And One
Aggressor

THE REVIEW

At first listen, "Aggressor" is a disappointment. There are few deep songs, and it seems that And One limited themselves to playing around with the console instead of prioritizing lyrics and melodies... However, if one perseveres in listening, some interesting elements emerge.

Right in the first track, one can notice the taste for antitheses, the paradoxes that mark this work by And One. In fact, it starts with "Kein Anfang", while we are precisely at the "beginning" of the album; and this theme can really be found in many tracks. Perhaps the most evident example is "Krieger", a song built on various contradictions ("stark" vs "schwach", "schwer" vs "leicht", "heiss" vs "kuhl"...) that lead to the chorus, also characterized by an antithesis: "besiegen die Welt und verliern". However, oppositions also abound in other pieces such as "Schwarz" (where white sometimes appears), "Strafbomber" with its "heilige Blasphemie", or even the amusing "Tote Tulpen" based on a stark separation between what the singer could buy his girlfriend and what he actually bought her.

But what is the reason for all these oppositions? One must not forget the title of the album, "Aggressor", and its cover showing a heart in camouflage gear. War is a very present theme, and here it plays on the two factions... Furthermore, it always revolves around that "Odi et amo": to highlight passion, what better way than to contrast it with violence? And indeed, if love can seem poignant and intense (in "Krieger", for example), sometimes it can be almost absent as in the already mentioned "Tote Tulpen". It's one of the few pieces that strike at first listen (perhaps due to its resemblance to "Da da da" by Trio?) and that definitively wins us over with the final dialogue where it can be clearly perceived that Naghavy has really had enough of that relationship. It concludes with a scream from the woman. Is she dead? The following track is titled "Kein Ende"... maybe not, then? But then why does this piece evoke so much a song that could accompany the end credits in a western after the villain has just died?? And didn't we say it's an album based on contradictions??

If we really wanted to go further with this reasoning, we could even apply it to the quality of the different songs offered: if some are truly excellent- "Strafbomber", for example, which with that broken voice and that apocalyptic atmosphere neatly conveys the idea- others are truly disappointing, first among all "Fernsehapparat", an irritating piece sung by a voice devoid of any charm, which must contend with "Strenradio" that almost echoes it in the title and is really funny and engaging.

In short, an album that rejects any balance and reiterates difference and otherness. An album that will never provide you an answer while you are in the throes of confusion and doubt, but that can accompany you for a few days after you’ve emerged from these perplexities.