As usual, even if I take a break, I can’t resist sharing a playlist of the week. It has a dark mood, but rest assured that some tunes bring a silver lining. Let’s go!
This week, the playlist kicks off in Italy. It’s the band Anførsyn who open with a mysterious bassline and an enchanting voice on Fallen Angel. The track explores toxicity and liberation through beautiful religious metaphors, and the result is both healing and confident. Next, we head to France with FRAGILE and their single A Reason Why, which searches for reasons behind change. It’s a dance between the nostalgia of letting things go and the thrill of something new. The energy is superb!
THUMPER then arrives with The Drip, and this one’s quite personal. The Dublin band tackle post-tour burnout and fading relationships. They do it over textured riffs. It hits hard and it’s catchy. For more layered textures and a slight grunge edge, we turn to Japan. Wepeg has just what we need with vtmnts, a new thrift shop anthem, heavily influenced by the 90s, yet perfectly in the moment.
We then take a trip to East London for the sound of Nukie. In Face like -_-, we also feel the strong influence of the 90s and 2000s, with a sound and vibe that match the image of today’s city. We stay in London, but shift to something more experimental with Friedberg’s new track, haha. It’s thrilling, ready to smash insecurities. Different from their earlier work, yet still infused with the group’s core philosophy.
Next stop is Estonia to rediscover the rich productions of GØK2. Between rock and electro, the Istanbul-born artist has a golden voice and works his textures like powerful lace. This time, it’s with KOTRYNA. We then slide into political pop. Everything is political, but this track by Roufaida might be more direct than most. Ken Ness is an anthem, a hope, a call for peace, delicately delivered by the Moroccan-Dutch artist and supported by deep bass. It’s a personal favourite of mine.
We cross genre lines again with biting, fiery rock from the Dominican Republic with Barricade. They don’t hold back on Selling Lies. Who are the sellers of lies? It’s up to you to figure it out in the lyrics. Let’s add a bit of sunshine to our guitars, maybe even a few synths, with American band iamsnail. Show Me carries something both fresh and nostalgic. It’s got that hopeful glimmer that does good in tougher moments.
We then return to the UK with Weathership, who creates a nocturnal universe also filled with strong emotions but full of hope on For The Dark Is Beautiful. Because I love contrast, we wrap up this week’s playlist by heading back to Japan to discover the 8-bit flavoured electro-pop sounds of Hige Driver. On To The Musician You Once Were, he teams up with Nobuyuki Takatsudo, and it’s captivating, optimistic, gentle… And the perfect end credits to the week.
If you’ve enjoyed the playlist of the week, don’t hesitate to support the blog via our Ko-fi page!
•••
FALLEN ANGEL – ANFØRSYN
•••
A REASON WHY – FRAGILE
•••
THE DRIP – THUMPER
•••
VTMNTS – WEPEG
•••
FACE LIKE-_- – NUKIE
•••
HAHA – FRIEDBERG
•••
KOTRYNA – GØK2
•••
KEN NESS – ROUFAIDA
•••
SELLING LIES – BARRICADE
•••
SHOW ME – IAMSNAIL
•••
FOR THE DARK IS BEAUTIFUL – WEATHERSHIP
•••
TO THE MUSICIAN YOU ONCE WERE – HIGE DRIVER FT. NOBUYUKI TAKATSUDO
SPOTIFY – INSTAGRAM – GROOVER – SUBMITHUB – MUSOSOUP
📷: ROUFAIDA – MAROUANE BESLEM
Created with Groover, SubmitHub and Musosoup #SustainableCurator — more info here.