Pop Music – Abbreviations: Vokale Wonnebäder and Dark Academia Pop

It’s the sound! – It was in 2008, after the release of Fleet Fox’s debut album, when this less exciting, but painful and true assessment of what (and not only) this American band consisted of was expressed in an inflated way. The sound was and is (in the particular case of Robin Beckenold) literally drowning out everything. This was once again a reminder of the deciding standard in almost every genre of pop music. Even after 13 years, not much has changed – It’s the sound that makes the difference.

And so we are in Helianth, a young student from South Tyrol studying in Innsbruck, made his debut this year as a singer (and guitarist) under that name. For me the sound of the year. Such a powerful member, as it sounded early in the song “Sounds and Shapes” in 2021, somewhere – and now I arrive consciously – lies between Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin, has long been unheard of. At least not in this country. EP released in September “mid tide” Emphasize and reinforce the impression of three other tracks (especially track No. 4, “idkhtly”, also known as I don’t know how to love you): strong and affectionate, melodramatic and polyphonic – a vocal bath of bliss. Satisfy more of them in 2022.

Not only was this movie powerful, but also compelling, a debut EP by the Linz native, which was released in October. Ching (“shing”). Primarily based on R&B, soul sounds, hip-hop beats and pulsing, Upper Austria presents herself as a lively, versatile and articulate artist who has gained experience with bodychammingfriendship, love and other contradictory processes of self-discovery. (The single “Swallow You” combines all the elements in a typical and idiosyncratic fashion.)

The new album, already twelfth, announces a completely different sound and mood Birgit Dink: “Strawberry and Music” She says – and is the fruit of closure, as the Viennese singer frankly admits. And as it is well known, the poet of a well-established dialect does not lack openness, just as she lacks humiliation with the sleeves of a shirt for what is in it. classification Which put Stephanie Werger’s successor into a comfortable position. He says in one song “Be a goschert and angular and stubborn and weak, I never want to be nice” – and this self-description is absolutely true: No, Birgit Dink is not great, but honest and good. And that’s among the 14 numbers, which show the full emotional range of this heart-and-mouth musician: loud and quiet, she confidently delivers what you can expect of her. And the beautiful (and no less beautiful) hit “Buglkraxen” on the same song is a pleasure to be carried on the back off the album.

With Vienna-based singer-songwriter Andreas Lechner, who works under the project name Ghost and the Machine It’s not the sound that appears on his new (analog) double album, “Alice in Contraland, Part One and Two”More eye-catching than the metallic sound of his resonant guitars, which the musician uses in a wonderful variety of ways. Parts one and two differ only in order: twelve songs in high intensity, delicious and enjoyable (part one), or in a raw, acoustically dry version (part two). Listen to Lechner’s over-ambitious project Dark Academia Pop It’s worth it there, especially in comparison, for example with songs 2, 5 and 10.

Completely different audio components can be found on “Heart heavy”The artist’s first album, Christoh. It’s about Salzburg-based musician and producer Christoph Ertel (formerly with the Evangelical Dating Service), who lives in Vienna, who mixes all kinds of guest voices into his electronic soundtracks, including those of Yasmo or – here she is again – Shing . It has become a variety poster, the kind of memoir in which Christo mixed the experiences of the various lockdown days in his studio in Vienna. The 13 numbers oscillate somewhere between dull relaxation and lamentations of twisted ordeal. And on track #10, “Now That I’m Here (Feat. Rezar)” there’s a short Supertramp electronic piano interlude – almost in Christoh’s packaging – so it’s the best thing in pop history. excellent.