‘POSTFUNK’ became Fuji Moodji’s second album of 2025, following ‘Morpheus’. The LP includes nine tracks recorded in collaboration with bassist Vlada Brovko (W.I.T.H) and singer Mariia Poslavska, aka Richkoma
According to the band, work on ‘POSTFUNK’ lasted approximately three months: six demo recordings had been ‘waiting for their time’ for a year, while three more were recorded in a single day. ‘That was probably when the idea of making an album emerged’, Fuji Moodji frontman Hlib Petrenko says in a comment to DTF Magazine.
The band describes the album’s genre as post-funk — an ironic response to post-punk — or as ‘dirty funk’:
‘The main thing for us was to preserve the funky vibe. Like a persimmon or a mandarin, we put it into a blender and then add a bit of psychedelic rock, some jazz and punk, a pinch of breakbeat, and folk on top’, Hlib explains.
Unlike the ‘serious’ Morpheus, whose main themes were dreams and nightmares, ‘POSTFUNK’ is described as ‘a light and warm funky album that speaks of hope and light, which inevitably prevail’.
‘First of all, we wanted to make a warm album for the winter, something to help get through it. Secondly, we wanted to mess around a bit. With ‘Morpheus’, that didn’t really work out — it turned out to be quite serious. There will be even more of this wildness ahead, so this is another attempt to prepare people for it’.
In addition to W.I.T.H and Richkoma, the album also features Sklyane Oko, Hlib’s solo project.
‘Sklyane Oko feels less filtered to me — it speaks for itself and doesn’t try to mince words. The defining feature of this project is transparency’, the musician explains.
Fuji Moodji introduce the tracks from the album
‘Punch1’
Hlib: This song carries the overall meaning of the album. It begins with the line ‘don’t ask when I’ll return’ and ends with a promise to come back in spring, although in the first track our lyrical protagonist doesn’t yet know this — they have to go on a journey to realize it.
‘First try’
Hlib: The demo — just like the title — was made in the moment, within a few hours. For me, it was like landing a skateboard trick on the first attempt and then shouting, ‘First try!’.
Vlada: ‘First Try’ is a first-take track whose bass part was recorded far from the first take. I came up with the riff for the ending first, then set it aside for a day, and later worked out another part of the track. I think there were definitely around 40–50 takes.
‘Gingerbread house’
Vlada: I’m trying to train myself to play bass in the mornings, since by evening the motivation fades because of exhaustion. The riff was written one summer morning, and I thought it would be cool to turn it into a song with the guys. About a month later, I came to Dnipro, and we recorded three tracks in one day. ‘Gingerbread House’ was one of them.
Hlib: The theme of journey, searching, and the realization that the goal is merely an illusion continues here — something that distracts from the pleasure of observing the path itself. The title is an obvious reference to the Brothers Grimm and simply a desire to convey that wherever we move in this forest, we want to do it joyfully. Richkoma added a fairytale vibe of Hansel and Gretel’s adventures through her vocal parts.
‘Solar’
Hlib: This is my prayer to the sun, written during a time when it felt like winter would never end. There are no hidden meanings or subtexts here — just sincere exhaustion from the cold, the greyness, and the loneliness.
‘Doom’
Hlib: The track is about how many things beyond our control we try to manage — and end up with nothing but disappointment. And about how this only distracts our attention from what truly matters.
‘Тeneta’
Richkoma: For me, it’s about meeting a new person who is meant to become a significant part of your life. You have to understand both them and yourself in order to build a deep relationship within the framework of the modern world — one that is so cold and dangerous. This song is especially meaningful to me, and it’s my first collaboration with Hlib.
‘Snap Back’
Hlib: A real story that happened to me a few years ago: I met a very beautiful girl in the elevator of my building — and after that, everything unfolded just like in the song. The second part conveys a sense of disappointment, the feeling that there are people I will never meet again.
‘U are Perfect’
Hlib: A song about journeys of the mind and beyond — about how differently we can feel depending on our surroundings and what we create around ourselves. The focus is on remembering who you are, loving yourself just as imperfect as everything in this world, yet at the same time absolutely beautiful and unique.
‘Navesni’
Hlib: A song about hope, a song about trust and self-acceptance. About moving through this spiral of disappointments and moments of wonder, of winters and summers. And, of course, about returning in the spring.
About Fuji Moodji’s previous album
The story of ‘Morpheus’ began with the tracks ‘Cumcvat Dive Pound’ and ‘Ulamok’, which were initially intended to be part of the ‘Clark’ EP only. However, once the band had eight tracks, they decided to expand the project into a full-length album and began shaping its narrative.
‘This is a myth created from reality. A journey that begins with a big question: ‘Is it worth it?’ An album about the road — about the feeling when you’ve already gone through something important and difficult, only to realize with surprise that it was just the first step. There are no guarantees ahead, no compromises. Nothing except the journey itself’, Hlib Petrenko, a member of the duo, describes the release.
The primary focus of the album was placed on the lyrics and the ‘accessibility’ of the songs, while the sound of ‘Morpheus’ is minimalistic, featuring no electric guitars and placing the emphasis on drums and bass.
