The Beatles
The Beatles (White Album) (Apple)
Belgium-based darkwave group Ultra Sunn collectively told us about their love for a bonafide Beatles classic...
Ultra Sunn: It’s always a difficult exercise to choose a single favorite album. We consume a huge amount of music, in all its forms, everything from classical music to Detroit techno, contemporary pop, rock, metal, reggae, jazz, and French chanson. Honestly, our playlists are a complete mess and are constantly shifting depending on what we’re absorbing at any given moment.
If I had to name one album that remains especially close to my heart, even though it doesn’t directly mirror the way we create our own music, it would be The Beatles (White Album) by The Beatles. Beyond the music itself, it’s an object I have a deep emotional connection to. My father gave me his original copy from his personal collection, the one he bought from his local record store the day it was released. Some collectors obsess over these numbered pressings, but for me, its value is entirely sentimental. I’ll never part with it.
What fascinates me most about this record is its sense of exploration. The sonic experimentation, the recording techniques, the way microphones are placed and manipulated, it feels fearless. The songwriting moves between deeply unsettling, almost chilling moments and songs that are surprisingly light, even playful. Listening to it is like walking through a vast house with many rooms. In one, you find warmth and comfort. In another, you’re confronted with something raw and unfiltered, like a mirror reflecting uncomfortable truths. There are traces of spiritual journeys, moments of mysticism, and also a sense of disillusionment. It’s an album that holds both extreme softness and striking harshness.
There’s also something deeply poetic about the object itself. The fact that the album is completely white has always fascinated me. It’s almost 60 years old now, and over time, the cover takes on an entirely different meaning. What may have once felt like a search for something pure and immaculate slowly transforms into something marked by memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time. Each copy lives its own life, gathering stains, creases, subtle scars, and gradually becoming a unique piece in the world. There’s a quiet beauty in that evolution.
That kind of emotional contrast, between tension and release, shadow and light, is something that resonates with us in our own work, including our recent single “Flirt With Death.” While our sound exists in a very different sonic space, we’re equally drawn to creating worlds where opposites coexist and challenge each other. As we continue on our current tour, that influence, this idea of building a space where intensity and vulnerability collide, remains a guiding force in how we approach both recording and performing.
Ultra Sunn's "Flirt With Death" is out now.
Photo by Kris Parenti
