Hello darkness, my old friend

As always, I first welcome the new members to our small community of music enthusiasts. If you haven’t already, check this page to learn more about Weekly5 and its values.

Last Tuesday, I sent out the very first special edition, featuring five songs that inspired The Beauty of Gemina’s Michael Sele. Creating the edition was a lot of fun, an opportunity to dive a bit deeper into a particular artist.

I hope you enjoyed it as well. Please let me know if you would like more editions like this.

I’m deeply grateful that the newsletter already has double the audience than back in its days with the online magazine Negative White. The next special edition will be inbound when Weekly5 reaches 250 subscribers.

Today will be straightforward and pure. Five news tracks you should give a chance. Just a quick reminder before we start: You can always find the new songs in the Weekly5 playlist on Spotify and Apple Music.

This edition brings you soaring darkness, blunt anger, and bittersweet beauty. But first and foremost, it showcases promising outfits that are at the very start of their careers. Today, we are not only discovering new music but also artists.

ZUSTRA – Back to Dark

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, an aquatint by Spanish Francesco de Goya, is the centerpiece of Back to Dark. The Croatian-German songwriter ZUSTRA interprets the dreadful image in her latest work. “The dream of reason creates monsters,” she sings. The Dream of Reason will also be the title of her debut album, coming this autumn.

“Back to Dark is about a trade-off between reality and dreams, and the question of which is actually the more fatal illusion: following a fantasy or believing in one’s own sanity,” she explains.
And how does this idea sound? Simply put: It’s a soaring epos of nightmarish proportions. ZUSTRA, lately selected as one of the most important newcomers in 2021 by Berlin magazine ‘tip,’ demonstrates her potential and shatters any doubts.

Back to Dark punches black holes into your stomach, consuming every ray of light. The buzzing synthesizer cuts through reality like a chainsaw. And when the single gets calmer, the world seems to freeze in time. Back to Dark is a stunning cinematic experience.