środa, 3 grudnia 2025

Feral Atom - Przestrzenie (2025)


Finally the time has come. After a series of great singles, a brilliant EP and a series of collaborations, Ola Beręsewicz aka Feral Atom, one of the most talented dreamy artists of the new generation in Poland, released her debut album. The artist continues her style of creating soft songs, hazy atmosphere and catchy melodies, all in one.

Coming from one of the wildest and most desolated regions of the country, Beręsewicz managed to catch attention of the dreamy music lovers with her almost perfect EP I Dream in Blue, performed at festivals all around the country and secured two extremely interesting collaborations with Tomasz Mreńca and with Kryowake. Especially the former is of interest to me as I value Mreńca's music sensitivity and because he joins Feral Atom at the debut album on my favourite track Visions. This song stand out at the album with its louder, almost shoegazey vibes.

Otherwise, songs are written in more minimalist style, based mostly on Beręsewicz airy vocals and solitary guitar riffs. The structure is completed with electronic beats taken from more mainstream indie music but maintaining the dreamy, unhurried atmosphere (so well done in Cold as Ice). This hazy, spacious atmosphere is so important that the artist entitled the whole album "spaces" with three interludes directly referencing the notion. Interestingly, on the album, we have songs both in English and in Polish and somehow, this doesn't happen very often, I prefer the artist's lyrics in the foreign language. Nevertheless, a really well-done and well-rounded debut.

Przestrzenie costs 7 EUR (30 PLN).

Check: Visions
Country: Poland
Genre: hazy dream pop
Label: Seszele Records




wtorek, 2 grudnia 2025

SPRINTS - All That Is Over (2025)


Give me Irish post-punk any time of a day and I will gladly accept it. Especially after last year's abundance of great releases within the genre. But if you add a deal of guitar noise to the picture, I'm immediately sold. This is the case of the sophomore album from the Dubliners of SPRINTS where the spirit is post-punk, but the music provides a significantly loud experience.

The band acknowledges a slight shift in their music by saying that the new release "pushes the dynamics of the band into richer territory, finding new space and nuance but also going harder than ever". And so the songs here are fast and short, hitting like some well-addressed punk punches with energy fueled by aggressive guitar sounds and extremely catchy melodies. But underneath it all, the artists incorporated meaty and noisy layers of guitars, a real and rarely found treat for the fans of noise rock.

I feel like the structure of most of the tracks is also richer and more interesting than at your obvious post-punkers. It's more the IDLES-like songwriting with changes in pace and volume (so great in Something's Gonna Happen) and other clever little tricks that make the album stand out. Also, I love how in Pieces, the guitar riff is so similar to... one from the Polish legendary post-punk band Klaus Mitffoch (from their song Muł pancerny), but I know it's a special thing only for me and a handful other people worldwide.

All That Is Over costs 10 EUR.

Check: To the Bone
Country: Ireland
Genre: noisy post-punk
Label: City Slang