quête:wee

Following the success of his 2022 mod-club, soul-jazz adventure with Mick Talbot, on 27 January Acid Jazz Records will release Chris Bangs' compendium of dance-floor fillers and Latin dynamite. Chris, who coined the term 'acid jazz', has created a new solo album of 10 tracks that takes his unique spin on jazz DJ-ing and turned it to producing an album that is totally reminiscent of the classic '80s era on the UK dance scene.

Recent single 'Firebird' (Jazz FM's Breakfast show 'track of the week') encompasses a lifetime of Chris's musical influences to present a jazz-tastic smorgasbord of bossa, fusion, bop jazz funk, salsa and a myriad selection of other jazz stylings all delivered with his trademark ear for the grooves and melodies to go with it. Paying tribute to his roots, 'East Coast' is the distinctive sound of jazz-funk fusion which spread through UK clubs in the early '80s, whereas 'Dinamita's heavy duty percussion-led Montuno Salsa groove tips its hat to the sound of '70s NYC via Puerto Rico.



Elsewhere the album features a tough Batucada rework of Dom Um Romao's 'Kitchen (Cosina)', the bossa of Cal Tjader's 'Samba Do Sueno', Brazilian disco funk-jazz 'Sambara' via the epic samba fusion 'Lifetimes'. Firebird features an array of in-demand and exceptional musicians, including jazz guitarist Nigel Price (Van Morrison, David Axelrod, JTQ), supreme jazz piano stylist Janette Mason (Seal, KD Lang, Robert Wyatt), trumpeter Dave Priseman (Jeff Beck, Imelda May), bassist Ernie Mckone (Boogie Back), saxophonist Simon Bates (Elvis Costello, Chaka Khan, Carleen Anderson), and fresh from his remix work with Paul Weller, vibesman Roger Beaujolais. This brilliant team of collaborators have helped a remarkable musical maverick create a truly unique and incredibly exciting album. Independently self-produced and composed, Firebird is a set of tunes better than any Chris Bangs had ever done.

Hot off the heels of Official UK no.1 and soundtrack to the first summer after lockdown Afraid To Feel, skyrocketing duo LF SYSTEM satisfy fans' cravings for a powerful disco anthem with follow-up single Hungry (For Love).

Still relishing in the success of Afraid To Feel, the duo have now earned over 150M total global streams, landed Clara Amfo’s ‘Hottest Record’ on BBC Radio 1 and certified Platinum, all before being crowned the Official UK no.1 after rocketing past Beyonce, Harry Styles, Drake, George Ezra and knocking Kate Bush off the no.1 spot.

Remaining there for eight consecutive weeks as the longest running no.1 record of 2022 behind Harry Styles, Afraid To Feel is the longest running dance no.1 in chart history, matching Calvin Harris’ One Kiss and cementing the nation’s appetite for a credible dance smash.

Now set to share a slice of Scotland across the UK with their new release, LF SYSTEM will host the ultimate pattie parties with pop up raves at independent fast food chains across Edinburgh, Manchester, and London. Meanwhile, later this month LF SYSTEM will give 100 fans a chance to hear Hungry (For Love) for the first time in an exclusive live set at Metropolis Studios with a special vinyl pressing that features Afraid To Feel on the b side, marking the first time the smash hit will be available on vinyl since its release.

For Conor Larkman and Sean Finnigan of LF SYSTEM, their success follows humble beginnings in the Scottish countryside, playing football against each other as teenagers on rival teams and raving at Scotland’s best clubs. They give credit for their dance hits to home village parties, soundtracked by Motown where Sean's Dad would share classic 70s records with them to dig into. Naturally, LF SYSTEM soon dropped disco edits of their own in 2020 including Dancing Cliché, which Danny Howard discovered and played for nine weeks on his BBC R1 show, earning over 4M streams and further plays from Sarah Story and Charlie Hedges.

