Einsturzende Neubauten: (no) fun guaranteed

‘Solder Talk’ at the witching hour, people’d probably envisaged an Armageddon in the dark episode of mankind, the middle ages. For the past century we’ve conquered darkness but an enlightenment is still denied to the masses. Heavy thoughts inspired by streetlights that help us along to the ‘hole’ rescued from urban futility and built under a flyover carrying underground trains toward its final destination - the suburban boredom.

Somewhat exotic - or weird, for straight-dreamers - thoughts are evoked by listening to Einsturzende Neubauten’s new album, ‘Perpetuum Mobile’, the first since the 2000’s ’Silence Is Sexy’ and, obviously, the first post-Bad Seeds work. Blixa Bargeld left Nick Cave and his cohorts to concentrate on his mothership project. Together with Alexander Hacke, Andrew Chudy, Jochen Arbeit and Rudi Moser, EN have created a masterful disc.

‘Perpetuum Mobile’ is an album concerned with changes, movement, development, transit and decay. Natural catastrophes and man-made tragedies, hints of apocalyptic heading pervade these songs that are as dark as a polar night. But, therein lies the beauty, the diverse nature of winds of change it records: “There’s not one single track which doesn’t talk about the wind, the storm - where it isn’t mentioned explicitly, you can at least hear it.”

Concept about air - how cosmic, quite worth the time-honoured tag of ‘Kosmische Melodien’, their compatriots forged some 35 years ago. No, this ain’t a nostalgia album, EN are tuned into the future as the time itself. And, it is a truly European record: being born on its mainland part bring truer appreciation; the others will be faced with deficient educational standard, their handicap being - lack of awareness of EN’s cultural baggage. Also, it is mostly sung in German, no subtitles are available and we know how foreign flicks are loved in the EU island countries.

The opening, minimal-with-‘robotic’-crooning, cut ‘Ich gehe jetzt’ is succeeded by subdued-funk of the title-track that morphs into a pulsating Krautrockerium and then transverses galactic distances in its engrossing 13 minutes and 40 seconds! After such a colossus of a song - it should have been the LP’s closer, methinks - the band slows it down completely, to the gravely pace of ‘Ein leichtes’ leises Sausen’, a brooding number, as near a homage as if out of a lost Brechtian songbook.

EN have never-relinquished their original anti-rockist idiom of any implement or tool being a probable instrument in their arsenal of sonic-challenges. [Check out ‘Ozean und Brandung’ here.] And, of course, after so many years of being a Bad Seed, something has rubbed off and echoes of Cave‘o’rama breeze here and there. There is complexity, shrieks in the night, wistful melodies, subtle rhythms, quiet as the new torment… With too many highlights - ‘Selbstportrait mit Kater’, ‘Ein seltener Vogel’, ‘Der Weg ins Freie’, et al - to name.

‘Perpetuum Mobile’ (meaning - perpetual motion, constant activity and change) is an album for those who like adventure in sound, a bit mysterious, a tad haunting and wee hypnotic… And, one can hardly locate better than Einsturzende Neubaten’s CD. It’s like walking through a John Carpenter’s horror set - the witching hour ambient, subliminally scary.

But, most of all, Einsturzende Neubauten’s ‘Perpetuum Mobile’ is a sound artefact. Lovin’ the aliens.

9/10

Live date:

03 April - The Forum, London (one-off show)