Album Review: ‘Souvenir Pop’ by Joker Out

Souvenir Pop opens with ‘Muzika Za Decu’, which the band says “captures the essence of the record: a playful, sincere and carefree expression of emotion.” The title means ‘music for children’, which the band makes a fun play on by including a children’s choir in the song. The song can be interpreted to be a joke on critique the band may be receiving, as the lyrics go “Ovo nije rokenrol, ovo nije rokenrol, ovo je, ovo je muzika za decu / This isn’t rock ‘n’ roll, this isn’t rock ‘n’ roll, this is, this is music for children” and “Ajde ugasi muziku ako smeš, ajde smej se ako smeš / C’mon turn the music off if you dare, c’mon laugh if you dare”. Despite being an indie rock band, their appearance on Eurovision brought them a lot of critique as well as love.  ‘Carpe Diem’, which appears later on this album, was seen as closer to pop music than rock, seemingly making them a boyband in the eyes of the public.

Second on the record is ‘Šta Bih Ja’, which we reviewed earlier this year when it came out as a single. Together with the first track, ‘Muzika Za Decu’, and the third track, their classic Eurovision hit ‘Carpe Diem’, the album starts off very playful and upbeat, making the listener want to get up and dance.

This is also true for the first English track on the album, track four, ‘Stephanie’, although the lyrics for this aren’t as happy as the melody would suggest. ‘Stephanie’ was released a week before the album came out and has been a hit within fans. This song is about a missed love, ‘the one that got away’, leading to a feeling that “love ain’t meant for people like me,” as the lyrics say. They tell the story of how a male protagonist fell in love at first sight with a woman named Stephanie, but promptly lost any chance of building a relationship with this woman as she lives far away from him. The song’s instrumentals make it feel like Stephanie’s story should have a happy ending, but as the lyrics show, nothing could be less true.

‘Ako Toga Više Neće Biti’ is the fifth track on this album. The title translates to ‘If This Won’t Exist Anymore’, which is only a hint to the sadness Joker Out captured in the song. This is the first slower song on the album and is about waiting for an (ex) lover to come back, for nine days, a month, and at the end of the song even a year, wishing and longing for all the little casual and mundane things from the relationship like asking how their day was or what to have for lunch. With lyrics like “Ako toga više neće biti, ljubav je najobičnija laž / If that won’t exist anymore, love is nothing but a lie”, this song describes intense heartbreak at the end of a relationship, wishing that things could just go back to how they were.

‘Bluza’, or Blouse in English, was released almost two months before the album came out, and is a beautiful romantic ballad. It is about not thinking you were capable of falling in love with someone, and then going completely crazy for that one person. “Ja mislim da sam se zaljubio u tebe, baš ja, koji nisam verovao da za nekim biću lud / I think I’ve fallen in love with you, yes, me, who didn’t believe I could be crazy about someone”. The song paints a cozy, romantic night, which is also reflected in the instrumentals; just two people in love, not wanting the night to ever end to bask in that feeling. After the previous two songs about heartbreak, ‘Bluza’ captures the other, happier side of love, with beautiful romantic instrumentals and harmonies to underline it.

The seventh track on the album, ‘Lips’, is quite different from the other tracks, and poses a stark contrast with the previous song. It starts off with low tones, breathing noises, and low vocals, creating a dark atmosphere. The song has some awesome guitar riffs reminiscent of rock music by artists such as Meat Loaf. It seems to showcase yet another part of love: “I belong with you, not the earth and not the sky. (…) This love will kill us in the end, like waves kill castles in the sand, true love and pain go hand in hand.” Despite standing out so much in comparison to the rest of the album, ‘Lips’ very much fits Joker Out’s style, the darker vibes being similar to their song ‘Demoni’ off their 2022 album by the same name.

Next up is ‘Mesto Duhov’, or City of Ghosts in English. This song starts off really upbeat, describing how the city of ghosts includes only sad, hopeless people, longing for yesterday. However, whenever the chorus comes, the song slows down significantly, with a dreamy ‘pa pa pa pa pa’ being sung repeatedly, as well as “Res je blo lepo / It really was beautiful” and “Zdaj pa več ne bo / Now it won’t be anymore”. These lyrics during the chorus seem to hint towards the song not being about a city of ghosts literally, but about the general ‘mood’ of the world, where the past seems better, and hope has been lost.

‘Sonce’ (Sun) is the ninth track on this album, and it is quite a sad one. A snippet of this song was posted to the band’s Instagram story earlier this year, as a statement in relation to the violence currently going on in Palestine. The song is about a dead son trying to talk to his mother, who is still alive. The piano melody accompanies sad lyrics: “Mogoče pa nisva dovolj glasno jokala, mogoče pa ni dovolj jasno bilo, kako sva se bala / Maybe the two of us didn’t cry loud enough, maybe it wasn’t clear enough, how afraid we were”. It is a beautiful, yet very emotional song.

With ‘Everybody’s Waiting’, a song that was released earlier this year (check out our review here), Souvenir Pop ends. The band calls this album a story or journey, which “reflects the band’s own experiences – from the euphoria of breaking records with Carpe Diem at Eurovision 2023 to the thoughtful reflection of the year that followed.” And what a journey it was – with many beautiful, emotional songs, as well as tracks to dance and sing your heart out to, Joker Out has delivered with many more songs like the ones that captured fans’ hearts in the first place.