New Music Releases Worth Adding to Your Playlist
April proved to be a month of contrasts in Ukrainian music, ranging from profound reflections on the past to light, summery rhythms. In their new releases, artists are reinterpreting the tragedy of the Chornobyl disaster through industrial sounds and exploring complex themes of displacement. Alongside these, vibrant pop hits, experimental jazz, and English-language singles aimed at the global stage have emerged. We’ve compiled ten releases that best capture this diverse musical landscape.
DK Energetyk — “86.4 FM”
To mark the anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, the band DK Energetyk presented the album “86.4 FM,” created to reflect on and draw attention to the event. To convey the anxious atmosphere of that era, the musicians used an old Soviet synthesizer, the “Polivoks,” during the recording, which adds an industrial grit and radioactive tension to the sound. The music is permeated by radio waves, transmitting the tragedy both from the perspective of the station itself and through the eyes of an ordinary observer.
“This conceptual story is written to draw the attention of society, both in Ukraine and abroad, to the tragic events of that time. After all, today the world is once again facing similar issues and threats,” comment the band members on the main message of their release.
Artistka Chuprynenko — “Excursions Around Town”
The artist’s debut album is dedicated to the home that Russian troops entered in 2022, the artist’s parents who remained in their hometown, everyone who lost their home during the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Special Operations Forces Resistance Movement, and Ukrainians resisting in temporarily occupied territories.
The track “Stone” also received a visual adaptation. The work combines Artistka Chuprynenko’s personal story, told in the lyrics, with the land of the Donbas, for which Ukrainians have been fighting for 12 years.
The minimalist visual style of the video is a way to discuss an experience that is difficult to put into words. It is neither a return nor an escape, but a state of being between the home that was lost and the life that continues.
“It was important for us to provide space for the viewer, for their own memories and experiences. This is a clip about the connection between a person and the land that matters to them,” adds Artistka Chuprynenko.
Ziferblat — “Going Crazy”
The band Ziferblat has released a new single, “Going Crazy,” which is the second track from their upcoming album “Melancholia.” It is a song about a state where thoughts accumulate to the brink and spiral out of control. The track immerses the listener in a space of emotional, passionate, and somewhat dramatic experience.
It’s a story about how intense love transforms a person, making them seem “strange” to others and leading to the shared “madness” of two lovers. The wordplay in the lines “going crazy” and “by God’s will” reinforces the feeling of inevitability of this state, as if it’s not a choice, but something happening to you.
“This is one of the freshest songs from the album that I wrote personally. I wanted to convey the state when you can no longer hold it in your head and you seem to start losing control. It’s when your head spins from love,” says Valentyn Leshchynskyi, guitarist and composer of the band Ziferblat.
“Strange Love” — Palindrom
Palindrom’s new release is a dialogue between a son who doesn’t want to be like his father and a father who didn’t know how to love. It speaks of the inheritance of not only traits but also pain. About finding oneself amidst the fragments of others’ decisions. About gratitude that finds new recipients and about the moment when you need to let go to finally start living your own life.
“Sometimes love looks strange. Sometimes it hurts. But it still leaves a mark,” reads the description of the clip.
“For Two” — Otoy, Kler
The new track by Kler and Otoy is a candid conversation about exhaustion and the attempt to maintain care and closeness in a relationship amidst endless tasks and daily hustle. It’s a story about love in the fast pace of life, where even in the midst of events, a moment for “two” is found.
The music video, directed by Oleksandr Hirchenko, harks back to the era before mobile phones and features the aesthetic of bright tracksuits.
“Teardrop” — Kazhanna
“Teardrop” is a track about breaking free from an exhausting relationship and reclaiming self-control. The protagonist is leaving a toxic connection, setting her boundaries and refusing anyone the right to cross them. Simultaneously, it marks another step for Kazhanna towards a more complex and unpredictable sound.
Hyphen Dash — I Was Afraid Of Stone Rooms (LP)
Hyphen Dash, who blend instrumental hip-hop, jazz fusion, nu-jazz, jazz-rock, electronics, post-rock, and ambient music, have released an album created during a two-day improvisational session at Duma studio. Keyboardist Polina Mayboroda and saxophonist Borys Mohylevskyi joined for the first time in its creation.
“This is, in many ways, an imperfect, bold, and fun piece of music, but it fills us with great lightness and the ability to love the simplest things, which seemingly should never have been released, but it is this step that gives this music new meanings and energy,” comments the band.
DOROFEEVA — FEEL THE HEAT
This is Nadya Dorofeeva’s first English-language single, marking a new global phase in the singer’s career. In the single, the artist reinterprets Ukrainian cultural codes through the language of modern pop music: the track’s drop features an interpretation of a melody used for dancing the hopak, one of the oldest traditional Ukrainian dances.
American songwriters Jamison Fox and Warrick Runnels worked on the lyrics. The mix was done by the renowned American producer and two-time Grammy winner Ken Lewis.
“Cold” — TVORCHI
The new single “Cold” is a romantic story wrapped in a nostalgic aesthetic. High-quality dance house music, where energetic beats contrast with a soft and sensual text. It’s the soundtrack to first love – when the temperature outside is rising, but it somehow feels chilly without them by your side.
“The track ‘Cold’ is about that moment when curfew is approaching, it’s time to say goodbye, but you don’t want to. It’s a song about the state of being in love, a racing heart, and that moment when you just don’t want the evening to end,” say TVORCHI.
Bah-Bah Genesis, Chubareenee — HCYBMH
This summer funk track by Bah-Bah Genesis, featuring Chubareenee, was created under the influence of Brazilian music and the unrealistic scenarios one plays out in their head during leisure time. This play of imagination became the basis for the lyrics and the music video – the heroine tries on various hypothetical romantic relationship scenarios, living them out in her own mind.
Подробиці можна знайти на сайті: elle.ua