USKY - Anhédonie

Across twelve tracks spanning a total runtime of twenty-eight minutes and twenty-three seconds, the album defines itself as a closed territory where solo introspection clashes with the tension of external collaborations.

Itachi: The Threshold of Solitude

The opening track, "Itachi," immediately sets the rules of engagement. There is no featuring on this song; it is a solitary introduction that establishes a personal universe before any other voices arrive. This entry-level track functions as an introductory manifesto: it delineates the perimeter of solitude that will structure the entire album. USKY does not invite guests to dilute his message, but rather to create friction. The presence of Green Montana on "Aaliyah," starting with the second track, illustrates this logic from the very first minutes: the intrusion of an external texture serves to destabilize the initial flow established by the solo opening.

Aaliyah feat. Green Montana: The First Crack in the Wall

On "Aaliyah," Green Montana steps onto track 2 to bring a distinct sonic texture that breaks away from the monochromatic universe of pure introspection. His presence is confirmed as a fragment of a fractured identity, bringing an alternative sound that contrasts with the initial flow. It's not just an addition of voices, but a shattering rupture: the collaboration immediately introduces tension between solo writing and confrontation with others. The featuring thus marks the first crack in the wall that USKY builds at the beginning of the album.

Lunatic feat. JSX: the head-on collision with a sonic alter-ego

At the heart of the album, on track 6, "Lunatic" crystallizes the fracture between introspection and otherness. JSX steps in to embody this sonic alter-ego that doesn't come to sweeten the message but complicates it through an assertive presence. The head-on collision produced by this collaboration occurs midway through the record, where the accumulation of solo tracks might lead one to believe the artist is returning to a more conventional format. JSX acts as a distorting mirror: his voice does not confirm USKY's, it contradicts or extends it in an unexpected direction.

Anhédonie: the confession of an inability to enjoy the collective

The track that gives its name to the album closes this dialectical journey. "Anhédonie" is far more than a simple heart-title; it is the logical conclusion of the entire narrative arc initiated by the solo opening. The impossibility of sharing, announced as early as the first seconds with "Itachi," is confirmed here as a fundamental truth. USKY does not revisit his collaborations after these intermediate featurings: he reaffirms that solitude is not a temporary choice but a structural condition of his writing.

Béni feat. Bekar: The final echo before silence

On track 10, "Béni," Bekar steps in to offer a final invitation to sonic exchange before the album closes with "Anhédonie." This collaboration functions as a distant echo of previous featurings: it does not overturn the thesis of anhedonia but rather accompanies it with additional resonance. The presence of Bekar on this track marks a step in this architecture where each guest embodies a fragment of the album's identity fracture. The time gap between SEXTASY (2021) and this opus, released in May 2024, signals a significant return for USKY, interrupted by the 2023 EP Rétina. This relative period of absence contrasts with the scheduled release of the next studio album, Noura, set for 2025, which positions Anhédonie as a point of equilibrium within a discography marked by short and intense cycles. The very structure of the album reflects this tension: among the twelve tracks, only three feature guests—Green Montana, JSX, and Bekar—confirming that collaboration is not an end in itself but a tool for internal dissection. Each featuring acts as a surgical incision into the solo proposition without ever diluting the artist's central identity. The total runtime of twenty-eight minutes and twenty-three seconds imposes a narrative density that leaves no room for redundancy; each track, whether solo or collaborative, serves a precise objective within this architecture where solitude remains the master theme. The album closes with "Anhédonie," a title that resonates like a philosophical conclusion: the impossibility of enjoying the collective is not a failure but an affirmation of self. Anhédonie does no more than add up tracks; it constructs an architecture where each featuring, whether Green Montana, JSX, or Bekar, serves to reveal a different facet of the artist's solitude. The album functions as a dialogue between inside and outside, between what is said alone and what is said with another. The contained duration—twenty-eight minutes for twelve tracks—imposes a sustained pace without weighing down the reading, while the absence of credited producers leaves all room to the critic's sonic imagination. USKY does not seek here to prove its ability to collaborate but rather to show how each collaboration participates in defining an identity that refuses sharing.

Technical Specifications

- Release Date: May 17, 2024 - Record Label: 92i Records - Tracks: 12 (28 min 23 s) - Opening / Closing Track: Itachi / Anhédonie - Guests: Green Montana, JSX, Bekar - Previous Project: Rétina (EP, 2023) - Previous Studio Album: SEXTASY (2021)