The ghosts they summoned: in the summer of 2022, Micha Acher, bassist with The Notwist, invited Theresa Loibl (bass clarinet, piano), Timm Kornelius (bassoon), Markus Rom (guitar, banjo, electronics) and Simon Popp (drums, percussion) to a kind of musical séance in his living room. The idea: to reinterpret pieces that had emerged from the branching creative cosmos surrounding his main band – for instance in side projects such as the jazz ensemble Tied & Tickled Trio and the indie-pop duo Ms. John Soda. Yet these slightly warped approaches are not cover versions in the strict sense. Rather, individual elements of the originals – a recurring motif, a melodic line – serve as starting points for chamber-musical explorations.
The album owes its particular mood in no small part to the frequent shifts between major and minor. This is also true of »Radio Four«, the album’s longest piece. Stoic banjo plinking sets a frame for swarming horns and at the same time acts as a springboard for explorations. The dynamic and interaction between the musicians become almost tangible.
The post-rocking indietronics track »N. L.«, too – oscillating between electronic beats and a jazzy-cinematic atmosphere, and originally released on the 1998 Notwist classic Shrink – receives a hauntological makeover as »Nordlead«. Far removed from the playful vibe of the original, sonic shreds of memory drift through the piece. The result sounds melancholic and consoling at once.
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