Since then they have captured the attention of the whole industry and have played a bucket list headline Boiler Room set in Edinburgh, marking a full circle moment for the lads who were previously club residents for its promoters FLY CLUB. Continuing a flourishing tour schedule across the summer, LF SYSTEM graced BBC Radio 1’s Dance Party Weekend in Ibiza, played b2b with Danny Howard at Amnesia and sold out their first headline show at Night Tales in London.

Hungry for their next anthem, LF SYSTEM demonstrates a soaring dexterity of two ambitious producers deep in their creative prime, now whisking up a weapon exuding vibrancy and disco-edged orchestral joy. Sampling Sandy Gang’s bubbly 70s record Hungry and featuring warm sonic textures blended with rousing strings, Hungry (For Love) is set to leave fans drooling for more.

On his debut 12" EP, Chicago producer and bike messenger DJ HANK captures the feeling of racing against traffic and, as he puts it, "trying to make it out alive with the chaos of the city going around you."

DJ Hank grew up in North Carolina, Eastern USA. As a teenager, he began making rap beats on pirated music software while also DJing and playing keyboards in experimental punk band Whatever Brains. In 2011, at age 18, Hank moved to Chicago to pursue a career as a bike messenger. In a city dominated by 21+ clubs and venues, Hank gravitated to the famous footwork hub Battlegroundz due to it's all-ages inclusivity and raw energy. DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn and other luminary figures of the footwork community spun weekly, while dancers spanning multiple generations and crews battled it out on the dance floor every Sunday.

Through the underground network of Chicago footwork events, Hank became a close and frequent collaborator with international footwork collective Teklife. He has released music on Teklife's record label but isn't a member of the group itself. In similar fashion, he's loosely affiliated with dance group Take Ova Gang (TOG) founded by DJ Manny. Hank maintains a fluid relationship with the footwork culture from which his sound draws. Beyond collaborating with his friends, Hank has collaborated with Chilean rapper Catana, Berlin-based DJ Paypal, and Floridian DJ Orange Julius.

On "Traffic Control," however, Hank explores a wide range of sounds, from melodic to experimental, influenced by everything from UK Garage and Grime to Ghetto House and Snap music (or Southern Hip hop production in general). Artists like Kode9, MachineDrum, and Sherelle have been supporters of Hank's music, playing his tracks throughout multiple recorded sets. In a live setting, Hank has shared the stage with such influential acts as Loefah, DJ Deeon, Sporting Life, DJ Spinn, Traxman, and pioneering footwork artist Jana Rush, who has been both a friend and mentor to Hank during his formative years in Chicago.

Club Night Club is excited to present its latest release via Bristol’s Cleyra.

‘Ruk’ (A1) is a spatial builder. The glitched-out mover presents a delicate exercise in restraint, its skeletal rhythms gradually enveloped within a haze of sound design and dubbed out synth lines.

In six short minutes the track builds into a continuous ascension of synthetic tension, resulting in a deceptively lethal club joint.

A2’s ‘Uninvited’ is a frantic club screamer. A real shake-the-rave bouncer capable of serious floor damage. Pro-tier mixing holds together a speed demon barrage of percussive hits and shrieking resonance. This deadly cut, much like the record as a whole, manages to sustain a flare of intimacy even in its most punishing moments.

The B-side counterbalances the deadly with the delicate.

‘2b’ (B1) leans into the warm and melodic, perhaps the most direct manifestation of the EP’s title. A heart wrenching bloom unfolds, enveloping the listener like a warm hug as the lights come on in the wee hours. The track is an immaculate sketch of raw emotion, deep tenderness mapped out through Cleyra’s distinct brand of innovative composition. ‘Triumph’ closes out the record with some wonky no-nonsense chug action. A hypnotic low-slung groover which packs a final sting towards the end. One for the headbangers.

From start to finish ‘Soft Bloom’ is a striking feat of sonic creation, guaranteed to subvert listener’s expectations and dancer’s footsteps alike.

