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Exactly one month before he embarks on his global headline tour, UK dark wave heir Artemas drops the emotionally decadent and raunchy 14-track mixtape yustyna, venturing through the depths of love’s ashes, centering the explicit and holding nothing back.

The project opens up with “i like the way you kiss me,” the moody, alt-pop single that has catapulted Artemas through an entirely new threshold. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, garnered over 900 million streams, and has gone massively viral on TikTok, with its '80s synths too infectious to negate. yustyna carries on this tone, if anything, only darkening. Pulsating and eerie, he’s eclipsing the alt-pop genre and rewriting the blueprint for anyone panting to keep up. “wet dreams” honors that signature grunge, alluring his lover into a seductive trance.

A defenseless victim to his own cravings, yustyna is a plea to be both touched and left alone. Tracks like “dirty little secret” and “stupidhead” pick up the pace and electrify with retro-futurism, reminiscent of early The Weeknd with a UK grunge twist. Meanwhile, tracks like “i love you regardless” and “good girl” lean more on naked vulnerability, supported by his malleable vocals. 

The Oxfordshire native is making his name known globally, climbing charts from Australia to France to Norway, though he’s still only a figure. The nearer he comes, the less easy he is to conceptualize, weaponizing his vulnerability while remaining a shadow. This project will most certainly edge those unwilling into discomfort, though that was seemingly the plan all along. In Artemas’ own words, “yustyna picks up from where my mixtape, pretty, left off. The rude introduction to Artemas as a world and character. It’s intentionally divisive. You’ll either find it sexy or vulgar.”

Listen to yustyna below: