Wednesday

In a long and emotionally exhausting year of being inside (alone, in my case,) I have found myself thinking about mirrors. How to avoid spending too much time in them, most days. Taking inventory of the real, physical self is difficult work, work that I’m not entirely opposed to but work that became immediately more treacherous for me when I had to witness the very real toll that time, modern anxieties, isolation, and boredom were taking on me. It was easier, it seemed, to spiral into a not-so-distant glorious past, to use memory as a tool of both excitement and healing.

But, speaking of excitement, I like to stumble towards a band with no agenda, no purpose, uncovering sound almost on accident. This is how I first heard Wednesday. The band came to me and I don’t remember how, or why. They simply arrived, as if we’d been traveling toward each other our whole lives. I Was Trying To Describe You To

Someone soaked into my summer of 2020, and in sound, in spirit, in central concerns and the execution of them, it took me back to an era before the current era, which I’d needed at the time. The past can feel less hellish than the present if we are, sometimes, not fully honest with ourselves.

There is the trick of nostalgia that I spend a lot of time playing with in my own writing, and somewhat tormented by in my own living. The very real idea that nostalgia is both a useful tool and also a weapon if it isn’t paired with something that approaches a type of rigorous honesty. Which is hard to do, sometimes. My memories flare and fire with only the finest aesthetics of a past that I was certainly in, but I often deem myself as only a secondary character, if even that. Which, of course, lets me off the hook in the name of fluorescence and flourish, in the name of sound and sight.

I love Twin Plagues first for its songs, plainly. If you, listening to Wednesday for the first time around or even the second time around, stumble onto this album, I promise you the songs will be what grab you first, beyond any of my foolish high-level emotional theorizing or projections. Every band that loves the pursuit of their craft the way this band does is one to follow, because getting to sit on the sidelines and watch them level up is a real generosity. Twin

Plagues is overflowing with hooks, but what most delighted me about the band from the start has taken a leap: they have managed, somehow, to get even better at structuring their noise from one movement of a song to the next. The idea of the “song” itself is flexible in their hands, so much so that each song holds two, or three songs within. This, again, generosity. “Codys Only” is a ballad until it begins to threaten a storm of volume, and then, in its final act, it becomes something else altogether. “One More Last One” is a shoegaze-y trip that swells and swells until it overflows, but it doesn’t stop. It keeps offering and offering and offering. I say “noise,” and never in a dismissive sense. Everything has a place, and so much of its place is to serve the true heart of this album, and the true heart of Wednesday’s music, which is allowing cracks through which tenderness can enter and exit as needed. Tenderness that, it seems to me, is always wrestling underneath whatever else might be happening on a song’s surface.

But if I may go back to all of these ideas of nostalgia and our old, tricky, past selves that are, indeed, a part of the house of bricks that make up our present self, what I also hope you, listener, might adore about this album is the exact moment at the start of “The Burned Down Dairy Queen” when Karly sings I was hiding in a room in my mind / and I made me take a look at myself. Because if you, like me, have been avoiding mirrors – both metaphorical and real – this is where the album becomes a lighthouse, echoing bright across the darkness of my otherwise dark and empty chambers. So much of these songs meditate on the past in far less romantic ways than I have found myself meditating on the past, and I was desperate for the recalibration that this album provided. I was desperate for making myself less blurry in my own memories and reckoning with my full, multitudinous self. The self that was once unkind, or less gentle, or less curious than I am now. I needed this album to remind me to embrace the fullness of my unfinished nature, the years I have lived and – with any luck – the years I have to go.

So, yes, the songs are good. You will maybe roll down your windows on a comfortable day on the right stretch of road in a warm season and turn the volume up when “Birthday Song” gets good and loud and sing-along-able. You might sit atop a rooftop at night, closer to the moon than you were on the ground, and let “Ghost Of A Dog” churn and rattle you to some nighttime realization that you couldn’t have had in silence.

But, even on top of all of this, on top of all the pleasures and the mercies that the sounds on this album might afford. I hope and think, too, that it will remind anyone who listens that we are a collection of many reflections. All of them deserving patience. — Hanif Abdurraqib

Lorde

Few artists can capture the essence of an entire generation like Lorde. Since her breakthrough at just sixteen with the minimalist anthem Royals, the New Zealand singer-songwriter has redefined the sound of modern pop—intimate yet grand, poetic yet grounded in raw emotion. With her distinctive voice and profound lyrics, Lorde has built her own world where introspection and power go hand in hand. From the moody sophistication of Pure Heroine to the pulsating energy and self-discovery of Melodrama to the sun-drenched introspection of Solar Power, Ella Yelich-O'Connor's music is constantly evolving – each album represents a new chapter not only in her artistic career, but also in the emotional lives of her listeners. She writes like a novelist, creating vivid scenes and penetrating truths about youth, fame, loneliness, and joy. Now her career, including live performances, has entered a new phase defined by her latest album, Virgin. Her live performances are literally transformative. Whether she commands the stage in complete silence or leads a euphoric sing-along, Lorde creates an atmosphere that resonates emotionally. At Colours of Ostrava, Lorde will bring her unmistakable energy, a voice that moves between fragility and fire, and a repertoire of songs that have shaped a decade of pop culture. Expect moments of pure joy with the anthems What Was That and Green Light, as well as electrifying emotions with the ballads Liabitlity and Man Of The Year.

