Sosyete ’25 – Bilmece

Sosyete ’25 are a London-based trio: Istanbul-born vocalist and songwriter Merve Erdem (known from Kit Sebastian and Brainfeeder), guitarist and producer Glenn Fallows (Globeflower Masters, Mr Bongo), and producer/multi-instrumentalist Paul Elliott, who previously put out the acclaimed Call Sender project on Tru Thoughts. “Bilmece” is their debut single, the first glimpse at a forthcoming album called Yaygara, and it arrives on Tru Thoughts.

“Bilmece” means riddle in Turkish, and the track earns it. Merve’s vocal sits soft and unhurried over a slow-burning groove that Paul anchors, while Dan Smith plays lotar — a long-necked lute used in Turkish and Balkan music — that gives the whole thing a warm, slightly cinematic undercurrent. What catches my ear is how much tension the track holds without ever releasing it fully: it stays in that haze, never quite resolving, which is probably the point. Mediterranean pop, left-field production, Turkish folk tradition — it folds together without any of the elements feeling grafted on.