The Notwist
Close To The Glass

In this 2014 filled with welcome comebacks, "Echo and The Bunnymen" and "The Afghan Whigs" (for me) above all, another band timidly re-emerges in the limelight, a group that, around the turn of the millennium, released two great masterpieces like "Shrink" (1998) and "Neon Golden" (2002), where the fusion of electronic sketches, jazz atmospheres, and acoustic guitars reached (for me) peaks of musical perfection.

After the release in 2008 of "The Devil, You + Me", the Germans The Notwist return with a work that does not stray much from their past records. "Close To The Glass" is a very pleasant album. Naturally, the listener must enjoy the light and whispered voice of Markus Archer, androgynous and fragile like few others around. They must enjoy the accumulations and minimal electronic tangles (the single "Close To Glass" may be the most striking example). The listener will have to appreciate the simplicity of the acoustic guitar in "Kong", "Steppin’in" and "Casino", the electric distortions of "7-Hour-Drive", the intrusion of strings, brass, and children's keyboards (Run Run Run). The more demanding and uncompromising people can dive into "Lineri" with long synthetic dissonances so loved by the kraut electronics world. And even the long finale with "They Follow Me" seems a polite "bow" to the electronic dawns of the early '70s, a "thank you" to their masters and their history.

"Close To The Glass" is not a revolutionary album for the music world nor for The Notwist's stylistic journey. Markus Acher, Michael Acher on bass, Martin Gretschmann on electronic programming, and Andi Haberl on drums craft a well-done work, of high tailoring, perfectly tailored to the tastes and emotions of their fans. "Close To The Glass" will hardly lure new prey into their electronic webs but will certainly not disappoint those who loved their past masterpieces. "Close To The Glass" will not indicate a new direction in their style but, given the clear reversal compared to the hard/metallic/rock beginnings of the early '90s, from the German group we can expect anything in the future.

Perfect album for a sweet awakening, to stay cuddled up to the pillow or one's sweetheart. Exquisitely refined product suspended between indie-electronica and experimental art-pop, "Close To Glass" seems to look more to the past than to the future. But, if I really have to tell you the truth (the whole truth, nothing but the truth), I, for a certain past, would sign. Just tell me where to sign.