The Youniverse is a Slovakian band who knows how to rock with experimentation about themselves and their musicality. They named their latest album which will be released on November 30, CMYK after the four main colors used in the printing process and is conceptually divided into 4 parts, each part receiving a designated color, agreed upon by the two members of the band, Tammy and Jergus, who both have a rare sensory condition known as synesthesia.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term synesthesia, it’s a mental condition where most of the times, tone sounds may have a certain interrelation with how you see some shades in colors, so the name of the EP and the whole aesthetics of it couldn’t be more related to them and closer to how they see reality musically and also even in everyday living.
‘Cyan’ is the first of the four music divisions in the album. The first track in it is “Silver” which is a true intro song giving the right introduction, setting the mood and also giving a glimpse of what will follow. The solo guitar play which we will also be hearing in other parts of the album is a strong asset but the powerful vocals and drums in it set the electro-blues atmosphere to the sky.
The track that follows in the ‘Cyan’ series is entitled “Har[d]b[r]inger” which has an American vibe of old blues that can be heard not only in some jazz clubs coming from a different era but modernized into today’s music reality.
“Nightmare” has more funk in it, and it seems like the band grooves with electrified energy having a blast all the way throughout it. After this track, the whole ‘Cyan’ category concludes with “Master Printer” giving an electro music outro to this color mode music chapter.
In the first two songs of the ‘Magenta’ chapter of the album, we can see a more emotional side of the band’s musicality, even playing with sensuality in some parts of it. On “Breathe“, the lyricism is combined with musicality, giving the listener the sense of an emotional tranquility, that can also be noticed in “Riverbanks“, but this time, there is also an attachment to a more soulful music approach.
“Dark” is exactly what it sounds like in the title, a dark electronic song with mysterious dark vocals that fit its music atmosphere perfectly! The ‘Magenta’ music chapter closes with the track “I Dare Never Seize your Fire” where we can notice the influences that the band may have taken from the likes of Nine Inch Nails, giving a continuation to the dark electro vibes in the Magenta series.
In their ‘Yellow’ music chapter, we can see more experimentation with different music origins. On “Strange Love“, the blues influences that the band have are mixed in with a more lounge essence, which is then evolved later on with the track “Aftershock” to a more soulful R&B vibe.
On “Eye Of The Storm“, the blues influences are mixed with electro tunes and the outcome has a unique velvety groove, and lastly in “Three Little Monkeys“, we are confronting a story telling song which concludes the whole ‘Yellow’ category, with sweetness and a girly mood. Even if the vocal aren’t so sweet, the musicality in it makes it more feathery and uplifting, than it might have seemed otherwise.
The last color category of the album is the ‘Keyblack’ where we can find an experimentation in the sounds, we might even say that the band is maybe testing the limits to their experimentation. “If God Would Give” is a solo guitar play setting an intro to the final music chapter. The track that follows “Ammo Box” has some musical confusion in it, but in a more general sense, it can even be harmonizing to the listeners ears when listening to the whole song output.
The dark electro groove on “Sticky Tar” has a more Rock feeling which brings power to the table and dynamicity and lastly “Bubblegum Pants” has a more naïve elevating sound, making for a comic outro which can be mesmerizing.
The album is very intriguing even transforming the whole CMYK idea in a powerful interesting musical aspect. If you haven’t heard the Youniverse band, give them a listen and for sure, you will be amazed with their musicality and approach in lyricism in each and every song they put their signature in!
Pre-order The Youniverse CMYK on Bandcamp here and pre-save it on Spotify here.
Words by Nancy Chalkopoulou
