Hey there!
Nick here. As men in our mid-30s, naturally we are starting to experiment with fermenting our own beverages, and this week that’s manifested into a bubbling cauldron of foraged elderflowers and yeast (amongst other things) to make Holunderblütenwein. In a beautiful moment of synchronicity this masculine urge to ferment coincided with one of my fav bands Wednesday releasing a new song ‘Elderberry Wine’, which I quite simply cannot stop listening to. One of those rare uplifting tear-jerkers that brings me to my increasingly rickety knees, and a reminder to mindfully cultivate the sweet things in life.
… and speaking of uplifting tear-jerkers, Purelink dropped their new album ‘Faith’ this week, which I highly suggest melting into after reading this.
As you can see we also got a shiny little facelift courtesy of my darling Flower Shop Tattoo. Might even be a small batch of Mango shirts for ya at our next Trip Le Mango ting this Saturday at our fav listening/sake bar Ikii here in Berlin…
We’ll be joined by our good buds Tom Ries and Fluffi as well as our darling Layla whipping up some special treats… if you’re on this side of the world, come share a cup. Vielleicht wird die Sonne scheinen…
Here’s what we’ve been digging up this week 🥭🥭🥭
Album: Holy Wire - The Ending Of An Age (2024)
Matt: This one ended up in my inbox by way of our good bud Ben Cooper and it’s a nostalgic gem of new wave made modern; post-wave perhaps? Synth-wave and post-punk elements abound in a lovely emotional journey that is certainly heavily inspired by more recent acts of the genre like Depeche Mode.
Tune: Dawn Richard, Joseph Shabason - Broken Hearted Sade (2025)
Nick: Stunning Sade medley from Canadian saxophonist Joseph Shabason (a Mango fav) and vocalist Dawn Richard. It’s a gentle rework of Shabason’s older tune Broken Hearted Kota, blending lyrics from Sade classics - ‘No Ordinary Love’ x ‘Cherish the Day’ x ‘Is It a Crime’. Sade always heals, and so does this.
Album: Smerz - Big city life (2025)
Matt: Mango melancholia is a term that Nicky has coined for a lot of the music we enjoy and share in this newsletter and I think the latest from Norwegian duo Smerz fits directly into that mold. The duo’s newest album ‘Big city life’ delivers on the post-pop / trip hop tip beautifully and it’s a lush listening experience top-to-bottom.
Album: Ben Hackett - Songs for Sleeping Dogs (2025)
Nick: Debut solo album from Ben Hackett, the guitarist from Athens, GA Americana darlings New Madrid, known for their sprawling psychedelia bent. Woodwinds, keyboards, acoustic guitars, and the softest percussion come together to score the dreams of pets and people. Been starting and ending my days with it often. Gorgeous stuff from tip to tail.
Album: Karl Nectar - 23 (2025)
Matt: I promise I’m not as sad as my Mango selections would indicate, but we’re big believers that sad music can hit no matter the emotional state. Karl Nectar is a relatively unknown duo from Paris and their single ‘23’ is their only tune I could find anywhere online. Hopefully there’s some more music on the way because I’ve rinsed this one to death in the last week.
Album: Alex Kassian - Body Singer (2025)
Nick: Pretty much everything Alex Kassian touches is squarely in the Mango wheelhouse. His track ‘Strings of Eden’ got a lot of love when I shared it in here, and is hands down one of the most beautiful tracks I’ve come across in a while. This new EP is a left turn into 80s new wave and krautrock but still evokes those same euphoric feels.
Tune: Marina Zispin - Flowers In The Sea (2023)
Matt: More washed out melancholia from me with Marina Zispin’s 2023 track ‘Flowers in the Sea’. There’s something deeply cinematic about this one (something for a dystopian sci-fi epic perhaps) a downtump electronic number which features hypnotic synth work and rolling basslines.
Archive: Enzo Carella - Barbara E Altri Carella (1979)
Nick: It’s balearic season (or at least we’re pretending it is as it continues to rain and be grey here in Berlin) and what better way to kick it off than with this Italian gem from 1979 that I discovered via the lovely Down To The Sea and Back compilation series. From the music to the moustache, the Mediterranean calleth.
Archive: Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Sylvian, Doho Nguyen - Forbidden Colors (1987)
Matt: Ethereal and tragically sad piano song from the master Ryuichi Sakamoto accompanied by vocals from English singer-songwriter David Sylvian who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman for the band Japan.
Archive: You’ll Never Get To Heaven - Images (2017)
Nick: Hazy ambient pop record I came across recently filled with dreamy melodies, fuzzy soundscapes, and extended ambient instrumentals that’s been a welcome companion for the never-ending grey days. Blissed out Mango Melancholia.
🥭 Here’s a Spotify playlist that has a taste of everything mentioned 🥭
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See ya in a couple weeks for NL25!
Nick + Matt
🥭🥭🥭
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