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:
LORD OF THE LOST – “OPVS NOIR Vol. 1” (LP)
Despite the Chris Harms solo album from earlier this year, Lord Of The Lost have managed to make enough new music to give us a whole album! “OPVS NOIR Vol. 1” is an 11 track effort that ranges from the previously released collabs with Within Temptation and Feuerschwanz to new tracks like the hard and heavy opener “Bazaar Bizarre” or excellent, moody ballad closer “Dreams Are Never Alone”. Album of the month!
MARO – “Live Trio Sessions” (EP)
These songs have, by and large, been out for months on YouTube. But MARO’s “Live Trio Sessions” have now been combined into an EP that is available on all streaming services. The songs are mostly new versions of MARO tracks, with other artists joining the Portuguese singer-songwriter. But, of course, there is one exception. MARO also covered Harry Styles’ “As It Was” together with Charlotte Cardin and November Ultra. EP of the month, of course.
Tajči – “Mati moja”
Tajči are best known in Eurovision circles for arguably giving us not only our very first disaster bop with “Hajde da ludujemo”, but in my view also the best ever disaster bop. Well, now the Croatia-born, US-based singer showed up at another music festival: Croatia’s prestigious Festival Kajkavskih Popevki. “Mati moja” (My mother) is a sweet ballad penned by Hrvoje Herček, with whom she has worked multiple times before.
TVORCHI & The Maneken – “Одіссея”
With summer coming to a close, it seems that TVORCHI have really found a great groove to go with their beats. “Одіссея” (Odyssey) is a collab with The Maneken and a moodpiece for those last few summer weeks where the sweltering heat has given way for comfortable evenings that go by as quickly as they appeared.
Jerry Heil – “Додай гучності (12 points)”
The eclectic musical journey of Jerry Heil continues with this avantgarde-ish pop track that also sees her build on her singing in both Ukrainian and English, while hearkening back to her roots. The end result is a mesmerizing track that feels intensely dramatic while also not taking itself too seriously as the pre-ESC trademark Jerry Heil does ever so slightly peek through. Extremely close to being my song of the month!
Gary Barlow & Rosa Linn – “Out Here Looking”
So this is mostly in here because it is very much a “wait, who and who?” collab. Yes, that is Gary Barlow of Take That fame working with Rosa Linn for his new song “Out Here Looking”. The song is the final track released for Barlow’s new EP “Meanwhile”. To add to the “wait, what” factor, this song was written by Barlow together with Matilda Mann, a notable British indie folk musician in her own right. Anyhow, the end result here is a slow, sweet song about how we’re all “Out Here Looking” for love.
FELP – “Pelo Sim Pelo Não”
Who or what is FELP, you ask? FELP are the Frente Espetacular pela Liberdade Peluda (Spectacular Front for Furry Freedom). Wait, that doesn’t really answer the question, does it now? Okay, so FELP is a comedy show airing on Portuguese RTP, and this song was in the show. A whole host of Portuguese artists contributed to this track, with iolanda being the reason it gets to show up here on the round-up.
The other vocalists include Eurovision adjacent artists such as João Só (JESC songwriter 2018, wrote for Festival da Canção ’12, ’14, ’17), Miguel Cristovinho (FdC ’19 songwriter as part of D.A.M.A.), Nena (FdC ’24), Tiago Bettencourt (FdC ’22 interval act), Samuel Úria (FdC ’17 songwriter, ’20 and ’24 interval act), and Cristóvão Campos (part of the best part of FdC ’23, Jesus Quisto), and others.
But what about the song? “Pelo Sim Pelo Não” (Yes or No) is a muppets-coded group single parodying the likes of “We Are The World”, and it manages to sound earnest enough to sell that while also being extremely silly.
МУР – “РЕБЕЛІЯ [1991]” (LP)
And that is not the only all-star collab this month! МУР is a musical project thatunites multiple Ukrainian musicians to create special albums. “РЕБЕЛІЯ [1991]” (Rebellion [1991]) features contributions from a whole host of familiar names for Eurofans, including Jerry Heil (ESC ’24), Go_A (ESC ’20, ’21), MONATIK (ESC ’17 opening act), BRYKULETS (Vidbir ’25), Nazva (Vidbir ’24), Artem Pivoravov (countless collabs with Eurovision artists), OTOY (ESC’23 interval act), and others.
The album tells the impactful story of Ukraine from the 50s to 2001, with spoken interludes setting the scene for the songs. The album also is making a limited run as a musical throughout Ukraine. Musically, the album is much more cohesive than you might expect from such a sprawling album with so many performers, and while arguably it misses a song that really packs a musical punch, I still highly recommend you check this out.
Mia Nicolai – “chasing lullabies”
Closing off this section of the round-up is Mia Nicolai. “chasing lullabies” is another excellent track for those late nights, not just in the summer but in general. Just an absolute brick house of a song, this: everything is solid and works together well. A really pleasant listen that I heartily recommend.
Next page: Highlights from artists from across the Extended Eurovision Universe
Giwrgos Oiko