INTERIOR - Album by XTR HUMAN

PRESS:

"This may really be the record we have been waiting for for a long time! I'm serious. [...] Holy moly! In forty minutes - and I'm really not understating - the nicest sides and most wonderful strengths of The Smiths, the Editors and something Depeche Mode-like are celebrated. [...] Incredibly concise. Insistently. Lasting. Convincing. On all ten songs. That is a fact. [...] catchy in the very best sense!" - Luserlounge (GER)

"The music is complex, harkening the to the lush sonic wall of sound of Phil Spector’s work revived by post-punk shoegazers The Jesus and Mary Chain, and bolstered with soaring narrative structure, weeping guitars, and a dreamlike synth organ that yields to a breaking thundercloud." - Post-Punk.com (USA)

"Melancholic, dreamy, dark [...] One of my favorite releases of 2020 for sure." - Darko: The Postpunker (NI)

"Sounds like Joy Division and The Fall are getting drunk by the fireplace and singing a song. On their new single [XTR HUMAN] are more radiant and combine a catchy melody with an anthem-like vibe." - Tonspion (GER)

"One of the best albums of the year" - Projecto Alternativo (POR)

"A compelling, driving bassline in the vein of genre’s (God)fathers Joy Division, hooking guitar work and a colossal, black post punk heart" - Last Day Deaf (GRE)

"[B]eams people into comfortably slumbering daydreams when everyday life is a single fragmented chaos full of terrorist attacks and internet cats. Otherwise there is a lot of post punk and funky riffs that revive the 80s with bat and cobweb romance in retro acoustics." - Underdog Fanzine (GER)

"The upbeat beginning is reminiscent of earlier post-punk and its Joy Division aesthetics. But this song also faces the sun and doesn't sound dark or threatening." - Nicorola (AUT)

"Enjoy this fresh, hook-laden slice of indie pop perfection from XTR HUMAN. Giants grabs you from the start [...] I bet you’ll love this." - Super World Indie Tunes (IRE)


ENGLISH:

Spending six years on the successor to a debut album can be a risky for a band these days. They might get lost in the turmoil of what is constantly happening and constantly available and being replaced by the umpteenth artist generated by an automated playlist. The artist’s song didn’t make the algorithm’s cut? Bad luck for them, but for the listener something else is already in line, they just have to click or swipe on. Yet, a six year wait – it may also set an example; a sign that it is only time when the time actually comes. Well, frankly, XTR HUMAN haven't been idle after their debut LP, “Atavism”. They were on the road a lot and, in 2018, released their “Reflections” EP, a sparkling shoegaze / post-punk hybrid that already indicated what was going on in the mind of bandleader Johannes Stabel who is Berliner by choice.
So, in terms of content, “Interior” continues where “Reflections” started. Inner strife and alienation cast in tones, the fear of failure and eternal doubt create a melancholic atmosphere per se, and the listener embraces and lingers this alert dystopian beauty. Swipe no more! Anyone who has such good arguments as the jubilant chorus of "On A Greater Scale", the interchanging of bright synths and reverberated dark guitars on “Masks Of Faith”, the red wine pop of "On Miracles" splashing up in fireworks, or “Hearst” which is reminiscent of Britrock’s noughties - one will not want to break free from this embrace. This is eighties post-punk building a bridge to the UK indie rock of the 21st century, it is as entertaining as it is focused on slick songwriting, with a crisp production by Lemmy Fischer from Jaguwar. Stabel is the sometimes desperate, sometimes conjuring and always driven romantic with earthy timbre on the vocal cords, while a dense web of guitars and synthesizers buzzes around him.
It sometimes takes six years to explore your personal limits and demons and put them in a social context. These six years have paid off for XTR HUMAN.


DEUTSCH:

Sich als Band sechs Jahre Zeit für den Nachfolger eines Debütalbums Zeit zu lassen, ist in heutigen Zeiten mutig. Groß ist die Gefahr, im Zirkus des stetig Geschehenden und ständig Verfügbaren verloren zu gehen und ersetzt zu werden durch den x-ten Künstler, der sich über die künstlich generierte Playlist durch die Boxen drängt. Einmal durch den Algorithmus gerutscht? Pech gehabt, aber für den Hörer rückt was nach, er muss nur weiterklicken und -wischen. Zur Seite, nach unten. Sechs Jahre Warten – das setzt vielleicht aber auch ein Zeichen; ein Zeichen, dass es genau dann Zeit wird, wenn selbige eben reif ist. Nun, ganz untätig waren XTR HUMAN seit dem Debüt „Atavism“ auch nicht. Sie waren viel on the road und präsentierten 2018 mit der „Reflections“-EP einen funkelnden Shoegaze/Post-Punk-Hybriden, der schon andeutete, was im Kopf der Wahl-Berliner um Johannes Stabel vorging.
Inhaltlich steht das Reflektieren auch auf dem neuen Longplayer „Interior“ im Vordergrund. Die in Töne gegossene Zerrissenheit und Entfremdung, die Angst vor dem Scheitern und der ewige Zweifel sorgen per se für eine melancholische Atmosphäre, die sich als alert dystopische Schönheit an den Hörer schmiegt und dort verweilt. Weg- und weiterwischen? Wer so gute Argumente hat wie den jauchzenden Refrain von „On A Greater Scale“, das zwischen hellen Synths und verhallten Dunkel-Gitarren pendelnde „Masks Of Faith“, den im Feuerwerk nach oben spritzenden Rotwein-Pop von „On Miracles“ oder „Hearst“, das an die Nullerjahre des Britrock erinnert – man wird sich so schnell nicht aus dieser Umarmung lösen wollen. Das ist Achtziger-Post-Punk, der die Brücke zum UK-Indie-Rock des 21. Jahrhunderts schlägt und dabei kurzweilig im Vergnügen, fokussiert im Songwriting, knackig in der Produktion (Lemmy Fischer von Jaguwar) ist. Stabel gibt den mal verzweifelten, mal beschwörerischen und immer getriebenen Romantiker mit erdigem Timbre auf den Stimmbändern, während um ihn herum ein dichtes Geflecht an Gitarren und Synthesizern schwirrt.
Sechs Jahre braucht es manchmal, um seine persönlichen Grenzen auszuloten und in einen gesamtgesellschaftlichen Kontext zu setzen. Sechs Jahre, die sich für XTR HUMAN ausgezahlt haben.
credits
releases May 29, 2020

Released in cooperation with No Emb Blanc Records and Blackjack Illuminist Records

All songs written and produced by Johannes Stabel and Lemmy Fischer

Johannes Stabel - vocals, guitar, synth
Andrew Wiseman - drums, backing vocals
Lemmy Fischer - bass, additional guitar
Alice Gift - backing vocals on “Giants”

Produced by Lemmy Fischer
Recorded by Joh Weisgerber
Mixed by Andrew Wiseman
Mastered by Kristian Montano

Art direction by Clay Adamczyk
Photography by Marlon Schipper
Layout & graphic design by Anna Wassmer

Born in fire and tempered in the batcaves and warehouse raves of Berlin, Johannes Stabel brings a leather-wrapped hammer to gothic nightlife. A Don amongst the burnt strobes, grime-soaked venues and endless nights of Berlin, Stabel is revered for his high-energy performances as XTR HUMAN.

xtrhuman.com
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