Welcome all to ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐น๐น๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ผ๐ง๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ฉ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ playlists.
๐๐ง๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐ – ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก
Charles only lives onceโฆ
Feeling tired? Feeling useless? Finding it hard to get up in the morning? If you want that long-needed pick-me-up, why not pick-you-up some SleepMeNot (a legal derivative of cocaine), available at your local pharmacy. Only $29.99! Or, because we believe youโll like it so much youโll almost be addicted, why not use our monthly subscription and save $2!! Thatโs right, folks. For just $27.99 per month, you too can feel on top of the world and get sh*t done. Concerned about the levels of cocaine and its detrimental health issues, not to mention debilitating addictive qualitiesโฆ? We say โLifeโs too short to worry about things like thatโ. Just try it and see. Warning: heart may temporarily pause or stop completely. Terms and conditions apply.
Orโฆ You could save your $30 and take a good look at yourself. You donโt need drugs to keep going, for Godโs sake! Your heart will thank you. You need something else in order to keep going. Firstly, thereโs the physical side of things. You need food (not junk). You also need regular exercise so as to stop those old joints from seizing up. But one most overlooked thing is sleep. Not those little naps that you somehow manage to fit in from time to time, but actual considered SLUMBER. In bed, lights off, for hours and hours. It is NOT a waste of time. It is to make those waking hours more fruitful. The deepest sleep makes for the brightest day (ignoring that groggy zombie look as you pour your morning coffee into the sugar bowl). So thatโs the physical side over and done with. The rest is a little more complicated. Itโs the mind. The soul. For this, we need an amalgam of several things. For me, itโs music, art, laughter, support, incentive, and love. Oh, love. How important it is. To love and be loved. Incentive could come in many guises. It could be the sense of purpose. It could be creation that you crave. Maybe even procreation! It could be a reward at the end. It could be cold, hard cash. It could simply be a smile. Once you have all these things in your life, simultaneously (I know, it seems like a lot), then things will start to look up. You will no longer be โrunning on emptyโ. Your tank will be positively brimming! Not only did you not need SleepMeNot, but the company lost the court case, owing $30 billion to thousands of unsuspecting people looking for the easy way out – those who survived, anyway. Because the thing is, it really ainโt easy.
There is one other thing that could potentially be considered as โincentiveโ, but in a very different way. A shock of some sort, like someone close to you or someone you admire suddenly dying at a relatively young age. Itโs enough to turn your life around and make you carpe diem. Or, it can be much closer to home: oneโs own severe illness. Those who took SleepMeNot and still live to tell the tale, are all too aware of their lucky escape. They went through hell and back in the hospital. They saw the end, far closer and more clear than ever before. Like seeing Heaven through a telescope. Just too soon. And it flipped their outlook on life. The need for life on Earth had never been stronger. THIS was the fuel they had been craving for so long. Not pills. The impetus and drive. The most important thing is not to give up. Not to let the illness take over your mind as well as your body. Because, I know, it can go both ways. Grab the bastard by the horns and wring out the blighter for all itโs worth. Itโs worth a lot, this life of ours. YOLO, fam, innit.
From the land of chocolate, skiing, banks, health clinics and cuckoo clocks, I bring you Lydia Mel; a young lady who is currently making life worth living. Having spent several years in Australia and Sweden, she opted to return to her homeland of Switzerland, where she is currently residing. Lydia – like most of us – has been making music for quite a while. But – like most of us – didnโt start releasing until much later. In her case, it was 2021. Why wait years before releasing, when youโve been writing for so longโฆ? Well, in my case it was because I didnโt understand the whole thing initially and I think I thought one had Ito be signed in order to release anything. Naivety writ large. Another reason was that I was scared. I didnโt know where to start. What to release. Do I release all my old recordings? Shouldnโt I start with a bang? Or should I start from the beginning (more a sputterโฆ)? And so I kept putting it off. The infamous pandemic gave me that push to finally delve into the whole thing and work it all out. Was it therefore the same for Lydia Mel? No. Her story was rather different, and altogether much more moving. She developed a sudden, serious, chronic illness. While many might allow their muscles to go limp, and accept it all, Lydia took a different view. This was the impetus she needed in order to finally make something of her music and her talents.
So, 2021 saw the release of her first 4 singles. 2022 was a mere 2. The same for 2023. And nothing in 2024. Had she fizzled outโฆ? Not in the slightest, for 2025 proved to be her most prolific year to date, releasing 5 singles – 3 of which I very nearly reviewed. But enough of the numbers game. 2026 is still young. Aside from one release, all her songs have been in English. Her first release of this year reverts to her mother tongue; her brand new single, โTreibstoffโ! You might assume that this word is Swissโฆ There is however no Swiss language. Itโs just a series of nods. No, no. They instead speak German. Or French. Or Italian. Or something called Romansh (what some consider to be โSwissโ). As you might have gathered from the title, โTreibstoffโ is indeed German. Now, I donโt speak Germanโฆ So how on Earth am I able to know what sheโs singing aboutโฆ? Well, the good news is, we have lyrics on streaming services, and we have various translation services. The bad news is, no lyrics have been uploaded. Oh joy of joys. Instead, I will Google the title and use my imagination from there on. It turns out, Treibstoff means Fuel. From what I can gather, the song is about gaining the sustenance to keep going. Fuel in all guises. I doubt itโs about unleaded versus diesel, anywayโฆ
Throughout the whole of 2025, her releases were co-written and produced by a chap called Andreas Mueller-Graf. A thoroughly talented allrounder. This year sees fresh change in the co-host. Same duties, new chap. This time itโs Thorsten Rheinschmidt as Lydiaโs musical partner. There was also some extra production work from Benedikt Bader – because you can never have enough production. The whole thing was mixed and mastered to perfection (and I mean that), by Lydiaโs brother, Beni. โTreibstoffโ is a superb slice of sophistication. Itโs pop, but thatโs a little vague in giving you an idea of its vibe. I suppose in many ways it is predominantly an electronic pop number. But then again, it also isnโt, because it has various more organic origins. For example, the expertly strummed acoustic guitar – reminiscent of Ed Sheeranโs Flamenco-tinged playing style. It echoes a pro sound of early noughties soul and RnB tracks – in the guitar. In the rest, itโs altogether more modern, managing a cushioned mellowness, with a sheen of air. Fullness in its very particular sculpting. The bass is warm, deep and controlled. The drums and guitar are crisp without being brittle or harsh in the slightest. But the voice itself is the most organic element – for obvious reasons. German is often not the most forgiving language. To the English ear, it can feel clipped or even aggressive at times – when it means nothing of the sort. Lydia evidently has the experience to clearly enunciate, yet keep everything smooth. She effortlessly glides from syllable to syllable, note to note. While the music has such soft, lush atmosphere, the vocal is seemingly almost entirely dry in terms of reverb etc., creating excellent contrast. There is the occasional subtle double-tracked vocal, just because (if you know, you know). Her backing vocals give the feeling of a group hug. And then when the bridge gives us some fabulous vocal effects just before the last rousing chorus, itโs stupendous! โTreibstoffโ is sheer satisfaction.
While Lydia Mel is the genuine article, SleepMeNot isโฆ not.
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