This album has "discovery" written all over it. Joker Out know who they are - Balkan rockstars that go with their own flow, in a scene where passion is loved only if it's presented in the most marketable way. They are disruptive and unapologetic about it, which is why I love them in the first place. After Eurovision Song Contest, they gained a bunch of fans and started experimentating the hard punches of musical stardom, something that was fairly foreign to them, given the fact that they had never gone out of the Balkan zone.

It speaks about them adjusting themselves to the changes, about how the excitement for the music world became some sort of bittersweet grief they now live with. Let's be honest, they love what they do, and it shows in their music. But there is a hint of sadness, of heaviness to some songs, that I would like to explore a bit further.

I'll also add a "Souvenir" (which I'm also taking in it's literal sense, from the French word for Memory) associated to each song, because I discovered that all the songs in both Umazane Misli and Demoni talk about the theme of their title - let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on that too.

Let's go track by track!

Muzika Za Decu - This ain't rock and roll, this is music for children

A very strong start to the album that's sure to sweep you off your feet. I remember listening to this the first time and headbanging like crazy. In their last album, Demoni, Joker Out had a song called Novi Val (New Wave) in which they described the "Generation of Love" that would change the world and seek for what seemed to be lost. Muzika Za Decu takes this message again, as a "where we left off", and talks about the other side of it. No revolution is made without disruption, after all. It perfectly encapsulates the chaos, the naivety of being young and revolutionary, and of course, how great their music is.

This is the prologue of the story: Joker Out, the disruptive children of Balkan music that lead a revolution, who don't care about what others say and go forward with their ideas. This is their presentation card.

Souvenir: Revolutionary hearts tend to remember the lost values. This souvenir is about remembering good times and keeping them alive with music.

Šta Bih Ja - What would I do in this black night without you?

I'm going to be completely honest, and you all can judge me, but I don't really like this song. It's okay if you do, I see why you like it, but it's not for me. The change of pace at the end is strange for me and the vibe of the lyrics is completely different to what I expected the instrumental to be. Still, I must say that this song is the perfect power anthem when you need a pick-me-up. The guitars are immaculate as usual, and Bojan's voice adds an extra layer of unpredictability and flavor. It's a mini-storm inside a song, packed-full with flavors, like popping candy.

Chapter one of the story tells us about these heartbreakers. Bojan is Slovenia's sweetheart, the boyfriend of the Balkans. The city they might be referencing might be Liverpool, or even every city they've been for the pre-parties. But this paints the picture of the band: Pure rock music, party vibes, and vague love song lyrics. These boys are here to play and have fun.

Souvenir: This song is about the memory of someone who you love at long distance. You take their memory with you to get on by.

Carpe Diem - Let's dance and play until the stars fade

This is a classic. This song was a surprise for me when I saw it in Eurovision, and it struck me like lightning. Admittedly, I did not watch the semifinals last year because I was busy with my admission to law school (which requires you to do a previous course), but when I saw them in the final? I was sold. This is a perfect party song. It deserved so much more than it did. It's fun, it's catchy, it's everything.

Chapter two is about the Eurovision chapter of their life. How they conquered Europe and took it by storm, and how they gained most of their worldwide popularity thanks to the exposure.

Souvenir: The Eurovision Song Contest, the most important night of their lives.

Stephanie - Love ain't built for people like me

This is one of my favorite songs in the album. Bojan's English pronounciation has matured a lot and now it has deep, rich layers of tonality. This song is about finding and losing the love of your life and the despair that you'll never be able to make that connection again. After listening to it a couple times, I realized there's a subtle detail that makes me love the commitment to this song even more - Bojan mentions drinking to forget he lost Stephanie, and through all the song, his voice sounds slurred. His voice inflections make him sound drunk. Pair this with the vintage guitar sounds and the 80's pop beat, and you have the perfect "crying on the dancefloor" anthem for when you've gotten your heart broken.

Chapter Three is about the heartbreakers realizing how ephemeral love truly is, and how you don't know what you have until you lose it. Their switch to fame is bringing things in, sure, but it's also costing them some others.

Souvenir: That feeling of love at first sight, the memory of someone you loved for one night, but wasn't meant to be.

Ako Toga Više Neće Biti - If that won't exist anymore, love is nothing but a lie

A slow song, both beautiful and sad at the same time. Bojan has said that it's easier for him to talk about love in Serbian, and it's completely true. In this song, we can hear the process of a withering relationship, when you realize that you've lost something precious and it's not coming back, no matter how much you want it to. This song beautifully walks you through the five stages of grief and makes you feel like you're floating in the Dead Sea, wondering where all you used to love has gone.

Chapter Four of this story is about wanting to keep everything under control, but ultimately failing. It's realizing that things change inevitably, and dealing with the loss and the grief of things you love. It's wanting to keep it together, but being unable to.

Souvenir: The memories of a relationship you've had for years and now you have to let go.

Bluza - If the sun rises, I'll be alone

I don't know what kind of sorcery Bluza has, but everytime it comes on my random player, I have to stop and listen to it in its entirety (what kind of drugs did they put to that song, really?) and I inevitably cry. This song is just what falling in love feels like. I personally covered this song in my native language (Spanish) and got a nice feedback from Bojan, but that's a story for another time. This song was paired up with a great MV that also told a story of not wanting to lose something precious. I'd say that Bluza is a dream that happens right after Ako Toga ends, coincidentally, those two songs are in the same key and on a similar beat, so they could well be twin sisters. It's dreaming about that person you love, that for a moment you are back where you wanted to be, but knowing that it's just a dream and it won't last. It might seem like a love song, but the final lyrics seal the deal on this only being a fantasy, a place where you find comfort, but aren't meant to stay.

Chapter Five is about ephemeral dreams, and about finding those small pieces of comfort you want to keep but know you can't. This is about them falling in love with cities, crowds, places, but deep down knowing that once the party is over, it's time to go back to the grind, to planning concerts, protecting themselves and trying not to die in the attempt. You can notice the exhaustion on Bojan's voice in some points of the song (which can also be a nice nod to Ako Toga where he says he hasn't slept well).

Souvenir: A dream from which you don't want to wake up from, the warmth and comfort of a place you know you're not meant to stay in.

Lips - True love and pain go hand in hand

The first time I heard Lips, I was overwhelmed. Too much noise, the reverberation of Bojan's voice was more than I could take, and I remember texting my friend "this song needs drums" halfway through. This song has received mixed criticism, and with due reason. Nace was the mind behind this song and I have to say I am impressed. He is a through musician indeed. I've given this song a fresh new listen for this review, and I have to say that I don't dislike it as much as I did the first time, I'm getting used to it. Lips feels like a fever dream, like an overdose with lyrics that try to be about love, but somehow are about tragedy. This is the song I'm the most excited to talk about for some reason. Props to the bass and guitars in this song, by the way. Unsung heros, that paired with Bojan's breathy, silky voice, build a sensual, toxic and dangerous feeling.

Chapter Six is the fall of the rockstars. If I had to pair this song with another, I'd definetely go with Padam (Falling) from Demoni. This song is what comes to mind if you ask me to think about that fatidic Ptuj concert in August 2023, where Bojan had his biggest mental breakdown that forced him off the stages for some time. This is burnout catching up to them and making them realize that they aren't indestructible. The fact that the lyrics try to be about love, but ultimately end up being about despair, makes me think of Bojan making everyone believe he's okay and he can go on, but knowing deep down he can't.

Souvenir: Ptuj concert in 2023, and all the incidents that sent Bojan to the hospital before that.

Mesto Duhov - Music has died, laughter has gone out

This song feels like the opening to a beloved shonen anime. It's a fast paced song, which comes witht he added element of the slow portion that serves as a chorus, which sounds like a funeral march, very adequate for a song called City of Ghosts. The lyrics talk about a town where everything has died and there is nothing left. Where once stood a beautiful city, now there is sorrow and grief, just memories of what once used to be. The themes of loss in this album are pretty strong after you get past the initial euphoria Carpe Diem gave us. The mixture of rock and the haunting funeral song is one of those strange combinations you're gonna crave as a midnight snack. Definetely one of the best songs of the album.

