A clarification was made to one statement to more accurately reflect the band’s use of the English language in their music.
Out of Budapest, Hungary, emerges The Colibris, an indie pop-rock band with a soft, atmospheric sound drenched in reverb. The Post sat down with the quartet for an interview.
The Colibris is composed of four members: Máté Németh, Benedek Bánáti, Balázs Koncz and Kristóf Németh. After meeting through high school and mutual friends, the four had a jam session to get to know each other. From there, a band formed, and they put together their first demo, “Lovers in California." Shortly after the song’s release, their first EP, “P.S.,” was released as well.
They describe their style as a mix of influences. They cite surf rock and ‘70s rock styles as their main stylistic ones, with some British pop thrown in. The group stated that they were “moving towards pop rock” as they experimented further with their sound. Additionally, they have started to experiment with synths while maintaining their guitar-oriented approach to their music.
Lyrically, their story is a bit different. Many of the lyrics come from lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Máté Németh. The lyrics are primarily written in English. The group’s drummer, Kristóf Németh, explained that one of the main reasons for the English lyrics is because the Hungarian language’s grammatical structure and vocabulary can be difficult to utilize in their music. He explained that Hungarian lyrics will often be either far too straightforward and blunt or far too verbose and flowery. Additionally, it gets difficult to keep a rhythm or rhyme scheme.
However, their English lyrics have also allowed them to connect to a larger international audience. The group explained that while they want to go international, they are still finding ways to do so.
“We don’t really have a specific plan or strategy yet,” Kristóf Németh said. “So far, our secret has been trusting the algorithm. We didn’t have a direct strategic move. We uploaded the song ‘Ocean Blue,’ and we saw that within a few months, it got way more views and listeners than any of our other songs. It blew up a lot in Brazil and Asia.”
However, they have other ideas for increasing the size of their audience as well, such as attending music summits and networking events to connect with experts. Additionally, they have been focusing on building a domestic audience as they expand internationally, all the while finishing their time at university.
Alongside building an audience, the group has been working on creating new music. An example of their new music is their upcoming single, “pillowtalk.”
“It’s a romantic story, like a bittersweet one,” Koncz said. “It was inspired by a true relationship. Our lead singer had a difficult ending in his relationship with a girl, and it is trying to cover up all those feelings of losing attention towards each other and all the things going wrong at the end of the relationship. It starts as quite a romantic and upbeat song. It’s happy in the beginning, but has a very sad turnout in the end. It’s trying to express how you’re losing someone”.
To supplement the song, a music video will also be released in conjunction with it, both of which are teased to be released in late May or June.
That is not all for the group. They are currently working towards finishing their first LP, which will likely enter post-production by the end of summer and likely be finished by the end of the year. After their recording and mixing processes are done, they will be able to put together a setlist for live shows.
