Three Track Week #21: Built To Last
- Anne
- Jun 14
- 5 min read
How Music Survives Change
Most things disappear faster than expected. Trends, headlines, algorithms, entire conversations. Music isn't supposed to be any different. Yet some songs refuse to stay where they were first placed. They get reinterpreted, reshaped, rediscovered and carried into entirely different contexts. This week, Cardinals, UNTER STRØM and the cast of 'The Wanderer' show three very different ways music survives.
Listen to this week’s Three Track Week #21 selection.
This week’s tracks are available in our playlist INDIENOXZINE | Selections, updated weekly on Spotify.
Cardinals – Inheriting Tradition Without Becoming Trapped By It
Some artists spend years trying to escape their influences. Cardinals seem more interested in transforming them. With "I Like You", the Cork five-piece return to one of the emotional centres of their debut album "Masquerade", demonstrating how familiar traditions can remain alive when treated as material rather than instruction.
Sound / Mood
"I Like You" captures Cardinals at their most exposed. The track balances fragile vulnerability with the band's characteristic tension, combining folk-inspired melodicism, accordion textures and alternative rock dynamics into something that feels both intimate and expansive. Unlike the darker material found elsewhere on "Masquerade", the song leans into emotional openness without abandoning the sense of unease that runs throughout the record.
Why This Matters
Independent music often celebrates influence while simultaneously demanding originality. Young artists are expected to honour traditions, reference scenes and acknowledge predecessors, yet are judged harshly if they sound too familiar. Few contemporary bands illustrate this tension more clearly than Cardinals. Emerging from Ireland's thriving independent scene, the band inevitably attract comparisons to earlier generations of Irish artists. Yet "Masquerade" demonstrates that influence and identity are not opposing forces. The album draws from folk traditions, alternative rock and post-punk without becoming reducible to any of them. Rather than rejecting the past, Cardinals use it as material for constructing something new. Their significance lies not simply in musical innovation but in showing how younger artists can engage with cultural inheritance without becoming confined by it. In an era where audiences often search for the next version of something they already know, Cardinals remind us that artistic identity emerges through reinterpretation rather than reinvention alone.
Context
"I Like You" was among the earliest songs written for "Masquerade", arriving after a prolonged period of creative inactivity and helping define the album's direction. The accompanying film-shot video reinforces the band's preference for intimacy over spectacle, favouring spontaneous moments and documentary realism. As Cardinals continue their rapid international rise through festivals, headline tours and sold-out physical editions, "Masquerade" represents a debut less concerned with meeting expectations than establishing a distinct artistic voice.
UNTER STRØM – The Power of Creative Restraint
Not every form of evolution involves adding more. Sometimes it begins by removing what isn't necessary. With "Fold", UNTER STRØM move deeper into a sound built on atmosphere, patience and restraint, proving that transformation can emerge from limitation as much as expansion.
Sound / Mood
"Fold" unfolds patiently. Pulsing bass patterns, industrial textures and subtle melodic shifts create an atmosphere that feels immersive rather than immediate. The track resists obvious climaxes, instead relying on gradual movement and accumulating tension. Built for dark rooms and extended listening, it balances mechanical precision with an underlying sense of emotional weight, occupying the space between techno functionality and cinematic storytelling.
Why This Matters
Contemporary music culture often rewards immediacy. Songs are expected to capture attention within seconds, while streaming platforms encourage constant escalation and instant gratification. Against this backdrop, restraint has become an increasingly radical artistic choice. "Fold" demonstrates the value of withholding rather than revealing. Instead of relying on dramatic drops or oversized hooks, the track creates engagement through patience, repetition and subtle transformation. This approach reflects a broader tendency emerging across independent electronic music, where artists are becoming less concerned with maximising stimulation and more interested in cultivating atmosphere. The significance of this shift extends beyond club culture. In an era defined by information overload and constant digital interruption, works that demand sustained attention offer a different kind of experience. Rather than competing for attention through excess, they reward listeners willing to remain present long enough to notice small changes. The result is music that functions less as content and more as an environment.
Context
UNTER STRØM emerged from the long-standing creative relationship between Alex Gonzales and John Kunkel, two artists whose backgrounds span darkwave, melodic house, industrial music and alternative electronic culture. "Fold" began during a flight to Calgary before evolving through the duo's collaborative process of exchanging and reshaping ideas. The track's minimalist structure marks a deliberate move deeper into the project's developing identity, while its mixing and mastering lineage connects it to a wider tradition of forward-thinking electronic and industrial music. Rather than chasing contemporary trends, UNTER STRØM continue to build a sound rooted in atmosphere, patience and emotional depth.
Cast of ‘The Wanderer’ – When Songs Outlive Their Original Moment
Some songs survive by refusing to remain tied to the era that produced them. With "Make It Alone", the cast of ’The Wanderer’ bring Dion DiMucci's musical legacy into a new medium, showing how songs can continue gathering meaning long after their original moment has passed.
Sound / Mood
"Make It Alone" carries the emotional weight expected of a theatrical centerpiece. Driven by powerful vocal performances and rooted in classic rock and roll traditions, the song balances dramatic intensity with melodic accessibility. Rather than functioning as a standalone pop single, it operates as part of a larger narrative, drawing strength from character, story and emotional context.
Why This Matters
Popular music is often discussed in terms of new releases, emerging artists and changing trends. Yet some songs achieve a different kind of longevity. Rather than remaining fixed within their original historical moment, they continue evolving through reinterpretation, performance and storytelling. The Wanderer highlights this process. Dion DiMucci's music is no longer simply a collection of recordings from the 1950s and 1960s. Through musical theatre, those songs become part of a new cultural conversation, reaching audiences who may have little direct connection to their original context. In this sense, the production demonstrates how music functions as a living archive rather than a static artefact. This reflects a broader reality within contemporary culture. Increasingly, songs move between formats, appearing in films, television, theatre productions, digital platforms and live reinterpretations. Their meaning expands as they encounter new audiences and new narratives. Longevity is no longer defined solely by chart performance or streaming numbers, but by the ability of music to remain culturally relevant across generations.
Context
Produced by Stevie Van Zandt, "Make It Alone" serves as one of the emotional focal points of The Wanderer, the acclaimed musical inspired by Dion DiMucci's life and career. Featuring performances from Mike Wartella and Olivier Award winner Diego Andres Rodriguez, the recording captures themes of resilience, faith and self-discovery that sit at the heart of the production. As anticipation grows around the musical's future development, the release offers a reminder that some songs endure not because they remain unchanged, but because they continue finding new ways to be heard.
Across these three releases, music keeps refusing to stay where it was first placed. Cardinals reshape inherited traditions into something distinctly their own. UNTER STRØM transform limitation into atmosphere, proving that less can still reveal more. The cast of The Wanderer carry songs written decades ago into an entirely new medium and generation. What connects them is movement. Not reinvention for its own sake, but the ability to remain alive by continuing to change.
Further perspectives are available in our Artist Features, Cultural Essays and The Thing About Us, each situating music within broader cultural and creative contexts.
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