Annett Bonkowski

Putting on a festival in 2019 comes along with a great deal of responsibilities. Lollapalooza Berlin, which celebrated its fifth edition this year, was back for a second consecutive round of music, art, fun and more at the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Park and approximately 85,000 visitors each day. Quite a large number of guests that were ready to be entertained in all possible ways.

In recent years, it would have been easy for Kindness to push themselves to the fore. With as many talents in their pockets as Adam Bainbridge and a long list of musical activities, high profile collaborations and various spectra covered such as writing, producing, djing or having their own radio programme, the limelight was right there. However, Kindness chose to let their work speak for itself mostly from a position in the half-shade . And it did. Rather soft-spoken in general, but always determined, profound and open-minded.

Before the summer is slowly fading away, we are blessed with "Forever Turned Around" - Whitney’s gorgeous follow up to 2016’s magnificent debut "Light Upon The Lake" that saw Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek become indie folk’s newest darlings with a very busy schedule of touring the world together afterwards. Working hard and following your passion is always best when you can share the experience with someone else which is very much the case here for the two longterm friends Max and Julien who have been making music together since the tender age of 18.

Releasing a double album in 2019? Bold move. Writing a song about synthesizer brands? Even bolder. Or in other words: The Divine Comedy are back. On their eleventh studio album, the band from Northern Ireland returns with unstoppable curiosity, wit and love for imagination while the storytelling circles around one theme in particular: Office Politics. A title enough to stretch the band's already existing creative dimensions even further and leaving a lot of room for brilliantly witty observations.

Even if you don't speak French, there is a good chance that the word "Dépaysé" echoes back a certain sensation of melancholy and longing. By choosing it as the album title for his latest musical output, Ahmed Gallab alias Sinkane picked a word that perfectly summed up his feelings while working on new music trying to figure out his place in this world and connecting with himself even more. Dépaysé meaning 'to be removed from one’s habitual surroundings'. 

When two of the most gifted and genuine songwriters of their generations team up, expectations are naturally high. With Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst, also known as Better Oblivion Community Center, there was almost no time to ponder over the possible outcome or spirit of their collaborative work with the the duo surprising their fans and media alike with their newest project over night last month - announcing the birth of Better Oblivion Community Center as well as sharing their full debut album simultaneously. It turned out to be a very satisfying surprise to say the least. 

For a long time, mental health has been a topic that has been consciously ignored wherever you looked in the entertainment industry. Artists are often celebrated for pouring their heart and soul into their work and sharing extremely private matters with their audiences at times. Weirdly enough, seeing the same artists talking about their psychological struggles in public has often been somewhat of a taboo topic whereas stories about drug abuse in all its forms are so common hardly anyone even raises an eyebrow.

Sometimes, it only takes a few notes to be completely captivated. Tamino’s debut album 'Amir' certainly proves to be one of these moments where you instantly feel that the rich textures to come as well as the soothing vocals, often in falsetto, will stay with you for a good while. After having released his 'Habibi' EP earlier this year, the Belgian born newcomer of Egyptian and Lebanese heritage has made an impressive step forward with his debut LP that explores Tamino’s rich traditional Arabic background as well as his love for pop music.

The charming songwriter returns with his sweetly slack new album 'Bottle It In' after last year's collaborative release 'Lotta Sea Lice' with Courtney Barnett. It turns out, he is not so slack after all, having recorded the new songs all across The United States in various sessions. The epic result is sonically charming with a smooth vibe and lo-fi appeal.

Love is not a fairytale. It is definitely not the sweet, dreamy and safe place we are so often made believe it is all the time. The true reflection of it reveals a whole lot of other ingredients that are less flattering. When it comes to love, the beautiful disguise always seems more tempting than the actual great amount of work it usually requires. The magic only kicks in if you acknowledge that everything love has to offer has as much to do with the person in front of you as with yourself.