Black Sea Dahu

Black Sea Dahu are Janine Cathrein and a tight-knit gang of musical cohorts, based in Switzerland.

Genre is a cage, and Black Sea Dahu were never meant to be caged. From their early days as JOSH, with <a href="spotify:album:51ReUS9j46HQLbvJfevOA5" data-name="The Kids of the Sun">The Kids of the Sun</a> (2012) and <a href="spotify:track:7eBvcA3w5noGG8LhY01DCF" data-name="Kingdom North">Kingdom North</a> (2014), to their ocean-deep breakout debut <a href="spotify:album:268yXVSyVaHmdualmsd1Ve" data-name="White Creatures">White Creatures</a> (2018), they’ve refused to color inside the lines. With the haunting <a href="spotify:track:7yj9yyVctPE6uOHWFmd1Ox" data-name="No Fire in the Sand">No Fire in the Sand</a> EP (2019), the widescreen <a href="spotify:album:3pNWUdehNQaNeMlRpwkhx1" data-name="I Am My Mother">I Am My Mother</a> (2022), and the follow up <a href="spotify:track:4PxQHJIwiEdv4TcbbBVVA4" data-name="Orbit">Orbit</a> EP, this Swiss outfit has carved a niche for themselves beyond genre.

In 2024, the band released their first live album <a href="spotify:album:0dnB0KQ41RK4LwB3jHpC7R" data-name="Live in Zürich and Bern">Live in Zürich and Bern</a>, featuring the string quartet <a href="spotify:artist:6GVrpcGEmGv3pJbf5IIfek" data-name="Amour sur Mars">Amour sur Mars</a>.

They’ve played numerous stages across Europe and were invited to Reeperbahn (2018/2022), The Great Escape (2019), m4music (2019), MaMA (2019), Eurosonic (2020), and Montreux Jazz Festival (2024). They’ve shared bills with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5schNIzWdI9gJ1QRK8SBnc" data-name="Ben Howard">Ben Howard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6xrCU6zdcSTsG2hLrojpmI" data-name="José González">José González</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2uvY5pgdD9t1CZ5zMNw1rl" data-name="Lucy Rose">Lucy Rose</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1rKrEdI6GKirxWHxIUPYms" data-name="Agnes Obel">Agnes Obel</a>, Amy Macdonald, <a href="spotify:artist:5KNNVgR6LBIABRIomyCwKJ" data-name="Dermot Kennedy">Dermot Kennedy</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3nOQJdlPEzFVhTEzxwcGax" data-name="Sophie Hunger">Sophie Hunger</a>, and drawn comparisons to <a href="spotify:artist:3nnQpaTvKb5jCQabZefACI" data-name="Jeff Buckley">Jeff Buckley</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5QdyldG4Fl4TPiOIeMNpBZ" data-name="Big Thief">Big Thief</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1r1uxoy19fzMxunt3ONAkG" data-name="Phoebe Bridgers">Phoebe Bridgers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4LEiUm1SRbFMgfqnQTwUbQ" data-name="Bon Iver">Bon Iver</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4Z8W4fKeB5YxbusRsdQVPb" data-name="Radiohead">Radiohead</a>, though really, they sound like no one but themselves.

With their next album Everything (out 20.02.2026) looming on the horizon, Black Sea Dahu dig deeper still, revealing more of what was always there: raw nerve, a steady hand, an unflinching willingness to be vulnerable, and the kind of music that meets you exactly where you are.


filed under Indie Folk / Chamber Pop / Indie Rock