Samuel L Session and Van Czar drop a four-track techno EP on Unrilis that showcases a deeper and more hypnotic sound with dystopian atmosphere and driving percussion. Rino Cerrone launched the Unrilis record label over 15 years ago, and part of the label's back catalogue is its iconic Rilis series. 2022 sees the relaunch of the Rilis series that has a focus on underground DJ tools with raw analogue sounds. The Rilis series was originally launched in 1999, and was restricted to a concept on only 10 releases, each pressing a limited run of vinyl. It was hugely popular with each one often selling out in only a week and picking up DJ support by people ranging from Jeff Mills to Richie Hawtin. Those first 10 releases were focused on Rino Cerrone's own music, but since his retirement from the industry, the revitalised Rilis series will welcome other artists whose sound matches the label's underground concept.
This latest release in the Rilis series features collaborative tracks by Samuel L Session and Van Czar who have previously teamed up for releases on other imprints ranging from Marco Bailey's MB Elektronics to Ben Sims' Hardgrooves. Both are also successful solo artists, Sweden's Samuel L Session being well-known for his headline DJ sets at clubs around the world, along with the music he has released via iconic imprints such as Slam's Soma, Shlomi Aber's Be As One, Len Faki's Figure and Emmanuel's ARTS plus his own imprints SLS, Cycle, New Soil, and Klap Klap Belgium's Van Czar is also an accomplished DJ who is well-established across Europe and he has also released music on respected record labels ranging from Kevin Saunderson's KMS Records as well as the classic imprint, Yin Yang.
'Air Raid' opens the release with its eerie pads, spine-tingling melody loop and machine-driven percussion. It's got a raw aesthetic with dramatic claps and snare fills that add to the building suspense.
'18-022' is a dark and stripped back track with modulating synth textures layered with fast-flowing high-end percussion. Its pounding kick drum and clap rhythms add rigid structure to its expansive atmosphere and dance floor focused groove.
'Route 200' has thrashing cymbals punishing claps and rippling pads that create a stripped back groove submerged in deep atmosphere. Rich with analogue textures and gritty sound design, its relentless energy is tailor made for club sound systems.
'Objectivism' closes out the release with it's funky bassline and bleeping melody. Whirling textures and fluttering percussion maintain an unrelenting tension that's driven forward by the pounding kick drum.

Ellen Allien and the We Are Not Alone collective are back with a second edition of the We Are Not Alone series. A 36-track compilation split into 3 parts, each consisting of 12 cuts, dedicated to the infamous We Are Not Alone event series and the best of Berlin’s underground techno talent.

Ellen Allien's innovative party series We Are Not Alone was launched in 2016 and remains committed to inviting an exciting crew of artists to perform at the 36 hour events, now in a new home at RSO.BERLIN, where they returned with bang over 36 hours and 3 floors in May.

The We Are Not Alone compilation features artists that have played at the parties, as well as those who will join the line-up for future events. The 4th, 5th and 6th parts include music by Ellen and established names names such as Thomas P. Heckmann, Dollkraut & DJ Europarking, Francois X, Phase Fatale and Etapp Kyle. Rising stars Nene H, Nur Jaber, Stephanie Sykes, Wallis and Métaraph. BPitch signings including Rosa Anschütz, Shaleen, Matasism and Uncrat.
For this installment of the series, Ellen Allien collaborates with esteemed director and photographer Stini Roehrs for the multidisciplinary project ‘’AFTER DARK – Emotional States of Techno’’, consisting of a virtual rave film, book and exhibition produced by AKKURAT Studios, and the We Are Not Alone VA, which is to be released physically and digitally via BPitch.

The next We Are Not Alone parties take place at RSO, Berlin in July, August and October of this year. 22nd July, CSD weekend, is set to be a single night event on two floors. 20th August a We Are Not Alone floor during the RSO Club Festival and then we’ll be back for over 30 hours on 15th & 16th October. Watch this space.

