The story of The Notwist is the record of an evolving vision. Formed in Germany in the dying days of the 1980s, they initially embodied a fairly simple amalgamation of punk, grunge and Euro-metal. Each new album has seen a subtle (or, in some cases, not-so-subtle) shift in focus, through increasingly exploratory phases of post-hardcore, post-rock, indie rock, noise, jazz, electronica, filmic soundscapes and glitch-encrusted ambient. Their most recent album, 2021’s Vertigo, seemed like a rare act of consolidation, but even here they introduced new elements and tried out new combinations: fragile electro-pop with insistent motorik beats, or clarinet-infused dream-pop.
The received wisdom is that Kid A marked the point when guitar bands began to freely cross over into the realm of experimental electronica, but in reality, the stage had been set much earlier, by the fractured and displaced guitar lines in Portishead’s 1994 debut, Dummy, or by Björk’s transition from punky art-pop to icy IDM experimentation. All of this sits on a timeline that stretches back through Kraftwerk and kraut-rock to the Silver Apples. The Notwist’s journey has seen them flirt with this timeline on multiple occasions, but they are always capable of stepping sideways, allowing themselves to be borne up into another trajectory. Their self-sufficiency – and the unique music it produces – is admirable, and it shines through once again on News from Planet Zombie.
The instrumental Propeller builds from minimalist keys through various structural elements, retaining a bouncy, almost dancey rhythm all the way through. The Turning is taut and kinetic, but softened by the vocal harmonies between Acher and Valu. Given that this is an album that documents the current fragile state of the world, it is fitting that so many of its songs strike a balance between anxiety and hope. Snow is a highlight, soft, slow and tender, with Markus’ aching lyrics backed up by his brother Micha’s understated brass. The low-lit Who We Used to Be is another. On these more restrained songs, you can really tell just how much Markus has grown as a songwriter over the years. Maybe the most impressive is the closer Like This River, which, with its languid meanders of brass and lullaby-like vocals, almost makes you believe you’re not listening to a song about the fraught nature of the current geopolitical situation.
If there’s such a thing as a typical Notwist album, this probably isn’t it. At times – on Silver Lines, for example – they resemble the folkier, dreamier end of American indie rock, The Shins, perhaps, or Real Estate. Somewhat unexpectedly, we are even treated to two covers: Neil Young’s Red Sun is turned into a kind of futuristic pastoral march, while How the Story Ends, originally by Athens, GA folktronica trio Lovers, is insistent, tense and intimate. But typical or not, News from Planet Zombie is another important dispatch from the Notwist’s entirely unique corner of the musical world, an album full of closely-observed detail that warrants rapt attention.
Source: klofmag.com