Tracks you might have missed: a selection from SLUКH

Every month, independent media about Ukrainian music and culture SLUKH looks for tracks that didn't make the charts and went unheard. We share a selection of songs that you might have missed. 

Nekhai (Let It Go) is a rhythmic, catchy pop composition from the young singer Sophième. The nearly minute-long guitar solo in the middle of the track will make your head spin.

Palliatives are drugs that temporarily relieve a patient's suffering. Lviv-based musician Ihor Khorkavyi, a member of the Palindrome project, seeks a creative expression for this short-lived escape from pain. The seven-minute composition shifts from a lonely piano to a mournful saxophone to obsessive electronic beats.

The Lviv-based band Pyrih i Batih (Pie and Whip) has released an album, Zelenyi (Green), that wraps the musical poetry of Bohdan-Ihor Antonych in a chamber-baroque sound. Each composition combines poetry with intricate, filigree musical pictures.

The project Warniakannia (Whining about the War) managed to capture a crucial period for the country and express it in music. The musicians explain the nature of the complex emotions experienced by Ukrainians during the full-scale invasion — a complex and much-needed therapy set to a depressing electronic sound.

Lehka Nesterpnist Buttia (Light Intolerance of Being) expresses the maelstrom of emotions of living in wartime realities. The indie band dares to be the younger generation's voice mutilated by the full-scale invasion. Czech and French novelist Milan Kundera's work helps him subtly reflect on the pain and horror of Ukrainian life while leaving hope for the future.

The serene composition and static shots of ONUKA's video OZERNA (LACUSTRINE) lull you into a slow rhythm combined with cosy scenery.

Bili Dorizhky (White Tracks), a song by the young singer, tells the story of a toxic relationship with an addict. The video shows different emotional states, from self-deception and hope to change everything to aggression and disappointment.

The single Aokigahara from the forthcoming album by the Kharkiv-based mathcore band refers to the Japanese forest of the same name, which attracts suicides from all over the world. With the song and video, the band encourages people to look for the inner strength to fight.