Croatian psych-groove collective nemanja arrive at Karmakoma Belgrade on May 21, bringing one of the most distinctive live sounds currently emerging from the wider Balkan alternative music landscape.
Blending psychedelic funk, tropical rhythms, cosmic disco and Mediterranean melodic textures, the project has steadily built a reputation as a genre-defying live act capable of moving effortlessly between dancefloor energy, cinematic atmosphere and experimental groove.
Formed by musicians from Pula and Zagreb, nemanja revolves around the creative vision of bandleader Luka Šipetić, whose songwriting and production approach continuously reshapes global groove influences into something deeply Adriatic and unmistakably personal.
Rather than functioning like a conventional band rooted in a single scene or genre, nemanja feels more like a constantly evolving sonic universe.
Across their three critically acclaimed albums — Tarot Funk (2019), Cosmic Disco (2020) and Voodoo Beat (2023) — the group developed what became known as the “Esoteric Trilogy,” a body of work inspired by tarot symbolism, Buddhism, mythology and ritual storytelling.
But those references never appear academically or nostalgically.
Instead, they are transformed into hypnotic rhythms, psychedelic guitar lines, tropical percussion and cosmic dancefloor structures drawing equally from 70s Anatolian rock, Caribbean dub, Afro-Asian disco, Balearic groove and cinematic psychedelia.
The result feels strangely timeless:
music equally suited for smoky clubs, beach sunsets, festival stages and late-night dancefloors.
Over the last few years, nemanja has quietly become one of the region’s strongest live acts.
Despite emerging during the difficult pandemic period, the project maintained momentum through constant touring and increasingly ambitious live performances across the Balkans and Europe. Appearances at major showcase festivals including Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), MENT Ljubljana and SHIP Festival further expanded the band’s international visibility while critics across Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia consistently placed their releases among the region’s best albums of the year.
What separates nemanja from many contemporary crossover projects is the way the band approaches groove itself.
Their music never feels built around trend-based “world music” aesthetics or superficial fusion experiments. Instead, the different influences naturally dissolve into one another, creating a sound deeply connected to Mediterranean geography, movement and atmosphere without becoming trapped by genre labels.
That identity continues evolving with the band’s newest material.
In April 2026, nemanja released the double single Asja / Kada te nima tu, offering the first glimpse into a forthcoming album scheduled for later this year. The new songs mark a noticeable shift away from the more mystical and psychedelic framework of the Esoteric Trilogy toward a warmer, more intimate and song-oriented direction.
Balearic pop, Adriatic soft rock, samba rhythms, Anatolian pulse and leftfield funk now blend into a softer but equally immersive sound language — one that feels more melodic, emotionally open and danceable while still preserving the project’s psychedelic DNA.
It represents both reinvention and continuation at the same time.
Live, that evolution becomes even more powerful.
The current lineup features Luka Šipetić on guitar and vocals, joined by Laura Matijašević on bass, Laura Tandarić on percussion and vocals, Elizabeta Marijanović on synths and backing vocals, and Đuro Dobranić on drums.
Together, the band creates performances that move fluidly between hypnotic repetition, psychedelic improvisation and euphoric rhythmic release.
At Karmakoma — a venue increasingly associated with alternative live programming and forward-thinking music culture in Belgrade — nemanja’s sound feels especially well placed.
Their music exists precisely in that space between concert experience and dancefloor ritual:
psychedelic enough for deep listening, rhythmic enough for movement and emotionally rich enough to linger long after the final track fades.
For audiences searching for something beyond predictable club formats or standard indie structures, nemanja’s Belgrade appearance promises one of the region’s most unique live musical experiences this spring.
