Razlyuli-foreign land – Newspaper Kommersant No. 218 (7419) of 11/24/2022

Following the wave of interest in the author’s song, which arose after the “unauthorized” concert of Alexei Ivashchenko and Georgy Vasilyev, one can predict a return of interest in the émigré song. On the revival of the genre – Boris Barabanov.

This fall, rapper Noize MC (Ivan Alekseev, recognized as an individual-foreign agent) released the song “Land of Rains”, the lyrical hero of which reflects on the theme of his departure from Russia after the outbreak of military operations on the territory of Ukraine. In many ways, his emotions translate the author’s own experiences, who found a new home in Vilnius and has already managed to go on several concert tours. The hero of the song is under fire, but not bullets fly at him, but accusations. Russian turbopatriots believe that he should have “payed his sacred debt to the Motherland – yes, to the Immortal Regiment”, and Ukrainians are surprised why he did not go “against astronauts with Kalashes barefoot and naked.”

The song “Land of Rains”, an alternative hit with a catchy chorus, is in fact the first work about the new emigration in the space of mass “light” music. The hero’s problems are understandable not only to those who “left”, but also to those who stayed and keep in touch with them, to those who have not yet made a decision, and to those who do not consider such a decision at all. The hero of the “Land of Rains” is new, and it is interesting to watch him.

Pop artist Olga Buzova unexpectedly picked up the theme of life in a state of relocation. On the TNT channel in the show “Once Upon a Time in Russia”, she performed a song that describes in detail the relationship of a girl with a guy who went in search of a comfortable life that does not threaten with mobilization. The song literally says the following: “… in a difficult situation, you chose relocation. / Oh, that’s why, it turns out, you ran in the morning! / Became a victim of information and under pressure from sanctions / fled to where McDuck, IKEA and PayPal are.” The chorus says that this character “traded Buzova for Georgia.” The character himself, outwardly far from the “ideal” described in the text, was played by comedian Azamat Musagaliev, who cowardly looks around and reports that he went “to Ryazan through Tbilisi”, where he decided to visit his grandfather. Until now, Olga Buzova has not met acute social statements in the repertoire of Olga, and now the pop star has decided to respond to a burning topic. In contrast to the bland and one-dimensional creations of Z-rockers writing about the heroic Donbass, here we see something satirical, reminiscent of a caricature from the old Crocodile, and today’s relocant evader is in the spotlight.

The song came out quite catchy, it spins in the head, even if the beliefs of the creators of the show are not close to this head. And here we also see a new hero. Noize MC and Olga Buzova belong to different artistic workshops and weight categories, but, oddly enough, they are talking about the same people.

Another example of observing the “borderline” states of our compatriots is the EP of the young group Customville “Hellcome To”. These are just five songs, in many ways inheriting the Noize MC and the Anacondaz group, but with a special type of storyteller. He is also an urban young man, faced with the choice of whether to stay or “visit his grandfather”, but he was invented by professional filmmakers – director and screenwriter Vladimir Bolgov (“Law and Disorder”, “Especially Large”, “Wild Ancestors”) and actor Velimir Rusakov ( “Romanovs”, “Pyotr Leshchenko”, “Fizruk”, “Light from the Other World”, “Phantom”). Hence the witty, perfectly built story inside the mini-album. Aleksey Mosin from the punk band The Barber stands at the microphone.

“Here’s cartridges, buckwheat, a flag and a holster for you” – the first song “Hellcome To” “Lapti” begins with such a parental mandate, but the hero is clearly not going to follow him and in the finale declares: “If I’m here – an accidentally flown midge, then spit it out rather than me. Let’s sit down, mom, on the path. The song “Autopilot” is a satire of the highest standard, and even a ready-made hit, which, however, is not clear on which radio could play today. The refrain goes like this: “Don’t call wi-fi wi-fi. / Where it is possible, no one is waiting for us. / We won’t know the truth anyway – / Just turn on the autopilot. The song tells in detail what else cannot be called by their proper names: a bench, an article, a family, a country. And even spring – although you can live with it “on autopilot”. In the song “200”, the group makes fun of the new spy mania, and the song “Yard” is a pure metaphor for today’s Russian-Ukrainian conflict, presented here as a battle with a neighboring yard: “So why are you sitting? Get up brother! / We will win back the swings and the winter skating rink. / We’ll take everything we deserve! / Everyone grab clubs and crowbars.” Finally, in the finale, the theme of departure sounds again. “Alas” – a letter from a son who left his elders in Russia. Incredible, heartbreaking, as befits an émigré song.

The popularity of the immigrant song comes to us in waves. The author of these lines remembers very well the cassettes with the inscription “Emigrants”, which our fellow citizens copied to each other in the early 1980s. On these cassettes, one could hear Willy Tokarev, Mikhail Shufutinsky, Lyuba Uspenskaya and many other artists who performed in New York restaurants and included songs about hard life in a foreign land in their repertoire. The cassettes often did not even have the names of the performers, but the special sound was recognizable at once: a restaurant ensemble, a specific reverb on the microphone, the “Brightonian” accent of the vocalist. “Then, look, you will be robbed, / then, look, they will kill you – / they will bury you like a dog / and they will not sing prayers,” Willy Tokarev sang, and he should have sympathized.

The heroes of the emigrant songs of forty years ago have never been completely satisfied with their new place of residence, and the homeland has always lived in their hearts. The prospects for their return were doubtful, each was like a cut piece. Judging by the first samples of the new emigrant song, its hero is also not going back, but he does not feel cut off from the country either. It’s just that the country for him now is not a geographical concept, but an informational one. Thanks to the Internet, he can contact his family and friends in Russia at any moment (previously, the letter took weeks) and feels in the same space with them. Rodina basically sits in the next room. You can hear what is being said behind the wall. You can return at any time, here is the door. But the hero, in the words of the Noize MC song, prefers to direct a new life.