The new EP "Decay Product" by Lesser Of represents dark dystopic industrial finery and obscure noise-techno finesse.
Thematically, the EP is underlined with the following words of the artist:

Our chaos weeps all light
and the powerless will be condemned
to a world of ever-growing sores.

German Symphonic Metal shooting stars Beyond the Black look back on a stratospheric success story. Already their 2015 debut album hit like a bomb in their home country. “Songs Of Love And Death” besieged the German Top 15 for weeks and lead up to the band being awarded the Metal Hammer Award 2015 for “Best Debut”.
Its successor “Lost In Forever” (2016) entered the German charts on #4 right away and paved ways for a huge tour from Germany over countries like UK, Russia or Japan. Since the band’s live debut in 2014 they have played the world’s biggest Metal festival Wacken Open Air several times and toured as a support act for heavyweights such as Aerosmith, Korn, Scorpions, Saxon or Within Temptation.
In the course of album release number three (“Heart Of the Hurricane”) Beyond the Black absolved their first own European headline tour in fall 2019 consisting of over 20 shows in 10 countries – most of them sold out. But even before finishing their touring cycle in Beyond the Black got back to the studio to write record number four.
The highly anticipated “Horizons” was finally released in June 2020, entered the German album charts on #3 (CH #6, AT #16, BE #53) and marks the band’s most successful album release to date.

Now, two years after that, Beyond the Black are back with a bang and start a new chapter with the release of their new single “Reincarnation”. Jennifer Haben proclaims:
“Reincarnation materialized from a growing recognition of our mortality as humans and the consequent responsibility to live our lives to the fullest. This responsibility means to stand up for yourself, relentlessly fight for your values and also confront your biggest fears. Reincarnation is about becoming your true self and starts a new, epic chapter. This is Beyond the Black! And Beyond the Black is back!"

Eclectic Italian quartet Eugenia Post Meridiem are ready to reveal their sophomore full-length record, a rather magnificent musical masterpiece. The gloriously kaleidoscopic, dazzling celebration of sound ‘like i need tension’ is available everywhere now. Demonstrated over eight tracks, the all encompassing, musical odyssey, ‘like i need tension’ features initial single ‘willpower’; which burst across our radar with lashings of personality, and became the introduction to the now familiar Indie outfit. Next up was the punchy and fearless ‘around my neck’ and last but by no means least came the intriguing, alluring ‘whisper’, the calm before the sophomore album storm. Gifted with a further five previously unheard gems, listeners certainly have plenty to sink their teeth into. With focus track ‘crucial spring’ traversing the spectrums of shadow, the progressive and percussive ‘unchained will’, the slow voluminous ballad ‘ocean flows’ and the infectious, chaotic energy of ‘tiny perspectives’ and ‘mazes of gazes’. Oozing with iridescence, flavour and texture, there’s something to suit all manners of music fans. Completed over a span of two years plus a two week post-lockdown writing and recording stint, it was then that like i need tension truly came to life in a small converted barn near the village of Montaldo Bormida, in northern Italy. “It was a totally collaborative process... All the composing was done together, right there in the room.” and thus, like i need tension was born. “Tension is a powerful force. It drives things forwards, its friction producing interesting and unexpected results. Above all, it fuels creativity, inspiring and focusing in equal measure.” Such togetherness and chemistry as a band truly shines through across the eight track project. There’s a bold, fearless tenacity to experiment and to go against the tide as each track is filled with quality, curiosity and ingenuity. With purpose and intention studded throughout, like i need tension is as poetic and reflective as it is meditative and utterly transcendent. Placing its roots somewhere in the mystical universe of Hiatus Kaiyote, Christine and the Queens, PYJÆN and Tame Impala. Eugenia Post Meridiem’s sound holds an intrinsic synergy, refreshingly intangible, allowing space for the listener’s own interpretation and understanding. The depth they venture as a collective rewards those who journey beyond the initial passive listening. With technical structures, composition and developed time signatures just waiting to be unearthed, depicted and understood, Eugenia Post Meridiem offer a treasure trove for the adventurous and devoted musical palate yet still remain accessible and incredibly generous to all those who decide to listen. “And so it is that all eight tracks hang together beautifully, linked not by some overarching concept or narrative, but simply a band exploring their talent and the vast space afforded by an open-minded approach.”

