The latest from Germany’s NNHMN is a fine, Italo-influenced floor-filler. Dripping with reverb, it will get even the post-ironic Berliners moving.
Tap into your inner desires with the shadow work of Fragile Self. The London-based duo are back with a new song teased from the subconscious.
“Existence Against Existence” is a dark, throbbing track that bores into the temporal lobe. With bass guitar and modular synth parts dominating, it releases your inner Goth. The whispered tones of Anil Aykan’s voice flood the amygdala with clues to your condition. Jonathan Barnbrook’s oscillators modulate your perception.
The single comes with a suitably Lynchian video directed by Chris Turner. The band explain: “The lyrics are brought to life through dermatographia – a condition where light scratches create temporary raised marks on the skin, symbolising transience and intimacy.”
An album will follow. In the meantime, lay down thy cape and groove.
“Alreet?”
The familiar Tyneside greeting is the question posed by Edvard Graham Lewis on his new album.
Best known as a member of Wire, Lewis has carved many trails in the sonic landscape as Dome, Cupol, Duet Emmo, Hox, Elegiac, and a dozen other projects. Alreet? appears under his own name. The album comes hot on the heels of his recent collaboration with an actual Geordie, Mark Spybey (Zoviet France).
The Newcastle link came about through Los Angeles-based cEvin Key (Skinny Puppy, The Tear Garden), who hosted Lewis and Spybey on one of his regular Sunday podcasts. Lewis spent time in the town; commuting from his own base in Uppsala. He had moved from England to Sweden, many years ago, to be with the Liv of his life. All of these pins in the map were joined like synapses in a creative re(Wire)ing.
The album opens with a swelling guitar tone and the observation, “You will not pass this way again.” Geography and grooves combine in “Kinds of Whether” with emphatic richness; fused by word play and rhythmic sensitivity. Pity Trent Reznor that he never managed to bottle the lightning of He Said the way he wanted. It shines from this vessel very brightly.
“Diamond Shell” finds Lewis in classic Dome territory; layering Eastern-influences sounds over a jerky rhythm. It is hard to say whether his sense of melody or sound design take priority, but both are majestic.
The magic of “Switch” is in its delicate, gliding notes. They dissolve into the ether like vapour, leaving no trails. There aren’t many songs that call out the romantic qualities of toast, but this is surely the best of them. Lewis had a hand in the most beautiful love song of all time, “Or So It Seems,” and his touch has clearly not been diminished by the forty-year interval.
Come the “Last Scene” and the Bard’s words make a theatrical entrance. “Bang” ramps up the tension like the ghost of Mark Stewart. Lewis is in full control of the soundscapes he creates, and there are touches of darkness and light that ordinarily cannot be seen by human organs.
“I Still Remember” tells a story about the passage of a bullet. This time, the geographical reference point is the third rock from the Sun. Lewis’ bag of tricks then yields a “Key Weapon” for bridal processions.
The journey ends with a synth-led glide path, landing amongst processed phrases and Lewis’ declamation of the question, “Without humanity/who the fuck are we?” It’s a rhetorical question, but one that needs to be asked.
Is it too early to nominate an Album of the Year? Alreet? sets the bar everyone else needs to aim for, over the next ten months. The clock is counting down in the space that remains.
The Rohn-Lederman publicity machine announces that there is a new album coming on 4 March 2025. Ahead of that, the duo offer a digital EP as a taster; mostly featuring remixes of “Steal the Light.”
Formed by Emileigh Rohn of Chiasm and the Belgian legend, Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Fad Gadget, Kid Montana), Rohn-Lederman has had success marrying Rohn’s sensuous vocals to electronics with dark pop themes. The source material for the EP is quality, but it is taken to new levels at the hands of Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Aiboforcen, and Sarmen Almond (Man in Motion).
Propaganda vocalist, Thunder Bae, hits us with an emotional song about the folly of a destructive relationship. Based on a true story, it is an indie track of some power that highlights the quality and texture of the Berliner’s voice.
Bonkers but beautiful. Kite on Ice was the most spectacular show the electronic scene has ever seen – and it was completely off-the-charts.
