In a landscape of polished pop hooks and algorithm-tested formulas, MARS_999’s new single “EŠTE NIE SME STRATENÍ” hits like a shiver down the spine—raw, emotional, and unsettling in the best way possible. The Slovak artist (real name Juraj Péč) returns with his most powerful work to date, a song that doesn’t just speak—it screams, whispers, and breathes in its own cinematic language. This is post-punk for a collapsing world, dressed in lo-fi textures, 80s synths, and Slovak poetry.
Right from the opening seconds, “EŠTE NIE SME STRATENÍ” establishes its mood with a gritty guitar riff, distorted and alive. Industrial drums creep in like heavy footsteps, then crash into an atmospheric, almost dreamlike chorus where analog synths shimmer, and Péč’s voice—aching, distant—spills out like confession.
The sonic palette is a beautiful contradiction: raw but luminous, bruised but hopeful. Think Bon Iver’s intimacy paired with Nine Inch Nails’ tension, but filtered through the lens of Slovak history, memory, and modern disillusionment.
This isn’t just another single release—it’s a lifeline. “There was a time I really thought I’d never come back to music,” Péč admits. “This song pulled me out.” That urgency bleeds through every line.
The lyrics, though sparse, cut deep. Take the haunting verse:
“To be cruel again.
To hit back.
That dizzy rush.
Blood in your hand.”
It’s not just poetry—it’s post-traumatic expression. But then the chorus lifts us:
“Follow the steps of those dreams.
Wrecks of myths.
Dreams that broke.
Wounded by longing.
We’re not lost yet.”
This isn’t blind optimism—it’s survival.
The production, helmed by Rohin Brown at Faust Studio in Prague, balances the harsh and the heavenly. Nothing feels over-produced. It breathes. It glitches. It breaks and rebuilds. Then there’s the mastering by Matt Colton—a name associated with Thom Yorke, James Blake, Bon Iver—and it shows. Every texture is allowed to sit in space, vibrating between beauty and despair.
The accompanying video is just as striking. Directed and art-directed by Péč himself, the piece blends AI-generated visuals with real photography by renowned Slovak artist Micha Líner. The result? A glitched-out Warhol-esque loopthat feels like flipping through memories under a strobe light.
This isn’t AI used for novelty—it’s a tool for distorting perception, mirroring the song’s themes of disconnection and rediscovery. It’s hypnotic, strange, and emotionally resonant.
“EŠTE NIE SME STRATENÍ” is Slovak for “We’re Not Lost Yet,” but it reads like a challenge—to a world numbed by apathy, to a creative mind on the verge of shutting down, and to all of us struggling to find meaning in collapse.
Juraj Péč has crafted something more than just a track—this is a sonic journal entry etched with pain, doubt, and resolve. It refuses to let go. It reminds us that even when things feel broken, there’s still art to make, still something to feel.
If you’re looking for pristine pop, this isn’t it. But if you want music that dares to be flawed and human, “EŠTE NIE SME STRATENÍ” delivers. With one foot in analog warmth and the other in digital chaos, MARS_999 has crafted a sound that feels both global and deeply personal.
In a year saturated with noise, this is the kind of song that doesn’t shout for attention—it draws you in with its wounded honesty, visionary production, and aching need to hold on.
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