Mojo August - Love and Other Substances (2025) [Hi-Res]

Like something from the best days of 2000s indie rock, the lights of a Brit club are reflected on a frayed glitter curtain. Only it's not The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys, or Stereophonics spinning on the DJ's turntable, but Mojo August's debut album, "Love and Other Substances."

The Viennese rock when you need them to, suddenly drawing you into the endless melancholy of your own self, spinning like a disco ball. Through the artificial fog—or was it cigarette smoke?—you can hear Jake Stumpf's haunting voice, which borders on the blues by a whisker, behind a delicate, glittering curtain of clean backing vocals (Agnes Verano, keys, and Philip Fritz, guitar) carrying their frontman from the shadows onto the dance floor. Underneath, a genuine rock band that masters all facets of goosebumps (Florian Gunacker, bass, and Lydia Körber, drums). Sometimes compact and forward, sometimes playing out the full size of a stadium. Then intimate and so close that you wish you could live in their songs forever.

Stumpf, a native of Munich, finally landed in Vienna in the gray winter of 2022 after a multi-year odyssey through the USA (Detroit, New York) with his guitar and a bundle of songs in his backpack. The queen of the morbid invited him to stay. Burned out and depressed, an Australian friend nursed him back to health: "Don't worry, mate, you just have to find your mojo back. August will be beers in the sun and good times again." His drive returned, and Stumpf founded the band Mojo August in 2023.

Agnes Verano, vocals, keyboards
Florian Gunacker, bass
Jake Stumpf, vocals, guitar
Lydia Körber, drums
Philip Fritz, vocals, guitar

Tracklist:
1-1 Mojo August - Purple Seas [3:51]
1-2 Mojo August - Stockholm [3:15]
1-3 Mojo August - Dreamcatcher [3:19]
1-4 Mojo August - Felicia [3:16]
1-5 Mojo August - Keys to My Kingdom [3:00]
1-6 Mojo August - Give and Take [3:10]
1-7 Mojo August - Smell the Roses [3:29]
1-8 Mojo August - Trigger Finger Casey [2:48]
1-9 Mojo August - Matryoshka Doll [2:21]
1-10 Mojo August - Strawberry Parachute [3:19]
1-11 Mojo August - The Rider [2:03]
1-12 Mojo August - Smoke to the Eyes [3:44]