffs that draw you back and forth in good chemistry. His music has you widening your eyes as well as grinning and connecting. It's worth pointing out that the way Cogley plays with elements and themes is simply genius. His ability to make repetition fascinating also seems effortless.
“What If It Were You" dives into a deep, calming soundscape that feels like a painting of the night sky. A driven rock rhythm stirs the calm water. The track begins with a guitar in solitude, spreading out in distortion. In “Lament," a strand of light and night weaved into the beautifully tender storytelling. Here, the strings and woodwinds become the fleeing giggles that echo in the background. Hearing that soulful but light expression is simply precious. Into “The Flimflam," the echos became this classic, booming pulsation that brings a dizzy feeling into your eardrum. There are also fleeing sounds in there, but the mesmerizing short lick has your attention, going into a western, alternative rock and blue palette. What's even more interesting is how “Everything Changes" continues the shivering echo from the last track but tunes into an introspective gaze.
“Pebble" delivers a change of pace in the album that lifts the air with brighter colors and lighter feels. “Epitaph," on the other hand, concludes the album with meditative storytelling that builds the space from the lingering sound after hitting the strings.
To Hell With Tradition “Eggshells”
In the flashing light of flaming synth, a deep, blooming groove evokes a confrontation of the shadows. To Hell With Tradition tackles the theme of the uncanny with some of his most intimate compositions to date on his new album Blurred. Hauntingly cinematic and lyrically poignant, the Heidelberg based singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Achim Hofmeyer wonderfully weaves eeriness and beauty in a poetic, revelational storytelling.
“Eggshells” opens with a flashing synth that draws the listeners into a suspenseful atmosphere in the mix of light and dark. You know something is about to happen. It’s calm and nervous at the same time. There’s a level of surreality and mystery formed by the sound and dissonance. Without dropping any word or changing the chord progression, Hofmeyer has already had us standing in this exact field he wanted us to be.
The deep bass tunes into the background, giving it an instant filmic feeling that adheres to the album’s overall aesthetic. Through Hofmeyer’s lyrics, the revelation or the confrontation of the shadows and darkness is slowly unraveled, but the truth isn’t as horrifying as we anticipated. In this tune, To Hell With Tradition didn’t talk about anything we don’t already know. The chilling feeling is accompanied with a hint of liberation.
It’s interesting how the track changes its pace and shifts its energy from the initial suspense. It’s quite simple since the flashing synth already has a danceable element to it, but as the song dives in, you could feel how he discovers a deeper groove and pulsation underneath the pacing rhythm. There’s fire and power in there. Like a dark fascination, it gives out a feeling as if you are tuning into a ritual that took place in ancient time but it’s always around us, in the air.
The whispers and electronic-blazed guitar riff provide more visual content for the music as well adding another layer into the atmosphere. With Hofmeyer’s unfiltered vocal and a touch of melancholia, “Eggshells” achieves a rich and powerful storytelling within a relatively intimate instrumentation.
Portal Nou ‘In Passing’
Portal Nou’s music feels like individual paintings on the canvas. They are filled with fantastic visions, nuanced colors and masterful details. They bring you to another world with touch, feelings and nostalgia. You could see the way the brush once touched the canvas, where the different media dissolve or confront each other. It’s vulnerable and naked, but at the same time, euphoric and high aesthetic.
There’s a very intricate balance of melancholia and brightness in the warmth of In Passing. The full-length album completes an emotive, introspective journal that illuminates and inspires. Each track feels like it captures a specific moment in life. The vision is always combined with landscape and mood-filled contemplation. The energy here is both stormy and calm, in a way that it stimulates you to think while listening to the stories that the melodies hold.
The most beautiful aspect of In Passing is how it spreads to the space and gently changes your perception. It draws you in. It inspires and guides you in conversation with the music and with yourself. On a sonic level, it really expands your reality to the further beyond, but unlike a picture just depict what’s there, it gives you its heart and warmth. The music here is enriched with emotions and thoughts.
Portal Nou explores a guitar-centered landscape in In Passing. Through the nuanced, atmospheric texture, light strings and warm guitar timber, he fuses his music with a sense of melodic sensitivity that is captivating and highly relatable. The storytelling is vivid through his guitars. The ever-evolving drums feel like the earth that holds the life form. It’s grand and earthy, ever-changing but serves as the constant.