The Serbian four-piece turns personal turmoil into unapologetically catchy indie rock.
There is a specific, intoxicating magic when catharsis sounds this good.
On their debut EP, Levity, Serbian indie rockers Bitter Blue. the brainchild of Niš-based singer/songwriter Luka Nikolić, deliver five tracks that feel like a controlled detonation of personal chaos, filtered through an encyclopedic love of 2000s guitar music.
For anyone who has ever needed to scream into a pillow that happens to have a perfect pop hook, this record is for you.
Built from the ground up as a celebration of friendship, the band (completed by producer/drummer Stefan Milojković, vocalist Milan Mirić, and bassist Miloš Dabetić) recorded these songs during a period of personal “implosion” for Nikolić.
Yet, rather than produce a dirge, Levity finds the quartet weaponising their influences, The Strokes’ swagger, Bloc Party’s angular energy, and The Smiths’ melancholic wit, into something surprisingly uplifting.
The EP’s very name drips with irony; this is not lightweight music, but rather music that finds its lift-off from the heavy weight of reality.
Opener and lead single ‘Someone Better’ shows us the power of rent-free earworms, marrying a jittery bassline to a chorus that practically dares you not to sing along.
‘Dirty Business’ and ‘Flare’ showcase the band’s tighter-than-tight chemistry, while ‘Sentinel’ and ‘What Are You?’ close the loop on that emotional spectrum, stretching from lust and hatred to a fragile, beautiful despair.
Nikolić describes this as being “unapologetically me,” and that honesty is the EP’s superpower.
Even the cover art, featuring a character from the British sitcom Peep Show (Super Hans, a cult hero of controlled mayhem), feels like a logical inside joke that perfectly mirrors the music’s mischievous soul.
Produced with a lean, punchy clarity at Stefan’s Buzz Box studio, Levity is a stunning debut that proves the best art often comes from the worst circumstances.
If this is the sound of meditating on a burning skyscraper, you can’t help but want to climb the stairs.
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