Sren - From... Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün ... to a Possible New Chapter ?

There are records you discover because somebody recommends them, records you find through an algorithm, and then there are those wonderful accidents where the first few notes are enough to make you stop whatever you are doing. That was my experience with Sren.

I have always had a particular affection for Turkey and I have been in love with shoegaze for years, so discovering a Turkish band capable of combining that hazy guitar sound with dream pop, post-rock and something distinctly their own immediately caught my attention. From the opening moments of Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün, I was under its spell. In many ways, Sren seemed to bring together everything I was already predisposed to love.

Formed in Istanbul, Sren originally brought together Öykü Birce Boyoğlu on vocals, Kaan Bilgin on guitar, Mert Berkay Saraç on bass and synthesizers, and Ozan Köseoğlu on drums. Their music developed somewhere between shoegaze, dream pop, post-rock and post-punk, drawing from a broad alternative vocabulary in which the influence of bands such as Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine could sit alongside Radiohead and Beach House.

Their debut album, Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün, was released through Tamar Records on May 16, 2025. Its title can roughly be understood as “Another Life Is Possible,” and there is something wonderfully appropriate about that phrase for an album built around music that constantly seems to suggest another place just beyond the one we are standing in.

Across nine tracks, Sren created a record that understood one of the most important things about shoegaze: volume and distortion only become truly effective when there is something emotionally compelling underneath them. The guitars can blur and expand, the rhythm section can gather considerable force and the vocals can drift into the surrounding atmosphere, but the songs themselves remain important.

Tracks such as “Bozuk,” “Düşerken” and “Yalnızız” had already begun establishing the group's identity before the album appeared, but hearing them as part of Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün revealed a much broader picture. Alongside “Siren,” “Uykusuz,” “Değişir Her Şey,” “Contract,” “Derin” and “Son (bir şeyler yolunda değil),” they form a record that feels deliberately constructed as an album rather than simply a collection of singles.

There is also something about hearing this kind of music coming from Istanbul that gives Sren an identity beyond the obvious shoegaze reference points. The genre has become genuinely international, but its most interesting contemporary artists are often those who allow their surroundings and individual personalities to enter a musical language that originated somewhere else. Sren never struck me as a band interested in simply recreating an English shoegaze record from 1991.

Perhaps that is why what happened afterwards became so intriguing.

After Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün, there was silence on the release front.

No follow-up single appeared. No second album arrived. For somebody discovering the record and falling for it immediately, the obvious question became increasingly difficult to ignore: had Sren disappeared?

Thankfully, the answer is no.

Sren are very much alive, and 2026 has actually become an important year for the band. What initially looked like inactivity from the outside turns out to have been something quite different. Rather than concentrating on releasing a rapid succession of singles, Sren have been building their presence as a live band while quietly developing new material.

There has been one significant change within the group. Ozan Köseoğlu, who played drums on the album, had already known during its creation that he would eventually be moving abroad. He subsequently relocated to London, and Berkay Sümbül took over drumming duties for Sren's live performances.

The band's concert activity has meanwhile grown considerably. During 2026, Sren appeared at the 30th ODTÜ Geleneksel Rock Şenliği and continued playing shows in Istanbul, including a June appearance at Blind. Then came a considerably larger opportunity.

On July 17, Sren opened for Suede at Zorlu PSM in Istanbul.

For an emerging Turkish alternative band with a single album behind them, supporting a group with Suede's history is no insignificant step. It places Sren in front of precisely the kind of audience likely to understand their combination of atmosphere, guitar noise and alternative pop songwriting, while also exposing them to listeners who might never have encountered Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün otherwise.

Their next major appearance is already scheduled for August 22 at Babylon Soundgarden in Istanbul's Parkorman. With artists including Jack White, The Kills, Wet Leg and Vendredi Sur Mer appearing across the festival programme, Sren are increasingly finding themselves occupying a much more visible position than their relatively small discography might suggest.

What makes all of this particularly interesting is that they have not abandoned writing new music while concentrating on concerts.

Sren confirmed during 2025 that work on new songs had already begun before Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün was even released. Later that year, they revealed that several new compositions were in development, with some ideas already beginning to take a more definite shape.

That does not yet mean that a second album has officially been announced. As of August 11, 2026, there is no confirmed album title, tracklist or release date. The band has referred more generally to its “next project,” leaving open the possibility of either another full-length record or an EP.

Personally, I hope it becomes a second album.

Part of the reason is that Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün works so well as a complete record. Sren seem interested in creating an atmosphere that develops across several songs rather than simply producing isolated tracks for playlists. Giving their new material another full album in which to breathe would therefore feel entirely natural.

There are also signs that their musical vocabulary could become considerably broader next time. Beyond the more obvious shoegaze and dream-pop foundations, the band have discussed music ranging from Deafheaven, Bowery Electric and Yves Tumor to Interpol, Radiohead and even Thelonious Monk. That does not necessarily tell us what the next record will sound like, but it suggests musicians whose curiosity extends well beyond the boundaries of conventional shoegaze.

What we do not yet have are the titles of those new songs.

The complete setlist from Sren's June 23, 2026 performance at Blind consisted of “Siren,” “Bozuk,” “Uykusuz,” “Düşerken,” “Değişir Her Şey,” “Contract,” “Derin,” “Son (bir şeyler yolunda değil)” and “Yalnızız.” In other words, the band performed all nine songs from Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün, without a clearly identifiable new composition appearing in the set.

Their July performance supporting Suede did not produce any publicly confirmed new song title either. For the moment, the new material appears to be remaining behind closed doors.

That makes the forthcoming Babylon Soundgarden appearance on August 22 particularly interesting. There is no confirmation that Sren will debut new material there, and it would be wrong to present speculation as fact, but it feels like exactly the sort of occasion where an unreleased song might eventually find its way into the set. After a year spent strengthening their live identity, hearing even one glimpse of what comes next would be fascinating.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing about Sren is that they do not appear to be in any particular hurry. In an era when artists are constantly encouraged to feed streaming platforms with another single every few weeks, Sren have allowed their debut album to have a life of its own. They have taken those songs onto increasingly important stages and continued writing without immediately turning every new idea into content.

There is something reassuring about that.

Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün remains their only album, but it no longer feels like the sole surviving document of a band that disappeared after making something beautiful. Instead, it increasingly looks like the opening chapter.

For me, discovering Sren carried an additional pleasure. As somebody fascinated by Turkey and already deeply attached to shoegaze, finding a band from Istanbul making music this close to my own musical heart felt almost inevitable. Yet what has kept me listening is not simply where they come from or the genre labels attached to them. It is the feeling inside these songs, the tension between intimacy and scale, melody and distortion, melancholy and movement.

The title of their debut album now seems strangely prophetic. Başka Bir Hayat Mümkün: another life is possible.

Sren have not vanished into the shoegaze fog. Quite the opposite. Their story appears to be gathering momentum, and somewhere behind the concerts, the distortion and the closed rehearsal-room doors, the next songs are already taking shape.

Now we just have to hear them.

© Thusblog