Limited Edition 180g blue coloured vinyl pressing

Contains the hit single 'Poinciana' and two bonus tracks 'All the Things You Are'
and 'Cherokee'. 'But Not For Me', the first of Ahmad Jamal's Live at the Pershing
Lounge recordings, sold two million copies, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard jazz
chart, where it remained amongst the best sellers for 107 weeks.

Magnus Carlson of Weeping Willows fame is back with the new EP The
Way Of The Crowd
For this release, Magnus went for the trio format together with the formidable
Ljunggren brothers of Trummor & Orgel on Ludwig drums and Hammond
respectively. The result is an immaculate and soulful delivery which captures the
intimacy of a small, but very tight musical outfit working together in perfect
harmony.

A chilled out approach combined with a weekend party vibe - Deaf Lingo
gives us ten tracks on their second album Lingonberry that are straight
forward, melodic and super catchy
The Italian band have taken the best parts of Powerpop/ Indierock/ Punk. This is
an intense album that leaves us longing for more! For fans of weekends, beer,
partys and acts as: MarkedMen, Radioactivity and Red Dons. SALE SPOTS; -
Second album from Italian band Deaf Lingo - Red transparent vinyl limited to 500
Copies - Green transparent vinyl limited to 500 Copies - For Fans Of: Burger
Records acts, Red Dons, Radioactivity and Marked Men

A chilled out approach combined with a weekend party vibe - Deaf Lingo
gives us ten tracks on their second album Lingonberry that are straight
forward, melodic and super catchy
The Italian band have taken the best parts of Powerpop/ Indierock/ Punk. This is
an intense album that leaves us longing for more! For fans of weekends, beer,
partys and acts as: MarkedMen, Radioactivity and Red Dons. SALE SPOTS; -
Second album from Italian band Deaf Lingo - Red transparent vinyl limited to 500
Copies - Green transparent vinyl limited to 500 Copies - For Fans Of: Burger
Records acts, Red Dons, Radioactivity and Marked Men

Tracked in April of 2021 at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi
with Bronson Tew and Matt Patton at the helm, and drums and bass,
respectively
Ernie was able to stretch out his guitar prowess and rip every solo on the album
with Jimbo Mathus on keys and leading the band along with his Squirrel Nut
Zippers' horns and strings, Taylor Hollingsworth on some extra guitar, and
Schaefer Llana with AJ Haynes on the backing vocals. What's left is a fiery
offering of funky blues with equal measures of soul and rock'n'roll interspersed
for a delectable bayou audible feast. Funkier than last weeks gumbo with a psych
blues side order.

Die offizielle Vinyl zur gefeierten 6. Staffel von "My Hero Academia" - eine der beliebtesten Shonen-Anime-Serien weltweit - begleitet die andauernden, nerventreibenden Abenteuerreisen im Hero-Reich mit epischen Melodien und Vocals!Sie enthält Yuki Hayashis kompletten Score zur Fortsetzung, einschließlich der fan-favourite Tracks "Revengers" und "Weeee Are Fuxkin Super Hero!!".Die exklusive Edition erscheint mit zwei grün-gefärbten LP-Discs, die alle in einer wunderschönen Gatefold-Hülle mit lebhaftem Artwork aus der Serie verpackt sind - ein absolutes Must-Have-Produkt für treue Fans.