Gary Numan’s “farewell” shows set a precedent for staging, but he didn’t have a synchronised skating team circling him. Peter Gabriel is known for some theatrical productions, but he didn’t have Anna von Hausswolff and Henric de la Cour in cages.
When the Kite on Ice show was announced, it sold out immediately. The band’s Swedish fan base is massive, and it was no surprise that they could fill Stockholm’s Avicii Arena. In their home market, they have been accepted as superstars, and even the jocks are prepared to pass on the hockey for a night of “True Colours” and “Jonny Boy.”
At center ice, a platform stands ready for Nicklas Stenemo and Christian “Kitte” Berg. They take their positions, surrounded by a live band drafted for the event. The pulses of a synth escort them, along with some synchronised spotlights. Then things get brighter and louder. From the middle of their towering stage rise beams of red light, revealed by smoke. Stenemo launches into “My Girl and I,” as it becomes clearer what we are in for.
Kite on Ice is a visual feast that could not be contained in a club. Avicii arena has been stuffed full of lighting, which has been programmed to world-class standards. Video panels set up as large boxes play roles as Chinese lanterns, LED clocks, and glitches in the Matrix. Kubrick had only one obelisk in 2001, but this is the real future. Light bars even adorn the Zambonis that smooth the ice while performing a synchronised dance of their own.
For “Remember Me,” Berg secures a rope around the legs of Stenemo and drags him around the rink on his back. You wanted Kite on Ice? You’ve got it. We’d love to see other singers on the scene hold a tune while hogtied and frozen – Stenemo doesn’t miss a note.
Nina Persson appears, like a black swan, to sing her recent collaboration with Kite, “Heartless Places.” The Cardigans vocalist is taken out by a hip check near the blue line, by one of the Helsinki Rockettes, in a reminder of the building’s main purpose. No penalty is called, and she gracefully restores her balance. That’s show business.
Things get wild when de la Cour and von Hausswolff appear. Videos shot from inside their cages are projected on alternate sides of the boxes. Then they rise to the roof, exposing the power of von Hausswolff’s roar and de la Cour’s fin.
The event is a gathering of alternative music royalty, where everyone is queen for a day. On the evidence filling the Avicii, however, it will be a long time before anyone can claim Kite’s crown.
What are you afraid of? It ought to be missing the new Page single in the flow of Friday releases.
“För du är rädd” [EN: “Because You Are Scared”] is lifted from the Swedish duo’s current album, En ny våg [EN: A New Wave]. It has been remixed by Biomekkanik’s Christer Hermodsson with an 80s vibe.
Are those real guitars? Samples? Does it matter? To the purists (we are looking at you, Pär), synths and guitars should be kept apart. We like the New Wave angle, which keeps Page’s pop sensibilities intact while expanding their sonic framework.
There are only a few bands on this Earth that deserve to be driven to the ättestupa. One is Toto. Another is Foreigner. So, it is fittingly ironic (take note, Alanis Morrissette) that Laibach have turned out a cover of the latter’s hit, “I Want to Know What Love Is.”
The Slovenian art pranksters apply their subversive salve to the ballad. You will still want to push Foreigner off a cliff for the benefit of the community.
A throbbing, energetic slice of fried gold emerges from the Kite camp. “Heartless Places” features the inestimable voice of Nina Persson (The Cardigans). Next up, Kite on Ice, featuring synchronised figure skaters…
Cold War Night Life contributor, Marija Buljeta, has announced a London showcase of her concert photography.
Music in Frames, an exhibition of artists captured by Buljeta over a decade of work, features images of major popstars and alternative artists. It includes shots of dozens of artists, including:
Gary Numan
The Human League
GusGus
The Cure
Laibach
Dave Gahan
Howard Jones
Skinny Puppy
Simple Minds
The pictures are on display from 13 January – 7 February 2025 at Gallery 1885, The Camera Club, 16 Bowden Street, Kennington, London, SE11 4DS. An open view is scheduled for 16 January at 7 PM.
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