New music this week (part 2): Songs from Kalush Orchestra, VICTORIA, Katerine Duska and more
The Eurovision 2023 season is slowly beginning to heat up. Over the course of the next few months, we will all fall in and out of love with scores of new national final and Eurovision entries. But that doesn’t mean we forget about the artists from past contests.
Contrary to the commonly perpetuated myth about the song contest killing careers, we’re always thrilled to report that singers associated with Eurovision are thriving.
Here is our latest weekly roundup with a selection of just some of the songs and music videos released recently by Eurovision stars.
New music from Eurovision artists: 2022 | Week 48 part 2
With so many songs to cover this week, we’ve split this roundup into two bitesize halves. You can find part one by clicking here.
Note: We’ll be featuring the new festive-themed songs from Alexandra Rotan, THE ROOP and others in a series of separate articles during the run-up to Christmas.
Kalush Orchestra feat. KOZAK SIROMAHA – “Нумо Козаки”
Kalush Orchestra are fighting what they term “Russia’s cultural occupation” of the Ukrainian music industry through the project Musical Mobilisation, where they encourage people to stream music by Ukrainian artists. As part of this, the Eurovision 2022 winners have released the new single “Нумо Козаки” (“Come on, Cossacks”). Cossacks live in the steppes region of Ukraine and Kalush Orchestra discuss how the people will help Ukraine in their fight for freedom: “The Cossacks march from the San to the Don / The Cossacks bring the victory home / Cossacks will always be in my heart / Cossacks live in each of us”. The song features KOZAK SIROMAHA, who provides a Cossack chant at the start of the song.
Emma – “Sbagliata Ascendente Leone”
As one of Italy’s most acclaimed contemporary singers, Emma has had a life filled with triumphs. She’s now letting us look behind the scenes of the journey that led her there through the new life documentary Sbagliata Ascendente Leone (Wrong Ascending Lion). To accompany the film, the Eurovision 2014 star has released a single of the same name. Emma sings about how she’s lived life to the fullest but still knows that every mistake she’s made has its value: “I don’t give a damn if I’m too firm as time passes / I just want to live by instinct / And no, it’s not easy to bear / The sum of my every mistake”.
Sirusho & ASHER YELO – “i love you”
The power of social media to connect artists is showcased perfectly in this next song. Last year, English-Nigerian indie artist ASHER YELO posted an Instagram reel of a song he was writing. The video eventually found its was to Sirusho, Armenia’s Eurovision 2008 star, who duetted it. After fans loved this virtual duet, ASHER YELO invited Sirusho to appear on the official song. The final result is the soulful piano ballad “i love you”, with the pair singing “Nothing else has meaning / Life don’t make no sense it’s like I’m dreaming / I think that I’ve lost all sense of reason / Cause I love you”.
VICTORIA – “Were you ever?”
Bulgaria’s Eurovision 2022 star is continuing her exploration of a grittier pop sound. “Were you ever?” takes the edge of VICTORIA’s last single, “How to Ruin a Life”, and combines it with an emotional kick revolving around the difficulty she is having dealing with a breakup: “And how dare you? / Pack up everything that we went through / Thought we’d stay awhile but you’re moving on, and so should I / Oh, were you ever really mine?”. In a message on Instagram, VICTORIA noted that all the feelings from this song are genuine experiences from her life:
“I wrote ‘Were you ever?’ back in 2021 and it describes all the emotions I have inside of me and everything that I’ve been through lately. I know you often ask me how am I feeling or if am I okay… so with this song I give you the answer and a piece of my heart!”
Måns Zelmerlöw – “This Is The One”
Måns Zelmerlöw made his final appearance on Så mycket bättre 2022 this weekend. Sweden’s Eurovision 2015 champion reinterpreted “This Is The One”, first released by Anna Ternheim. Anna’s original version is a delicate ballad. Måns upped the BPM for his rendition and added in his pop sound. The lyrics are about finding a love you want to hold on to with all your might: “This is the one, I don’t wanna lose / This is the one, if I could choose / This is the one I’m gonna fight to keep / This is the one that’s gonna make me bleed”.
STEFAN – Hope
Despite having to drop out of Kënga Magjike 2022 due to illness, STEFAN is still ending the year on a high note. Estonia’s Eurovision 2022 star has released his debut album, Hope. The LP brings together all of his singles from the past few years, including his Eurovision entry “Hope”, previous solo Eesti Laul entries “By My Side” and “Without You”, plus a new version of “Laura” (his first Eesti Laul appearance as part of the duo Vajé). As a result of this conglomeration of songs, there are various musical genres running throughout the 15 tracks; but, it makes for a fully-rounded introduction to Stefan as an artist.
Katerine Duska & Leon Of Athena – “BABEL”
Global Spin is a performance series run by the Recording Academy (they who present the GRAMMYs) that aims to highlight international artists. The most recent episode headed to Greece, with Leon Of Athens and Eurovision 2019 star Katerine Duska premiering their new single “BABEL”. The duo have worked together on a number of songs previously, so the partnership between them feels very natural. Sung in both Greek and English, the track looks at a relationship that is marred by miscommunication: “And it’s like you don’t get it when I speak / Could I love you a little more clearly / Can we get it right / Can we talk another night away”.
Rosa López – “Puertas Abiertas”
Athena – “Haklıyız Kazanacağız”
Gökhan Özoğuz, lead singer of Turkish punk band Athena, recently hit the big screen by starring in the new movie Kendi Yolumda. For the film’s soundtrack, Athena recorded the song “Haklıyız Kazanacağız” (“We are right, we will prevail”). It’s a cover of the track first released by Grup Yorum in 2016, which acts as a rallying cry to stand up and fight: “To the squares we occupy we shall be bringing your voice / We’re writing history with our blood; we are right, we will prevail”. The Eurovision 2004 band add in guitars and drums to give the anthem extra punch.
Vasil – “Rhythm”
“Rhythm” has your two hips moving and Vasil hopes to get all of us dancing: “You gotta lemme help you take it in / It’s the only way we’re gonna win”. North Macedonia’s Eurovision 2021 star achieves this by bringing us a catchy dance track to bop along with. Vasil notes in a press release that the rhythm we choose to feel can be one of many forms:
“What is Rhythm? It’s an upbeat sexy dance song. It all starts from a single heartbeat that connects us all on the dance floor through rhythm, in whichever way we choose … spiritual, sensual or sexual.”
Gali Atari & Tomer Adaddi – “2022 אהבה למרחקים ארוכים”
Gali Atari first released “אהבה למרחקים ארוכים” (“long distance love”) in 2014 and it became the title track of her most recent studio album. The Eurovision 1979 winner has now recorded a new duet version alongside the song’s composer Tomer Adaddi. This new rendition swaps out the acoustic guitar and orchestral strings for more traditional Israeli influences. In the chorus, the pair sing: “And suddenly I think we are fortunate / Call this fate, call this us / Long distance love, it isn’t easy / It isn’t easy, but, it seems to me that we succeeded”.
Boris Novković – “Netko laže”
We can expect much more music from Boris Novković as we head into 2023. Croatia’s Eurovision 2005 singer has announced he’ll be dropping a new album in the autumn next year. The first song from the LP is “Netko laže” (“Someone is lying”). It’s a classic pop rock song filled with optimism that Boris hopes will “create a smile on your face and a feel good feeling”.
Rui Bandeira – “O Nosso Amor”
“I want you so much my love… Give it a chance / I’ll prove I’m better… Than a good lover”. Rui Bandeira is hoping to convince a certain individual that they should be together. This other person is playing hard to get, but the Portuguese singer believes “O Nosso Amor” (“Our Love”) is meant to be. Musically, the Eurovision 1999 alum brings us a pop track that wouldn’t have been out of place at the same contest.
Eldar & Nigar Jamal – “Qoy Getsin”
Eurovision 2011 champions Eldar and Nigar Jamal recently joined forces once again for the duet “Qoy Getsin” (“Let It Go”). It’s a mashup of various Azeri chansons and folk songs. The pair combine them all together whilst also updating the songs with new arrangements.
Which of these new songs is your favourite? Have we missed out on any? Do you have any artists you want to shout out to? Let us know in the comments.
