“EŠTE NIE SME STRATENI” by Mars_999

Out of the shadows of silence, Slovak artist Mars_999 — the moniker of Juraj Péč — reemerges with “Ešte Nie Sme Stratení”, a searing reclamation of voice, purpose, and identity. It’s a song born from rupture, rebuilt with vulnerability and vision — both intimate and expansive in its reach.

What begins in grit quickly blooms into a shimmering haze. Raw, lo-fi guitar textures grind against hard, industrial drums, evoking a sense of urgency and unrest. But it’s the arrival of lush, analog synths — wide and cinematic — that transform the track into something soaring. Péč’s vocals ache with quiet defiance, cutting through the haze like signal through static. The emotional topography shifts constantly, like a storm-tossed sea — post-punk edges softened by synth-pop luminosity. It’s an anthem dressed in ash and light.

Entirely written, recorded, and performed by Péč, the track carries the unmistakable mark of one voice pushed to the brink, then drawn back by necessity. There’s a haunting immediacy to the performance — not just because it’s personal, but because it feels salvaged. Captured at Faust Studio in Prague with producer Rohin Brown and mastered by Matt Colton (noted for work with Bon Iver and James Blake), the sonic polish never dulls the emotional sharpness. Instead, it frames it — elevates it. Yet it’s not only sound that expands this piece — it’s vision. The accompanying video is a mesmerizing act of digital alchemy. With AI and photography converging, a series of portraits by Slovak photographer Micha Líner are reimagined through Warholian distortion: looping, glitching, yet strangely human.

The result is unsettling and beautiful — a visual echo of the song’s central pulse. Far from gimmickry, the use of AI here feels like an extension of memory and emotion — a cracked mirror through which past, pain, and possibility flicker. This is not nostalgia. This is not escape. “Ešte Nie Sme Stratení” is a reclamation. In Slovak language, in fractured visuals, in frequencies that shimmer with heartbreak and strength — Péč finds new clarity. The song doesn’t offer resolution, but it does insist on presence. It doesn’t deny ruin, but refuses disappearance. We’re not lost yet. Not when music like this still speaks.