The xx

It all started in a bedroom in south west london, after school, drinking too much pepsi. We just keep on growing.

Turnstile

NEVER ENOUGH

sombr

late nights and young romance. instagram: @sombr

Amyl & The Sniffers

Since forming in Melbourne’s sticky pub-rock scene in 2016, Amyl and the Sniffers have become masters of balancing power and playfulness. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt - 2019’s self-titled debut and 2021’s visceral ‘Comfort To Me’ - vocalist Amy Taylor, guitarist Declan Mehrtens, bassist Gus Romer and drummer Bryce Wilson have achieved something unique and remarkable. Since the release of Comfort to Me, the band has seen their horizons broaden exponentially in every way. And it’s this attitude - bigger, brighter, smarter, sharper - that’s fuelling their third album, ‘Cartoon Darkness’. Recorded with producer Nick Launay at Foo Fighters’ 606 Studios in Los Angeles, on the same desk that captured Nirvana’s Nevermind and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, the latest Amyl offering is full of surprises. Musically, Mehrtens, Romer and Wilson have written The Sniffers’ most diverse album yet. It stretches from classic punk to the glammy strut of recent single ‘U Should Not Be Doing That’ to the stormy balladry of ‘Big Dreams’ and beyond. "Cartoon Darkness is driving head first into the unknown, into this looming sketch of the future that feels terrible, but doesn’t even exist yet. A childlike darkness," says Amy Taylor. "I don’t want to meet the devil half-way and mourn what we have right now. The future is cartoon, the prescription is dark, but it's novelty. It's just a joke. It's fun."

Ravyn Lenae

Ravyn Lenae makes dreamy, atmospheric alt-R&B. She arrived during the latter half of 2010s with a trio of EPs which touched on styles ranging from house to synth-funk, with 2018’s Crush EP and its lead single “Sticky” making the biggest splash. HYPNOS, her critically acclaimed debut full-length, was released in 2022 via Atlantic Records, with Steve Lacy, monte booker, and KAYTRANADA among its producers.

The Chicago-born songstress now embarks on a new chapter with the release of her sophomore studio album, Bird’s Eye. The album is executive produced by GRAMMY winning producer Dahi.

Medina

Jacob Dinesen from Denmark is just 26 years old but writes songs and sings like he is twice the age. Jacob Dinesen is a young storyteller with an incredible voice and an old soul. He plays an Americana inspired crossover between rock, folk and country. He grew up in Tønder, in the rural area of Southern Denmark. Far away from the big cities. Jacob took his first steps on the soil of the Tønder Festival (a Danish festival of folk, roots, traditional music and Americana). which has influenced and formed him ever since.

In 2008 a 13-year-old Jacob Dinesen randomly meet the seminar English singer-songwriter Allan Taylor at Tønder Festival. The meeting was the eureka point of a friendship and a mentorship that developed over the year despite an age difference of50 years between the two. 13 years later Jacob Dinesen and Allan Taylor joins forces on the title song on the new Jacob Dinesen album: The Joker’s Hand.

”He started as a hero of mine, later he became my mentor and one of my dearest friends.He has guidedme over the years and taught me everything I know about song-writing and life on the road. We have played together many times and had amazing experiences. I am truly honoured to finally do this with my mentor, my friend. The great Allan Taylor” –says Jacob Dinesen.

Back in Denmark Jacob Dinesen has released 4 albums, been certified gold and platinum, and is on heavy radio rotation. He is selling albums in a time and market where everyone else is counting streams. He has also been selling out shows all over the country the last 5 years, playing venues and even arenas, along headlining festivals.

Besides Denmark Jacob Dinesen has also played Americana Fest in London, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Faroe Island. Not bad for a kid who grew up as far away from the big city as possible in the rural area of Tønder, Denmark.

The Joker’s Hand is the 5th album by Jacob Dinesen, and the first album released internationally. The two main singles: “Too Many Hours” & “I Need Some Time” presents a contemporary rock sound blending electronic elements into the traditional soundscape of guitars, bass and drums fronted by the powerful rock voice of Jacob Dinesen.

Dijon

Ice Age

Ericka Jane

Bette

kind mod kind

Wednesday

Performers