Tuleje - Puste Ulice [Gusstaff Records]

Released locally in Poland on April 26th, 2k24 and internationally on May 24th, 2k24 via the ever expanding Gusstaff Records imprint is "Puste Ulice", the latest musical outing by the musical triumvirate operating under the name of Tuleje. Following up to their 2k23 debut "Ciche Miejsca" the trio once again presents a set of nine songs, all inspired by and drawn from original Folk songs of the Konin area, over the course of roughly 33 minutes of total playtime, paired with new lyrics written by the groups singer - and additionally: poet - Gosia Zagajewska. Starting on a relatively raw and partially even PostPunk x (No)Wave inspired tip the opening piece "Warzachew" comes in as quite a surprise, especially with its interesting stop-and-go sequences whereas the subsequent "Zaluzja" seems to be on a deeper and probably nocturnal storytelling tip, directly connecting with one's innermost senses with its quite unsettling and primordial minimalism. With the rather tender, yet still slightly dark'ish campfire feel of "Liszaj" Tuleje truly are touching base with Folk as a genre as it is widely understood for the first time on their sophomore longplayer and so does the short instrumental cut that is "Strzecha" which even adds fascinatingly raw and slightly off-harmonic rural fiddles to the trios sonic mix and therefore might be our favorite piece on this album whilst "Drzazga" enchants its listeners with a slightly dancey twist, dark droning strings and captivating vocals melodies whereas "Kurz" even weighs in quasi-acapella vibes directly drifting into ecstatic madness just to name a few. Defo an interesting approach to original and probably ancient Polish music. Album artwork on Instagram!