With "Winona," DESOLAT delivers a melancholic Ruhr area coming-of-age story that navigates nostalgia, overwhelm, and the struggle to not drown in a hyper-connected present. The song tells of coping mechanisms in an overstimulated world: of old albums, familiar spaces, brown living room walls, and small rituals as the last refuge against fast-paced living, self-optimization, and emotional alienation. "Winona" serves as a symbolic figure for the conflict between adaptation and authenticity – inspired by an "insecure," never fully adapted personality that evaded the patriarchal structures of Hollywood and preserved autonomy precisely through its fragility. Musically, the band condenses this tension into a darkly driving alternative/post-punk song of longing and latent escalation.
For the accompanying video, DESOLAT collaborated with Berlin director Robert Piel and designer Inga Aleknaviciute-Piel (Good Bones), thanks to funding from the city of Gelsenkirchen. They have previously created clips for King Dude and Night Eternal, as well as YRRRE. The video was shot entirely on analog 16mm film at various locations in Gelsenkirchen – including the apartment of singer Markus, which was transformed into a detail-loving 90s set. With Alex Schwers (Slime) as the father and actress Katharina Kron as the daughter, the video combines industrial Ruhr area aesthetics with familial intimacy, creating a visual counterpoint to the digital smoothness of the present.
“Winona” is the first single from Desolat's second album “Obsolet,” which will be released on October 16, 2026, via Dackelton Records / Broken Silence. The track marks a clear development from their 2024 debut album “ückendorfication”: Desolat sounds more powerful, darker, and more urgent – and thus closer to the pulse of the times. The album was produced by fazo666fazo (Baits, Heckspoiler, Lovehead) in collaboration with Hesham "Sham" Abd El Salam in Vienna in September of last year.
