Nine Tracks, Nine Worlds, Weekend Vikings Turn Driftlines into an Interactive Music Box

An Album You Can Explore: Weekend Vikings' Driftlines

The Budapest-based jazz duo have created a free digital music box combining nine instrumental tracks with original stories, animated visuals and playful interactions.

A rotating night sky, letters that respond to movement and a luminous symbol drawn by the listener are all part of Driftlines, the second album by Budapest-based jazz duo Weekend Vikings. Keyboardist Gábor Szunyogh and drummer Viktor Szathmáry developed the interactive environment themselves, creating a world in which music, storytelling and visual exploration become part of the same experience.

Explore the interactive world of Driftlines: https://wv.band/driftlines/

Listeners who prefer a conventional experience can also hear the album through the standard music player at https://wv.band/, alongside the duo's debut album, Sparks!

Weekend Vikings' music moves between melodic jazz, progressive rock and psychedelia. The interplay of Rhodes electric piano, synthesizers and drums combines memorable melodies with improvisation, unexpected rhythmic turns and atmospheric shifts. Developed over more than a year of weekend sessions, Driftlines ranges from the energetic, percussive Circus to the crackling Rhodes textures of Boundary and the bittersweet summer melancholy of Suspended Summer.

But this time, the duo wanted to go beyond the music itself. They imagined a space where listeners could do more than press play: somewhere to linger, explore, read stories and become part of the experience. Entering the virtual music box begins with bringing the lines of the band's logo to life. Further inside, letters respond with sounds, luminous lines bend and swirl, and visuals react to the visitor's movements. Listeners can rotate a star-filled sky, wipe condensation from a glass surface or help tiny figures climb aboard floating letters.

The tracks are accompanied by original English-language stories, often surreal, playful or dreamlike. In Night Sky Gig, small elfin creatures arrange the sounds of the night before pursuing an escaped note. Elsewhere, the listener encounters a circus chase, a mysterious swamp, a flight above the sea or the blurred lights of a rain-soaked city. These stories offer glimpses into the musicians' imagination without imposing a definitive interpretation of the music.

Words themselves become part of the visual landscape, transforming into glowing lines and moving through the scenes. At the end of each track, visitors can draw two strokes to generate their own two-coloured, mandala-like symbol, known as a sigil. Their creation then appears in the album's tracklist, making the listener part of the artwork.

Behind this unusual project lies the combination of the musicians' skills beyond performing. Viktor Szathmáry developed the programming and visual design, while Gábor Szunyogh drew on his background in writing to create the accompanying stories. The visual concept began with Viktor's photograph of parallel scratches on a metal surface. Gábor associated the image with the title Driftlines, and the drifting lines gradually became the defining visual language of the project.

The result is also a creative response to a challenge familiar to independent musicians: how can a niche band attract attention amid the overwhelming amount of music available on streaming platforms? Rather than relying on an expensive promotional campaign, Weekend Vikings combined their own skills to create something distinctive. Their aim was not to generate direct revenue from the interactive experience, but to give their music something increasingly precious: time and attention.

The project was partly inspired by childhood memories of exploring double vinyl albums: sitting on the floor, studying the artwork and reading the liner notes while the music played, gradually drifting into a world of one's own imagination. With Driftlines, the duo hope to recreate something of that immersive, unhurried listening experience through today's digital technology.

Weekend Vikings presented their debut album, Sparks!, at A38 Ship, one of Budapest's landmark concert venues, housed in a converted cargo ship on the Danube. A concert film recorded there was later broadcast on Hungary's public television channel M2 Petőfi TV. Their second album, Driftlines, was released on October 27, 2026, and listeners can now explore its interactive universe for free.

Interactive album: https://wv.band/driftlines/ Official website and music player: https://wv.band/

ALBUM FACTS / EDITOR'S NOTES

Artist: Weekend Vikings Album: Driftlines Release date: October 27, 2026 Release: Second studio album Genre: Instrumental jazz-fusion, progressive rock, psychedelia Running time: Approximately 40 minutes Tracks: 9 ℗ 2026 Decent Frequencies

Tracklist

It Clicked Skipper Circus Seagull Gravity Road Boundary Night Sky Gig Pin Tweaks Suspended Summer

Band members

Gábor Szunyogh - keyboards, piano, Rhodes, synthesizers Viktor Szathmáry - drums

Short bio

Weekend Vikings are an instrumental jazz duo from Budapest, Hungary, featuring Gábor Szunyogh on keyboards and Viktor Szathmáry on drums. Their music combines melodic jazz, progressive rock and psychedelia with improvisation, atmospheric textures and adventurous rhythms. Following their debut album Sparks! (2025), the duo released Driftlines (2026), accompanied by a self-developed interactive digital music box bringing together music, storytelling and visual art.

Creative credits

Interactive environment, programming and visual design: Viktor Szathmáry Stories and accompanying texts: Gábor Szunyogh Original photograph inspiring the visual concept: Viktor Szathmáry Album title and creative concept: Developed collaboratively by both artists

Photography

Band press photography: Imre Varga Required photo credit: Photo: Imre Varga