A double treat for those who love timeless Southern Soul flavoured with some of those good ol’ down home blues. Memphis born, and Minneapolis based, Willie Walker can comfortably be included in the pantheon of grittiest soul singers along with Wilson Pickett, Syl Johnson, Lou Rawls, James Carr, Eddie Floyd, Tyrone Davis and L.V. Johnson, to name but a few, but there has always been speculation about other Willie Walkers. The recordings on Eutor and Hi in the 70’s are not by the same Willie as those on Goldwax and Checker in the 60’s. He did, however, also record as Wee Willie Walker.
 
He was a member of The Rhythm Harmonizers, The Val-Dons, The Exciters, The Bound Band, Willie & The Bumblebees (although that Willie is actually Willie Murphy of The Val-Dons), and Canoise, spanning a long and varied career before hooking up with the Minneapolis based band The Butanes in 2004, with whom he made the next three albums. The first of these was mainly cover versions, but "Right Where I Belong" (2004) and "Memphisapolis" (2006) are notable for each providing the tracks that make up this latest Jai Alai release, a label that differs from sister label Soul4Real by featuring 21st century tracks previously CD only but now released on 7” vinyl for the first time. It also has to be noted that all the tracks on both these albums were written and produced by Curtis Obeda, who managed to track down Willie after so many years.
 
“I Feel It” will have been missed by most as it was on the CD "Right Where I Belong" which was released in 2004 on the most unlikely of UK imprints, the Wirral based One On One Records run by Colin Dilnot. The album is a lavish display of real instruments from a band that once backed John Lee Hooker and Little Johnny Taylor and the perfect setting for Willie’s powerful vocals. 
 
Just tipping five glorious minutes, "Cry, Cry, Cry" is a perfect example of why soul music is inextricably linked to the blues, and when the gospel styled chorus joins in towards the end, you realise that this could, maybe should, have carried on for just a little bit longer. Perhaps a fuller length version exists? Sadly, Willie died peacefully in his sleep in November 2019, but to complete his story check out the two albums on Blue Dot as Wee Willie Walker & The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra. To quote the great Quinton Claunch…”Willie was one of the best to come out of Memphis in the 60’s”.
 
Steve Hobbs
(Solar Radio, Totally Wired Radio)

If it's really a post-genre world, why does everything sound the same? The two halves of Tampa rap duo They Hate Change_Dre (he/him) and Vonne (they/them)_first came together in front of the apartment complex where they both lived as teens. Dre had just moved down from Rochester, NY; Vonne was trying to sell him bad weed. It was clear from the start that the two listen to music differently from most people_they're sonic omnivores, obsessive deep-divers, lovers of rare and radical sounds. Starting as kids trawling the internet for tracks, they've been collecting music from around the world and across the decades, amassing a shared sonic knowledge so deep that "encyclopedic" barely begins to cover it _ not just the East Coast hip-hop that Dre grew up on, or the hyperlocal bass-music variants like jook (the Gulf Coast's twerkably raunchy answer to house) and crank (think "Miami bass meets NOLA bounce"), but also drum `n' bass, Chicago footwork, post-punk, prog (they're, like, seriously into prog), grime, krautrock, emo, and basically any genre on the map. Once they graduated to DJs on the Tampa DIY scene _ which includes everything from punk rock house parties to the black "teen nights" that pop up in rec centers and ballrooms _ they figured out how to pull all these disparate sounds together into a cohesive style. More importantly, they figured out how to make it something people will actually move to. When they made the transition to rapping and making beats, they brought that pleasure-seeking approach to sonic experimentation with them. "With this album, Vonne says, "it's really like, okay, you know how you talk about the internet breaking down borders? Here's what that actually sounds like. It's not just a hip-hop record with a couple more weird sounds. You want homegrown DIY? This is a record that was written, produced, and recorded in a 150-squarefoot bedroom from the least cool city you could think of." Finally, New is what a truly post-genre musical landscape is supposed to be: building deep connections that transcend outdated distinctions between them, spilling over with the joy of exploration and possibility, and daring other artists to think broader, go deeper, take bigger risks. Let the rest of them keep playing by the old rules_They Hate Change will keep changing the game.

