Other Highlights
There is way too much music released every month to cover in-depth, but here are some of the best and biggest new tracks from other Eurovision artists:
Sudden Lights – “nejauši kadri”
Sudden Lights are taking some “nejauši kadri” (random shots) and sound as great as ever. This rockier entry in the Sudden Lights discography manages to be both rougher and groovier than most of their music, while still seamlessly fitting in alongside it. Of course, Sudden Lights fans and regular readers of the round-up will not be surprised at all by this, as some of the sonical groundwork for this track was clearly laid on recent releases such as “Ataust rīts”.
MARO & NASAYA – “WE COULD BE”
After the absolutely gorgeous “Lifeline” last month, MARO and NASAYA continue on their musical journey together. “WE COULD BE” takes the future garage-esque sound of “Lifeline”, strips away much of the electronic work on that one, and replaces it with lush guitars to create a distinct and very warm dream pop track. Once again, and as pretty much as always with MARO: Highly recommend you check this out!
Benjamin Ingrosso – “Look Who’s Laughing Now”
The last song to be released of Benjamin Ingrosso’s Eurovision interval medley is the bombastic, late 60s/early 70s extravagance inspired “ABBA plus Benji with a hint of rock” track “Look Who’s Laughing Now”. This excellent song was written by Benjamin together with Jessica Agombar (BTS, Ava Max, Shania Twain) and producer David Stewart (Shakira, Jonas Brothers, Eurythmics).
Ben Cristovao, Mirai & David Koller – “Heartbreaker”
Ben Cristovao does what I have been waiting a long time for on new track “Heartbreaker”: bring back that tasty rock sound he gave to us in that band live session version of “omaga” that, in my opinion, should have been the Eurovision version. “Heartbreaker” sees the Czech rapper work with his fellow countrymen of pop group Mirai and guitarist/producer David Koller. A great track to listen to while walking home on a warm summer evening.
EX-HURRICANE – “NISI TI ZA MENE”
The trio that gave us the (personally exhausting) “Hasta La Vista” and the (girl group perfection) of “Loco Loco” went their own ways, leading to three new women being recruited to carry the Hurricane torch. Now, however, the Eurovision line-up of Sanja Vučić, Ivana Nikolić, and Ksenija Knežević celebrated times go by with the banger “NISI TI ZA MENE” (YOU’RE NOT FOR ME). The track is just what you want from (ex-)Hurricane: Energetic, loud, and musically heavily inspired by traditional elements while keeping the overall sound modern.
Pasha Parfeni – “VECINII”
Pasha Parfeni is leaning into the more electronic part of his recent forest rave sound on new track “VECINII” (NEIGHBOURS). This song is an ode to the spontaneous moments and wildly differing personalities that a neighbour’s barbecue brings together on summer evenings.
Barbara Pravi – “La Pieva (Chez moi)”
“La Pieva” is the name of Barbara Pravi’s upcoming second studio album, which is scheduled to release in September. We now already are treated to the title track which, if it is a sign of things to come, should mean that Barbara will not have to worry about a sophomore slump. The title of the song and the album is inspired by her family name, Piévic. “La Pieva (Chez moi)”, then, is an ode to her family and its history, and that is reflected in its music, which beautifully builds into this communal moment and sees Pravi add some musical touches inspired by her Serbian heritage to her refined chanson sound.
Amaia – “Nanai”
Amaia gets dreamy in the soothing yet unsettling electronic track “Nanai”. This song, which is very different from the last time I featured her in the round-up, is all about the things that happen in our dreams. An excellent song, very “vibey” for lack of a better word. I am keeping this entry short because you really should listen to this song instead of reading about it.
Triana Park – “Liepu Laipas” (feat. Normunds Zušs)
Latvia’s Triana Park team up with Normunds Zušs for the beautiful and gentle new song “Liepy Laipas”. The track, which is partially in the Latgalian language, combines modern pop sensibilities with a distinctly more ethnic sound.
Ralfs Eilands – “Apaļās Neskaidrības”
Although Ralfs Eilands inclusion here is for being half of PeR, Latvia’s 2013 representatives, I best know him for the (excellent, robbed) Mēs Jūs Mīlam, who finished 6th in Supernova 2022 with “Rich Itch”. On this solo project, Ralfs trades in most (but not all) chaotic electronic moments of those tracks for distorted guitars and pounding choruses. “Apaļās Neskaidrības” (Round Ambiguities) has a guitar groove reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age, switches tempo like early Franz Ferdinand, all while throwing in some hints of accordion at the end as if the next track we hear is going to be a polka banger. Absolute treat and recommend!
CASCADA – “CALL ME”
It’s divas covering divas hour as CASCADA covers the Blondie classic “CALL ME”. Upping the Eurodisco elements of the track by throwing a thumping beat to thump all thumping beats while still keeping in a very tasty bassline, this cover turned out really strong. The track is part of Cascada’s upcoming album “Studio 24”, which will consist of 15 tracks and also includes the previously released cover of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough“. “Studio 24” is set to be released October 11.
Magdalena Tul – “Make Me Believe”
“Make Me Believe” is a great throwback to that early 00s pop-rock-with-bits-of-other-genres vocal showcase. This musically and vocally (again, really can’t oversell this vocal) strong track is about Magdalena having at one point given up on love, but her current partner has again made her believe.
Margaret Berger – “Songs my friends might wanna dance to” (EP)
In the classical sense this would still be a single, but the days of B sides are largely (albeit not entirely, thanks to Joost Klein) gone and “double release with two differently named songs on it” is just to awkward, so let’s call this an EP, yeah? If you permit me a short tangent, my favourite genre of this two songs that aren’t quite singles or an EP” kind of release is the accurately and ridiculously titled “Two Songs About Cars. Two Songs With Long Titles.” by Pet Symmetry (I just love goofy titles).
Anyway, back to the music at hand: “Songs my friends might wanna dance to” is the latest release by Margaret Berger, who represented Norway at Eurovision 2013. Song number one, “Libra girl” is a gentle dancebop, a good slice of optimistic-but-not-sugary Scandipop. The second track, “Karma is a”, is a bit darker and reminiscent of those mid 00s Scandipop heydays.
Austin Wintory – “Stray Gods: Orpheus” (LP)
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical is a video game that is exactly what it says on the tin. Austin Wintory (who also soundtracked ABZÛ, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, and Journey, to just name a few) was responsible to make the all important music for this game. He returns for the new DLC “Stray Gods: Orpheus” following his Grammy nomination for the score for the base game. Returning alongside him is Montaigne, who worked on a few songs last time and now adds 6 more songs to their discography. Montaigne worked on the first 6 songs (which actually are 3 distinct renditions of two different tracks) of the album.
Next page: Highlights from artists from across the Extended Eurovision Universe
Giwrgos Oiko