Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge

The band with the impronouncable name first hit the central European underground with their 7inch “Ich verliebe mich nie/Pfleg’ mich” (Themes for Great Cities, 2018) and its vintage German Wave sound. Soon after, they made a mark with their sweat-drenched live shows. They expanded their themes of late-night lust on the follow-up “Leben” (Themes for Great Cities, 2019). For this record, they first established their distinct m.o. – each winter and spring, the duo retreat to an off-season hotel in Meersburg, a resort town on the shores of Lake Constance, where their producer and energy consultant Alexander Fuchs supplies not only his sizeable collection of analogue synthesizers, drum machines and effects, but also a decidedly nocturnal rhythm. A vibe hard to put in words but felt in the hazy, psychedelic bristles of the music. In such a setting, the last take before finally giving into sleep, with eyes already halfway shut, often turns out to be the most convincing. This is also how their first album “Der große Preis” (Bureau B, 2020) came into being – quirky and synth-heavy meditations on love, estrangement and somnambulist episodes with a melodic sensibility inspired by the big, layered sound of late-80s British Sophistipop. Corona brought an almost complete halt to their joint activites for about two years, during which the two members produced a host of music on their own – Joshua Gottmanns with his contemporary pop project J. Vague (an EP and an LP released on Mansions &