Chapter Seven is reflection on the overdose that Lips put us through. The attempt at rock at moments is the rockstars trying to get back on their feet and give their fans that sound they crave, but when they get back to the funeral sounds, is when they know they can't ignore the pain anymore. The City of Ghosts is not a town, it's a heart, it's a mind, it's the enthusiasm that died out and is starting to fade away and disappear. It's almost like they're questioning if it's worth it to try again. Is the pain superior to the joy, or the other way around?

Souvenir: I associate this with Sunny Side of London. A cheery song that was released right after the storm. There is some sense of recovery, but it isn't quite there yet. At the same time, this is about memories of a familiar place that used to bring comfort but now has dread associated to it.

Sonce - I've lost everything that you called the sun

This is a gorgeous song. I am a pianist myself, so hearing Jan at the keys was very touching. This song reminded me a whole lot of a popular Argentinian song called "Alfonsina y El Mar" (Alfonsina and The Sea) which talks about poet writer Alfonsina Storni and how she left this world by jumping into the sea. This song feels like an elegy, and it ceirtainly is one. As far as I know, this song was inspired by "current social events", and I can see why. This is a song about despair, pure and unfiltered, with no more attempts at rock or love. This song is about fear of darkness, of feeling helpless and worthless in a world that keeps being violent and wild, and being a bystander, unable to do anything beyond singing to bring comfort. This world, this society we live in, is a chaos far beyond what we could imagine or control. The Generation of Love seems to lower their head, cover their ears and ask themselves "When did it get like this?".

Final Chapter is about the rockstars sulking and seeing how everything around them is crumbling down inevitably. The band has had it share of incidents and backlash, and it's been a particularly rough road, mentally and physically. There is a need for musicians to be involved in the world they live in, and when they don't speak up, there is backlash. This is a song where they arrive to a dead point. It seems like this story is not bound to have a happy ending.

Souvenir: Memories of easier times, when everything was a bit less terrible, and the feeling of familiarity that's lost in an everchanging world.

Everybody's Waiting - No one's ever gonna make it easier, you're the only one who can

The perfect final touch for an album that talks about changing world perceptions. The first time I heard this song, I cried, after knowing all that was behind it. Bojan's story with music and balance is not an easy one, not after all that he's been through. A kid who thought he could have the entire world in his hands but ultimately lost balance, tripped and fell. Luckily, Bojan has a support network composed by friends, family and even music producers, who wouldn't let him fall further and did everything in their power to bring him back up. Everybody's Waiting is a cathartic song that gives perfect closure to a cycle of self-torture and doubt. While it might not seem like a victorious or happy song, it's definetely a way to celebrate you made it out alive. By acknowledging the feelings of loss and the pressure he is in, Bojan was able to finally get it off his chet and realize he's not alone. And with this release, he sent a message to all of us who are in the dark and feel like they are lost - You are not alone. If he can make it out alive, you can. And there is no shame in asking for help.

This Epilogue is about finding balance, and the rockstars realizing that this world isn't perfect, nor is how they expected it to be. Everybody is waiting for them to do something good or bad, because anything goes in a world where talk runs cheap and fast. Everyone wants them to always shine and be perfect. But as much as they try, they can't always be perfect. This song is them embracing the fact that there might be expectations, but it's okay to take a break if necessary even if you don't meet them. The only one who can make your life easier is yourself. If you choose to hold out that hand and let someone reach it, if you choose to set boundaries and keep what's worth close to your chest, you'll be making your life easier. Just like that. It doesn't have to be a long journey. Just a step is enough.

Souvenir: Everybody's Waiting release. I also want to add Ptuj 2 because I feel that was the real moment where Bojan closed that chapter, by returning to that stage he once was frightened in, and now being able to be himself to a crowd that would not judge him. This is about closure, about accepting memories as they are.

Final words

Overall, this album has a great storytelling pace. It tells a story beautifully in very well told chapters, and it sums up perfectly the rollercoaster Joker Out has been through. It's very notorious that they have grown up as musicians, and the variety of music styles is proof of that. This is a perfect CD to show to someone who wants to see a newer face of the Slovenian boys who conquered Eurovision, even though they did not touch top 10. Not all losses are defeats, definetely speaking. I cannot wait to see what else these boys have in store, and I definetely want the album release tour to start already because I am very, very sure that the live performance will add just the perfect touch to cement these songs as masterpieces.