From his forthcoming album, Good Times (September 5th), “Disco Elysium” by Alexei Shishkin is a jazz-laced rock ode to a cult classic. The song isn’t just a tribute to the cult video game of the same name but a mirror of its messy brilliance. By blending loungey jazz textures with laid-back indie rock in a way that sidesteps both pretension and predictability, Alexei Shishkin channels the existential fog of that world into a track that feels half-awake and fully alive.
There’s a casual looseness to the song that works in its favour. Built from a four-day session at Big Nice Studio with Bradford Krieger, the track carries the mark of spontaneity without feeling unfinished. Alexei opens with a subtle nod to the game’s iconic mechanics. The four quick sonic cues represent intellect, psyche, physique, and motor skills and then melt into Alexei’s trademark conversational vocal delivery that is like someone mumbling secrets over a sunrise cigarette.
What makes “Disco Elysium” tick is how it reframes a deeply narrative driven video game into a song that captures the mood, not plot. Instead of retelling the story, Alexei conjures the haze, the heartbreak, and the weird poetry of trying to get your life together in a world that doesn’t quite care if you do. The music dips into woozy sax and loose percussion by creating the kind of sonic detachment that makes the whole thing feel like it’s floating just off the ground.
It’s not flashy, and that’s the point. This is music made by someone uninterested in keeping pace with anything but their own imagination. “Disco Elysium” is scrappy, strange, and oddly comforting. Just like the game.
Art by Jonjo Hemmens and Jean Zoudi
