Like driving through the landscape
Weekly5 Edition #8 • feat. Lea Porcelain, The Birthday Girls, Jessiquoi, Harakiri for the Sky, and TĀLĀ.
Today, Weekly5 gets a whole new look. After careful consideration, I decided to switch the provider and move forward with Substack – one of the most prominent newsletter services.
Not only do I now have a bit more flexibility in designing the editions, but I also have cool new features at hand. For example, you can discuss the latest issues on the landing page. Obviously, I’ve recreated all the previous editions there.
I’m looking forward to chatting with you there.
I will adapt the newsletter in the weeks ahead since I’m still getting to know the new tool as I’ve never worked with it in the past.
This actually transitions perfectly into the next topic.
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Let’s move on to what you’re here for in the first place: great new music.
Today’s edition brings you a spectrum that stretches from contemporary post-punk, catchy stadium-rock, avant-garde pop to crushing metal and pumping downtempo.
Lea Porcelain – Ohio
After the brilliant single Pool Song, Lea Porcelain released two more songs, Choirs to Heaven and Consent of Cult, last year. The singles all built further suspense for the German duo’s sophomore album. This week, Markus Nikolaus and Julien Bracht dropped their latest teaser for the new album that will also be called Choirs to Heaven (Release: 21st May 2021).
“Ohio is the story of two lovers who, in a future scenario, see the end coming and want to spend it together any way possible,” the band explains. “The world has become something we don’t seem to understand anymore. Forced to be alone and keep the distance from most of the people we know and long for.”
No wonder Ohio sounds beautifully dark yet romantic. While the track remains close to Lea Porcelain’s signature post-punk-inspired sound manifested in their debut Hymns To The Night, the new single shows how their music developed towards a less densely packed arrangement.
On the other hand, Ohio still features multiple layers. Listening to the song resembles driving through the landscape on the brink of dusk: In the back, the creeping horizon; in front, the proximity melts into colour stripes due to the speed.
The Birthday Girls – Coming Home
Everyone familiar with the Swiss music scene knows that the Hitmill studio in Zurich guarantees catchy productions. Although most of its creative births are way too mainstream pop for my taste, a worthwhile tune finds its way to me once in a while. The Birthday Girls’ Coming Home is one of those exceptions.
The internationally composed line-up of The Birthday Girls might be the reason why their music cannot easily be pigeonholed. The five men from Munich, London, Istanbul, Vienna, and Santiago de Chile met in one of Zurich's kebab stores.
Coming Home is a classic pop-rock anthem, a song that strives for the biggest stadiums. The parallels to bands like Imagine Dragons are apparent. Somewhere between melancholic yet powerful rock music and bittersweet, catchy pop.
Although the topic of homesickness is quite misplaced in our current situation, Coming Home’s hopeful note is a welcome escape from our worries.