Well, technically Adam Byczkowski and his stage persona Better Person aren’t a total newcomers, at least if you happen to know your way around Berlin’s restless indie music scene. For the bigger half of the past decade the Polish artist has been a steady force in the city and beyond with his shimmering retro pop that gave us such wonderful tracks like True Love earlier this spring. Hard to believe that his upcoming record Something To Lose is actually his debut album but yeah, four years after his first EP It’s Only You Mr. Byczkowski is ready to make the next step and in terms of pop quality he’s aiming big.
The title-track of Something To Lose is a hazy pop pleasure, produced by none other than MGMT‘s Ben Goldwasser who the artist met during one of the countless nights in the Berlin club scene. Endless talks about their shared love for catchy hooks and synthesizer programming later Byczkowski took his last money to fly to Los Angeles to record these new songs with Goldwasser and the result is easily the finest body of work Better Person has released so far. Harmony-loving melodies, unpretentious saxophone solos, trippy synthesizer elements and a voice that was meant to melt the hearts of listeners all over the world. The musician breaks a bit free from his early more goth-like releases but that also opens interesting new facets and it suits him pretty well, we must say. If you agree, give the man your love and mark October 23 in your calenders because that’s when Something To Lose arrives via Mansions And Millions.
Every Monday we’re updating the 50-track-strong Listen AHEAD Playlist on Spotify, adding ten strong songs by sill relatively unknown artists at the beginning. This week’s new picks also include fresh songs from Tiflis Transit, Temple In Man, Hannah’s Little Sister, ViVii as well as Better Person‘s label mate Discovery Zone who gave us an extended interview last week and French psych pop artist Petit Prince with who we also spoke recently. Follow the playlist right here on Spotify and give these new talents a chance.