photo from MySpace
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is Good Lies
by The Notwist from the forthcoming album The Devil, You + Me on Domino.
After six years of digging Neon Golden, the electro-pop/punk extraordinaires of the Notwist return with The Devil, You + Me. This time around Markus Acher (vocals/guitars) and company show a darker, denser side. The suspenseful strings of Where In This World
and the choppy echoes of On Planet Off
show a band exploring a new mine of soundscapes and coming out rich. Throughout the album the band utilizes extended breaks to showcase reverberating fizzles and other sound manipulations, beautifully contrasting the immediate likability of their melodies and Acher’s muffled and melancholic yet ever so pleasant voice. Speaking of likability, The Devil doesn’t match the immediacy of their previous effort, but does mark a big step forward compositionally and after several listens promises greater longevity than their previous two records. Fans of the 2005 project 13 + God (Notwist & Themselves) won’t find much of a hip-hop influence seeping through the cracks here, but for this recording the band did bring in the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, a young group of avant-garde orchestra and jazz musicians out of Berlin. I know, I know, you want it now, but keep that credit card sheathed — this one doesn’t hit the states until early June. For now, let’s ruminate on how we came to love this band by watching a video for “Pick Up the Phone”:
