From the dirty bass of an old-school boom-bap to steel drums dissolving into a falsetto rave. From a chainsaw guitar solo to broken hearts dressed in pop. From a rapper switching tongues like punchlines to an electronica piece about the pressure to function. After quite a tricky selection process, today’s curation refuses to sit in one mood.
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LUM – LUCKY LUM
“I’m rapping quicker than my shadow.” Six languages collide over an old-school boom-bap beat, a dirty bass vibrating underneath. On LUCKY LUM, Swiss rapper LUM switches tongues like punchlines, treating borders as just another rhyme scheme. She delivers an express dose of excellence, hooking you without fluff, but with lots of attitude. All hail lucky lucky LUM!
Manta Youf – SCHOLL
A comeback after seven years of silence: Manta Youf, four musicians from Baden, Switzerland, reveal fascinating new facets to their sound in SCHOLL. A catchy electropop anthem on responsibility and justice that oscillates between danceability and sinewy expansiveness, culminating in a passionate guitar solo that snarls like a chainsaw.
Odd Beholder – High Function Low Desire
With unflinching honesty, Daniela Weinmann, aka Odd Beholder, explores the struggle between emotional reality and the pressure to function in everyday life. Feelings are suppressed in order to meet expectations—from washing up to childcare. High Function Low Drive is a moving, thought-provoking piece of Swiss electronica.
nothhingspecial – don’t pick up next time
The track meanders from post-punk cool to melodic melancholy in a pop guise. With her new single don’t pick up next time, the German artist nothhingspecial transports us to a world of broken hearts that radiates a bittersweet beauty despite the dark pain. And in this world, the anthemic and the pensive-depressed are not opposites.
Perfume Genius – Natural High
Conceived as the soundtrack for a new dance work by choreographer Kate Wallich, Natural High by the American artist Perfume Genius flows through an atmospheric world. Melancholic steel drum beats give way to powerful surges of organ that emerge from the leaden silence. But then the sound bursts forth, like the sun breaking through the clouds, into a driving beat, and Natural High becomes a daring falsetto rave.
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