Taroug’s new album, Chott, is named after a giant salt lake in Tunisia. The sound of its latest single, however, is more befitting that of an ocean than a lake. “1995” is enormous, echoey, and expansive—the vocals soaked with reverb, the drums lurching and heaving with the weight of a ship’s anchor.
There’s a real “something-wicked-this-way-comes” energy here, the lyrical theme of “childhood dreams” setting up a neat contrast with the song’s bass-heavy menace. “We play hide and seek between the laundry on the lines” goes the chorus, and when the searing, terror-stricken violin swoops in, it’s an absolute gut-punch—a sonic dagger that takes the song from a document of childlike wonder to one of very real trauma and peril. It’s like one of those actual games of hide and seek we all played where, in some dank and dusty corner, actual secrets were uncovered, or a strange animal darted out in a flash of light.
Yet in spite of its sinister nature, the song’s lyrics speak of “scents of jasmine”, “sweets and creams”, and “blue squares filled with beaming faces”, proving that maybe—just maybe—the terror was all in our heads the whole time like most childhood games.
Taroug‘s Chott releases on 27 March 2026 via Denovali Records.