I was quite amazed that there were quite a lot of interesting single releases this week. At least artists from Germany feel to be quite active – but there songs from all over the world in my this week’s edition of Songs of the Week.
Lordi feat. “Werewolf” Bürger Lars Dietrich – Hard Rock Hallelujah
What a cool story by my favorite monsters Lordi: they saw that Bürger Lars Dietrich is performing their song (and one of the Songs of my Life – see here) at the German TV show The Masked Singer – and made a single out of it. To make it even better: the single is a charity release. Enjoy a new version of Finland’s hidden national anthem.
Gewisse Leute – Allein
Punk with hard rock elements made in Kamp-Lintfort in the Ruhrgebiet region. The German band had initial regional success this year – songs like Allein (“Alone”) feel promising for some next steps.
Steel Panther – 1987
Steel Panther feel so beautifully like the 1980’s. And this song’s title is suggesting a longer band history as well. However, in fact Steel Panther has been formed in 2000 in Los Angeles. I love these guys – there are so much fun.
Hostage (feat. ifa) – Enemy
Hostage are originally from Aachen at the German-Belgian–Dutch border, but are now located in Cologne. Great metalcore cover of this Imagine Dragons track. The female vocal add-on ifa works perfectly in here.
DMA’s – Olympia
From Germany to Down Under: DMA’s is an Australian rock band, who are currently working towards their next album release. How Many Dreams will be released on 31st March 2023 – Olympia is a nice appetizer for this.
Laura Cox – So Long
Rock with a strong blues flavor: Laura Cox is a French blues rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. So Long simply got the groove. Her European tour is going to start in March 2023 in Boulogne Sur Mer and take her to France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. I guess this could be a fun evening.
Pablo Brooks – Waste
Pablo Brooks from Dusseldorf had a really successful year 2022: he released his debut EP and almost sold out his first headline tour. Nice indie-pop sound from the Rheinland area.
Kuult – 2023
Another act from the Ruhrgebiet region: Kuult from Essen released their musical greeting for 2023 this weekend. Their fourth studio album will follow in February. Cool pop-rock sound with a slight touch of an nostalgic elements.
Cloudy June – Devil Is A Woman
Which male being would dare to contradict to these lyrics? Cloudy June’s Devil Is A Woman feels like a pop song with R’n’B sprinkles. The Berlin artist is going on tour in March 2023 as well.
Celine – Bitterkalt
With Celine, another emerging German pop artist is featured in this week’s list of songs. The title translates to “Bitter Cold”. A slow, very emotional recording. Love to listen to it.
Iris Mareike Steen – Haltlos
Iris Mareike Steen is well known as actress in the German TV daily soap Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten. However, songs like Haltlos also illustrate that she is a pretty interesting musician. I even feel a bit of summer vibes in winter when I listen to the track.
Wiener Wahnsinn – Bitte bleib
The project name translates to “Vienna Madness” – and in case you don’t know these guys yet (they are active since 1999…) you just need to listen to a few lines of lyrics and know: these guys are indeed from Austria’s capital. Beautiful write about a break-up with a great vocal performance by the band’s vocalist Soberl.
Monocrieff – Perfect
Monocrieff (civil name: Chris Breheny) from Waterford in Ireland recorded the most emotional listen of my music week. Intense vocal performance, which does not need to much more instrumental background than a piano and a bit of strings. Wow.
AnNa R. – Hinterm Mond
You just cannot deny that this one is quite a suprise: AnNa R. became huge as Anna Rosenbaum, when she was part of the German pop duo Rosenstolz. The sound of Hinterm Mond (“Behind the Moon”) even has a touch of the former Rosenstolz sound.
Paul Weber – Linie 12
I can relate to Linie 12 really well: first of all, because of Paul Weber is a real “Kölsche Jung” (a Cologne guy), born and raised in my home town. Secondly, the underground line, which is featured in this song, is my daily commute to work. But I would likely love this one even under other circumstances.
Alte Bekannte – Spazierengehen
The Wise Guys have been a huge act from Cologne. The a capella band was originally a school band and finally split up in 2017. The follow-up project: Alte Bekannte – you could roughly translate it to “Good old distanced friends”. The concept is similar: great vocal-driven sound with a nice ironic touch. In this song, they state Ich will nie wieder spazieren gehen – “I never ever want to take a walk” – referring that it was more or less the only thing which has been allowed during peak times of the pandemic.
Songs of The Week – The Playlist
You may also listen to my Songs Of The Week and songs selected in some of the previous weeks on this Spotify playlist:
Rheinland Music 2022
Here are all my Music & Media postings related to the larger Cologne region in 2022:
Greater Los Angeles – Travel Reviews
Here are all travel related postings featuring the Greater Los Angeles area: