Ski Holiday sounds like a perfect band name for a winter release, doesn’t it? The band has British and German roots and is mainly active in the Greater Hamburg area. On 13th January 2023, they release their debut album Ski Holadiy (no typo!). I had a liste.
Ski Holiday – About The Artists
Ski Holiday are doing post-wave pop. Initially, the band was named Spucke, which translates to “Spit”, and did folk pop songs. The quartet consists of Yusuf Blayanchi, Jonas Danielowski, Henrik Boehne and drummer Jil Hesse. They released three songs before this album release.
Ski Holiday – Ski Holadiy – Track by Track
The eleven song album lasts 39 minutes
1. Dior
The album starts with one of its key tracks, the three-minute single release Dior. Strumming guitars with an overall strong indie touch. A bit too repetitive in my point of view.
2. Bingo Bingo
The second track Bingo Bingo is not only significantly longer and almost takes five minutes. It also works with a stronger melodic touch. Again, there could be some more surprising elements in the first half of the track. The last two minutes feel comparable agile and versatile.
3. Beautiful State Of Mind
Beautiful State Of Mind lives from the contrasting sounds of the high key / syth notes and the groovy work on the bass. The song thereby feels rather dream-ish, even a bit of psychedelic to me. Nonetheless, a nice listen.
4. Tongue Tied
Tongue Tied is the third single release on the album and also the last track Ski Holiday fans know from song publications. The song works with similar elements than its predecessor. However, the vocal part feels to be more present in this one.
5. Liar
The fifth track is driven by the very present bass. Later there are also more intense synth elements. The lyrics rarely deviate from the key phrase I’m not a liar. Even though this is also a bit of bothering (despite a short runtime of the song), you can’t deny that this one has a special touch.
6. Do You Really Feel It
Indeed, the sixth song is one of the tracks which make me feel the magic of the music of the Hamburg band most intensively. Very good atmosphere – overall, Do You Really Feel It feels rather balanced and less experimental to me.
7. What It’s Like
Songs like What It’s Like are like as mainstream as Ski Holiday can sound alike. The bass feels a bit braver, there is some guitar and drum presence. Even the verses feel a bit more complex, compared to other songs.
8. I Don’t
The vibe of I Don’t (together with some other tracks of the album) remind me of Neue Deutsche Welle tracks. A bit of simple and naive, but also straight in a certain way. However, these Hamburg guys sing in English, so that they don’t fit into these German 1980’s style shoes.
9. Apology
The stomping rhythm of the Apology leads to a rather dramatic touch of this 3:29 minute track. Nice one.
10. Decide
Decide is again rather close to the first songs of the album. Luckily, the song develops it own character towards the middle of the listen.
11. Guiding Light
Ski Holiday close their debut album with the Guiding Light. The song is again less experimental and also comes with less of an indie character. Very interesting bridge part.
Ski Holiday – Ski Holadiy – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Ski Holiday – Ski Holadiy – My View
Ski Holadiy simply does not feature music for the masses. The German project is doing what they like to do. Overall, they do it well. However, the songs are a bit too repetitive to me – I would love the guys to invest a bit more into a more complex plot. Finally, the music is more than just dancefloor stuff, which you can loop again and again. Still a nice listen, though.
Hamburg Postings in 2022
Here are all my postings related to Hamburg published in 2022:
Uncommon Stays
Castles, planes, great locations – I just call these very special Hotel & Accommodation postings as Uncommon Stays: