AB Syndrom have released their new album ‚Hey Herz‘, an eclectic mix of UK-Electronic, Post-Dubstep elements and German lyrics. How does that all fit together? Well just listen to it and you will understand!
So let’s get the facts out of the way first. Yes, the four pice is based in Berlin. No, they are not originally from there but from a smaller town near Frankfurt (does anybody outside of Germany actually care if a band is originally from a different city then they are based in currently??). Their bio says they moved to Berlin to chase the sound of James Blake and co (yes, you can hear that). Somehow they made some kind of rap music on their first album. But this album, four years in the making, is a huge step forward. A huge step towards an international sound. An interesting change because Germans don’t tend to lean to the UK electronic scene as clearly as AB Syndrom.
We’ve talked about the band previously on Whatwearetalkingabout so you could have guessed that we are quite favorable towards this band. But when I first listened to ‚Hey Herz‘, I knew that this review had to be written. In the last couple of years I’ve come across a lot of music. I’ve listened to rap, got deeper into techno and house, rekindled my interest in punk and emo while never forgetting about pop. Since my time in the UK, I’ve been drawing comparisons between music scenes from differnet countries. I’m very certain, that there is an audible difference between music from the UK and US. But except for rap music, I couldn’t really figure out bands and sounds from Germany (let’s forget about Austrian indie for a minute here).
So why all the fuzz now? Is ‚Hey Herz‘ a typical German record? Definitely not. But it’s a first for me. It all works so well. The German lyrics, the vocal delivery, the UK production. There’s no saxophone or bloody radio-techno material on here. It’s all chopped and shrewd, hectic but focused, groovy and cool, bass heavy yet hoveringly light. It’s hard to put down. But there are all these songs you would expect from the SBTRKT’s, James Blakes or Jamie XX’s of this world. But this record has been crafted in some Berlin flat over the last four years. There are all these little details in the production (listen to the few rhodes chords on ‚Lippenblaub‘ turning into a dirtier synth towards the end), the songs are too off to be played on hit radio, but there are such great melodies in there. The record is breathing excitment and fun – well, as fun, as Berlin hipsters can go.
So while the sun is beginning to melt the whole of Europe down, I’m nodding away to this record sitting next to a river. I’m walking through a subtropical night with this on my ears and I need to smile. It is such an urban soundtrack. It’s a German take on the most contemporary sounds. It’s not a copy. It’s just great music.
‚Hey Herz‘ by AB Syndrom is out now via Herr Direktor/Believe Digital/H ´Art
You should pick up your copy here: iTunes
