Despite ‘Viskra’ being the second LP by singer and producer Uliana Avteniuk, she experiences it as a ‘debut’. YUVI captures ‘internal shifts’ that have taken place over two years into noir art pop, trip-hop, breakcore, and electronic music. For DTF Magazine, she spoke about the album and provided a track-by-track breakdown
The story behind ‘Viskra’
The artist describes ‘Viskra’ as a chronicle of the past two years — her previous album, ‘Spomyna Liubovu’, was released in 2024. There is less chaos and more clarity in her life now, and these changes can be traced throughout the album’s songs.
The central themes of this ‘cohesive eight-track story’ are destructive intimacy and emotional fatalism. ‘It’s an album about accepting one’s experiences and trying to live through them to the end instead of escaping’, Uliana says.
Asked about the moment she felt ready for her second LP, YUVI says she’s actually ‘still not ready’:
‘It’s a scale you only dare to take on when you’re overwhelmed by yourself and the process — where the writing feels like finding your way in the dark. I’m still getting used to what I’ve created’.
The artist adds that her approach to work hasn’t changed — she still writes everything herself and intentionally tries to involve as few people as possible to ‘better control the process’ and to ‘keep outside noise from breaking the ‘line’’. The only guest on the release is Polina Maiboroda (Hyphen Dash).
The sound of ‘Viskra’ reflects YUVI’s past two years — ‘everyone will hear something familiar in it’.
The album cover was created by photographer Artem Plutalov. It features the artist with a snake on her face. YUVI describes the image as a ‘symbiosis of instinct and identity’, with the snake acting as a ‘prism’ for her inner state.
‘It’s an allusion to classical symbolism, where sin and desire serve as metaphors for human aspirations. The snake here is not just an object, but an active filter. Simply put, the inner shapes the outer’, she adds.
YUVI on the tracks from ‘Viskra’
According to Uliana, the starting point of the album was the track ‘hory’ — it carried enough tension to fuel all eight tracks:
‘Actually, this song wasn’t so much a beginning as a moment where different phases overlap, not yet separated into distinct stories. From there, the album just unpacks the tension’.
mokh
There is no ground here — only a muted anger.
mu
My favorite track on the album, like a ripe persimmon, was shaped by the sound of the 2000s.
kuty
A confession, a loss of contours.
‘To be heard, or to cut off my ears in front of him?’
I gouged out my eyes.
hory
I’m looking for sanctuary, not love,
and the body weighs less than words.
a cold space — a threat,
while I am a storm of love, words, and languor.
yama
A heavy, carnal presence presses against the skin, as if the air has become a body, and the body — a space. The final points were edited under the influence of JMSN’s latest album.
zvira
‘No time for sleep, the beasts are out’
I wanted to merge two bangers — ‘30 povin’ and ‘Kayus’
it works, right?)
The track was accompanied by an animated video created in collaboration with director and 3D artist Serhii Duzhyk. It visualizes imagery from ancient Greek myths through PlayStation One–style graphics.
‘As the work progressed, more and more layers began to emerge — and the initial idea grew into my most ambitious animation to date’, Duzhyk adds.
ne plach
the peak of the crisis, a breaking point; a portrayal of a state, of the events of October 12 — the day of my brother’s funeral; the unfolding of the story of ‘mokh’.
ai
I want to get out of here.