The instrumentals Hip Hop label CDR-SI has the honor of advertise the new double LP of the successful collections of Hip Hop instrumentals. Now is the turn of the CLAN!!! Here you have the Vol.2 containing the most importants tracks of the legendary Hip Hop band WU - TANG CLAN, the most importants cuts and tracks of its trayectory in instrumental version in a double lp format. This is a esential and powerful weapon for all the Hip Hop creators and DJ's.

Light Became Light is the debut album from Puppies in the Sun, a project composed of Alberto Cendra (synthesizers) and Cristóbal Pereira (drums), both originally from Peru and currently based in Rotterdam. Friends since childhood, they crossed paths again in Barcelona by sheer coincidence. This spontaneous pulse is also what dictated the beginnings of the project's characteristic sound: lengthy improvisational and sound exploratory sessions which are summed up in the project's first two EP's (Unheard EP and The Church of Puppies in the Sun, 2018). Like other well-known duos, Puppies in the Sun maximizes their compact instrumentation to establish themselves as a (noise) rock band without the presence of guitars or bass guitars. Far from being a limitation, this has provided them with great freedom. The lower end of the album's soundscape is triggered on Cendra's synthesizer scheme by Pereira's drums. This being one of the characteristics that emerge from the organic, minimal and spontaneous style of the band. As if it was a rocket, Light Became Light takes off in search of a sound and a space that pays tribute to cosmic rock and synthesizer music without leaving the melodic rawness of noise rock or even black metal behind. Some might also perceive an atmosphere that owes its existence to techno parties and a slight wink towards folk imagery. If there is anything that makes their sound iconic is the call for constructing wild and festive ambiances, state of trance and agitation. Light Became Light was recorded and mixed by Oscar Moreno at El Purgatorio (Madrid, Spain). In the middle of an intense heat wave, Puppies in the Sun locked themselves through the course of two weeks to record and process various analog and digital synthesizers, pianos, drums and vocals, to later mix Light Became Light in a classic analog console. Light Became Light is being published by Buh Records on 12" Vinyl in a limited edition of 300 copies. The artwork was done by the band itself and designed by Fernanda Binvignat.

Stella Sommer, das ist diese Frau, die so zwingend nach Stella Sommer klingt Nach vier Alben mit ihrer Band Die Heiterkeit und zwei Soloplatten übertrumpft sie sich mit ihren 24 neuen Songs auf "Silence Wore a Silver Coat" nun selbst. Auch, was das schiere Volumen, die immer dichtere Stimmung ihres sehr eigenen Universums angeht, an dem sie mit diesem Doppelalbum mit vehementer Konsequenz weiterbaut. Wie bei ihren vorherigen Solowerken ist es auch auf ihrem neuen Album ihr glänzender, dunkel changierender Gesang, der vor wildwachsenden Klanglandschaften leuchtet und ihre stimmliche Ausnahmestellung in Deutschland bestätigt. Immer noch gilt: So hoffnungslos schöne und attitüdelos stolze Popmusik schreibt sonst niemand in diesem Land. Wir hören einmal mehr eine große Songschreiberin und Arrangeurin, die ihre Kunst mit leichter Hand beherrscht, und damit ein gänzlich unangestrengtes, kalkülfreies Meisterwerk schafft. Zum ersten Mal hat Sommer ihr Album mit der ihr eigenen beiläufigen Souveränität auch selbst aufgenommen und produziert, denn warum sollte man das nicht tun, wenn man es kann. "Northern Dancer" und "Was Passiert Ist", ihre beiden jüngsten Werke, solo und als Die Heiterkeit, waren in sich geschlossene, durchkomponierte Alben - dramaturgisch fein konstruiert folgten sie beim Hören wie ein kooperatives Wildpferd am hängenden Führstrick ihrer Erschafferin.