Culk
Smogstar (transparent Yellow)
CULK, fronted by singer and songwriter Sophie Löw (aka Sophia Blenda), are back. And once again, the Viennese band attempts, in their own unique way, to capture our present in all its ambivalence. What does it feel like to be human today, in this world with its boundless possibilities, existential anxieties, fears for the future, searches for meaning, and questions of identity? On their new, fourth album, CULK delve into a state of limbo between euphoria and being overwhelmed. "smogstar" tells of the pulsating feeling in between. Everything is so exciting. Everything is too much. Everything at once. It's about the endless possibilities of seemingly constantly reinventing oneself. Even if one still doesn't quite know who one is. "I wanted the lyrics to be lighter and radiate that special vibe: a feeling of freedom combined with being lost," a mood that's also reflected in the urban collages and drawings of the artwork, which Sophie Löw created herself in the style of a graphic novel: the black-haired protagonist with the dark, smeared eyeliner on the cover is something like the album's fictional title character, making her way through the haze and the shimmering promise of the metropolis. Because, as the album title suggests, the smog and the stars are close together here. And indeed, "smogstar" has become a decidedly urban album. CULK play more freely here than ever before. Sophie's distinctive voice is still at the heart of the hypnotic songs, but this time they sound more open, stripped-down, and less dark. This time around, musical references include the more uncompromising sound aesthetic of 80s and 90s noise-rock bands like Swirlies, Sonic Youth, and Unwound, as well as more recent bands like Julie and Blue Smiley. "We wanted everything to sound more bare-bones, raw, and in your face. What can the four of us get out of playing together in the moment?" Culk ask themselves. What we already know, moreover, is that Culk's pop vision has never been so consistently articulated. "smogstar" is a wonderfully nervous, shimmering spotlight on our present.