The 2024 entries
It’s the final hurrah for these artists, who this month saw their compatriots follow in their footsteps and perform on the Eurovision stage. From next month onward, all these artists will have to fight for one of the hotly contested spots in the general Eurovision section of the round-up. But for now, they still get a page all to themselves one last time. And boy howdy are they taking that opportunity with both hands!
Jerry Heil – “АРХЕТИПИ” (LP)
It’s been hotly awaited and now it is finally here, Jerry Heil’s new album “АРХЕТИПИ” (ARCHETYPES). There are some previously released tracks on here but also a bunch of new music. There even are some tracks (partially) in English on this album which sees Jerry Heil, as always, meld and transcend very different genres and moods.
Within Temptation & Jerry Heil – “Sing Like A Siren”
But that wasn’t all from Jerry Heil this month, as she also appears on the new single by legendary Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. “Sing Like A Siren” takes a Ukrainian vesnyanka leitmotif and builds on it, blending different instrumental and vocal styles to create a mesmerizing sound. Really, really good.
Tali – “Wander” (EP)
You’ve had to wait anywhere between a few months to a year for it depending on how you count, but Tali’s EP “Wander” is out now. The 7 track EP includes her Eurovision entry “Fighter” and 6 other pop songs that are distinctly more mid-tempo or laid-back.
Silvester Belt – “Naktį Saulėje”
We now enter the singles territory, starting with Silvester Belt and his new track Naktį Saulėje (Night in the Sun). In a sign that the long 1980s have also lead to a long 80s revival, this vaporwavey track that pulls musical influences from the 80s and early 90s to a fairly chill result.
Marcus & Martinus – “Endless Summer”
Sweden’s Norwegian twins are meanwhile banking on an “Endless Summer” with a generic-if-mostly-inoffensive beach party track about having a good time during what they hope will be an endless summer.
Käärijä x Baby Lasagna – “#eurodab”
Apparently we’re going back to 2013 with songs having hashtags in their titles, at least if it were up to Käärijä and Baby Lasagna. Loyal readers to the round-up will not be surprised that this song is absolutely, entirely, decidedly Not For Me. But I can totally understand that fans of either artist, especially Käärijä fans, could really go wild to this.
İlkin Dövlətov – “Dünya”
He loves the round-up, and has appeared in it every month starting in August 2024. İlkin Dövlətov rounds out his appearances here by releasing another song in his signature style of traditional Azeri music mixed with some more modern electronic influences in the instrumentation. This time, the result almost feels classic schlager-esque to my uncultured ears.
Kaleen – “Pretend We Can Fly”
Also returning to the round-up is Kaleen, who does the thing she knows best: releasing some energetic music for the dancefloor. “Pretend We Can Fly” feels like one of her most modern efforts yet to me. While it is still firmly rooted in music from the 00s and before, some of the production choices make this feel distinctly now.
Anxhela Peristeri x Besa x Marin – “Rrena”, Besa – “Look at ya”
Albania’s Besa era has come to an end, but that didn’t stop her from being busy in the studio. A collab with fellow Eurovision alum Anxhela Peristeri, “Rrena”, turns out to be a pleasant Albanian pop track. It is out on YouTube but the record label doesn’t want people to embed the video so you’re getting a spotify link instead.
Solo effort “Look at ya” sees Besa return to the English language well and other musical influences, as heard on her Eurovision entry “Titan” albeit a tad more focused on this track in my opinion.
Marina Satti – “Fovame”
The ever-busy Marina Satti is back. This is, bafflingly, a Greek language cover of MARO’s “saudade, saudade”. People unlike me, that is to say people that don’t mind Spotify Singles and/or are big Marina Satti fans, might get a kick out of this but to me it feels largely unnecessary. Cool to hear it in a different language though!
Next Page: The best and biggest new releases from other Eurovision artists
Thomas James