Dear indie friends,

Some weekends end when you board the train home. Others follow you into the carriage, sit beside you, and quietly start planning the next one.

Indiependence Day 2026 was that second kind of weekend.

Cologne brought together artists and friends who are usually scattered across cities, countries, inboxes, radio shows and social feeds. For the 2d time, nobody was a profile picture or a new-release notification. We were simply there, sharing music, conversations, ideas, jokes and the sort of energy that cannot be scheduled into an online meeting.

It was the second edition, but it already felt less like a repeat than a beginning. To Die In Beauty, Hollow Words, The Kind Machine, Gengvej, Joe Baldi and many others gave the gathering its pulse. The strongest impression I brought home was not nostalgia for a lovely weekend. It was appetite.

An appetite to meet again. To involve more people. To make room for more sounds, more encounters and more of the beautiful unpredictability that appears when independent artists stop passing one another online and finally occupy the same place.

So yes: somewhere, next year, let us do it again. Bigger. Louder. Stronger. Not because size is the goal, but because this deserves the chance to grow.

STEP INSIDE INDIEPENDENCE DAY 2026 →

And if you are staying here for another minute, the week did not return me gently to ordinary life.

I have finally emptied my mother’s house. That sentence contains far more than I can place inside this Weekly, and it will become the heart of issue 104. For now, let us just say that some rooms remain full even after the last box has left.

Meanwhile, after seventeen years of loyal service, my coffee machine died. A respectable age, a tragic silence, and terrible timing. The good news is that a new machine has arrived. The household has caffeine again. Civilization may continue 😃

Happy reading and love on you all,

Mitxoda

Read what other indie people answered, and add yours.

1 · 🇮🇹 J&M Band — Se ti vengo a trovare

An intimate Italian reflection on loss, roots and the urge to reach someone.

2 · 🇺🇸 Freeze Time — Oblivious

Recorded live at its core, three musicians keep the human room firmly audible.

3 · 🇺🇸🇸🇪🇳🇿 WORLD5 — Heartbeat Of The World Album Edit

Across borders, WORLD5 looks at the fragile pulse inside troubled relationships.

4 · 🇺🇸 The Sun Watts — Lost in Space

Drifting alone, The Sun Watts searches for direction after a shared chapter ends.

5 · 🇬🇧 LUDIOSIS — Addicted to Failure

Failure becomes safest when effort disappears—and LUDIOSIS refuses that comfortable excuse.

6 · 🇮🇪 Mandy Mynx — Golden Crown

Identity turns golden when Mandy Mynx stops accepting other people’s narrow definitions.

7 · 🇺🇸 whispertone — bliss

Human structure meets AI production in a hybrid openly labelled for what it is.

Every Friday at 4:00 PM (Brussels time) a new episode of Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda will take place on salon.mitxoda.be, don’t miss it.

One word. A few clues. Your indie brain against the clock.

May the right people keep finding one another, and may your coffee arrive before the difficult sentences do.

With love, always,
🖤 Mitxoda

Play Soundcheck → One word. A few clues. Your indie brain against the clock.

Vote in the Weekly 100 → Help independent songs climb the community ranking.

Listen to Le Salon Indie → Two hours inside the independent music world.

Submit a Song → Making music yourself? Send it to Mitxoda.

END 😆