All of a sudden, there is this unexpected drumbeat, soon merging with the bass into a rhythm and reverberating in the void. At the same time, the synthesiser emerges from the shadows, two alternating tones like a drawn-out siren. The sound swells, humming, a flood that sweeps you away and drowns you.

Pool Song is infinity cast in music. It is the crowning achievement of the German duo Lea Porcelain’s previous—if not already completed—work. In this piece, their search for eternity manifests itself and is perhaps the moment they come closest to this goal.

They were an unlikely pairing: Markus Nikolaus, an indie musician and singer-songwriter, and Julien Bracht, an up-and-coming techno producer. Two straying planets that unexpectedly found themselves in the same orbit.

In 2016, they released the first singles as Lea Porcelain, including Warsaw Street. There was this post-punk sound, the almost depressive mood of a Joy Division song, combined with the fading synthesiser pads.

Lea Porcelain created two albums: ‌Hymns To The Night (2017) and Choirs to Heave* (2021). Both offered outstanding songs. In between, they released the EP Love Is Not An Empire, which featured I Am OK, a surprisingly light, ukulele-driven song that became their biggest hit.

After a crowning tour finale at the Funkhaus Berlin, the creative headquarters of Lea Porcelain, the band went silent. Markus Nikolaus pursues his label «Porzellan Bar» and various other projects, and Julien Bracht is working as EMPIRICAL towards his goal of performing at «Coachella».

For the time being, centrifugal force seems to have overcome gravity; the future of Lea Porcelain is written in the stars.

Exhaustion in Rio de Janeiro

Pool Song was created on the other side of the globe, far from Lea Porcelain’s home, in Rio de Janeiro. In a villa in the hills, owned by Uwe Fabich, the ex-banker and owner of Funkhaus. Their stay there was his way of saying thank you for their work in the artist community.

It’s a dreary Thursday evening. Rain has been pouring down all day, yet it seems fitting for the occasion. «It rains a lot in Gemina-land,» Stephen Kennedy wrote in 2014. The rain remains a recurring image in The Beauty of Gemina’s songs—most prominent in Dark Rain or the new track Vail of Rain.

I’m on my way to their concert, trying to count the times I’ve seen this band on stage, but I fail. It should be close to 20 times by now. A ridiculous number. From a writer’s perspective, there’s no justifiable reason to see a band so many times live. But, to be fair, the bulk of those shows lay far in the past.

In all those years, however, I never experienced a bad show. Yes, there were problem-riddled ones, mediocre ones. But never a terrible one. Maybe I got lucky?

I’ll tempt my luck again this night for two particular reasons:

1. They play the songs from their new album, Songs of Homecoming. How will they hold up?
2. As Michael Sele proclaimed in our interview, the current line-up is the best band in their history. Can they live up to the praise?

The only caveat worth mentioning here: It’s the first show of the tour. An evening that puts The Beauty of Gemina truly to the test on multiple fronts.

With the jacket zipped up to the very top and the hat drawn deep into my face, I walk through the nightly rain towards the venue, «Bogen F». This small concert room is nestled in one of the arches of a train viaduct has a special ambience. There’s a notion of a basement club within these mighty brick walls. But also a lofty feel thanks to its height.

People rush by on the shimmering asphalt, desperate to get to their warm, dry homes. This weather is a concert killer. Venues and concert promoters struggle. Usually, pre-sales are horrible, the rising number of no-shows puts a dent in bar revenue, and people generally decide spontaneously whether to attend a show or not.

«Never before has an album been as self-contained as ‹Songs of Homecoming›»

The Beauty of Gemina’s Michael Sele about the new album, closing a circle, and how illness and the pandemic fuelled his confidence as an artist.

Negative WhiteJanosch Troehler

But The Beauty of Gemina have been around for 17 years now. Although they never fully broke through into the mainstream, they have cultivated a dedicated fan base over the span of ten studio albums and hundreds of concerts. It’s one of the bands that will remain sort of a secret tip, recommended by the initiated, and successful in its own regard.

The concert wasn’t sold out, but despite the weather, the room was packed. The audience aged with the band; only a few visibly young individuals were in the crowd. And, noticeably, ambassadors of the wave and gothic scene, where the band originated, were definitely in the minority.

Shattering bass drones introduced Dreams of the Vagabonds, and the show began. But not without some technical problems. Electrical feedback from the guitar, paired with concerned glances by the musicians.
The second song, Whispers of the Seasons, didn’t inspire confidence either. Frailing, as if the band was disconnected, it also felt awfully noisy, and the contrast between the vulnerable verses and the hopeful chorus drowned.

But then, the band found its stride. With End and Crossroads, they celebrated the 2016 album Minor Sun, played vigorously and with confidence. Followed by Veil of Rain, where they lowered the full weight of this slow and heavy dark wave track with clarity and precision on the collective souls.

Everything the audience could hear that evening was played live, thanks to keyboarder Daniel Manhart, the most recent addition to the line-up, and Mac Vinzens hitting a hybrid drum. Combined with the musical development, The Beauty of Gemina can play liberated as never before.

Most apparent became this freedom with One Step to Heaven, a song from their debut album which received a rework last year. The song became lighter and gained space, which the band used to deliver an extraordinarily excellent performance which only enforced its psychedelic, trance-provoking nature.

The Beauty of Gemina made bold choices for the tour. Not only did they waive to add the band’s hit, Suicide Landscape, to the setlist, but they played every single song from the new album live. Interlaced with reliable classics from their repertoire like Rumours or the haunting River, the new songs—with the exception of Whispers of the Seasons—worked perfectly on stage.

Now, it’s worth taking a breath and thinking about the significance of this feat. No other album in the band’s oeuvre has this all-around live quality. And few bands will ever release an album that works on stage as well as it does on the record.

Regardless of the technical challenges and the few occasions Sele struggled with his lyrics on King’s Men Come and Endless Time to See, the band’s performance was professional throughout and, at times, extraordinary.
It’s not a wild and exuberant rock show. Instead of gimmicky visuals and an extrovert attitude, you’ll find restraint, nuance and sophistication with small outbursts of sparks and brilliance. Especially when they pull into a longer instrumental part.

A Special Offer for The Beauty of Gemina Fans

Today, we have a limited offer for those who want to explore «Geminaland» further and gain new insights about the band. For three months, you can read all our stories for only $7.50.

Negative WhiteJanosch Troehler

So, back to my questions. Did the Songs of Homecoming pass the test of live performance? Definitely, almost to incredible perfection.

And is it the best live band ever to call themselves The Beauty of Gemina? Well, that’s hard to say from one single show. It certainly wasn’t their best-ever gig; they had a bumpy start—coupled with the nervousness incumbent of a tour start. And yet, throughout the 90 minutes, they only gained confidence and energy. That’s a promise.

«It was awesome,» a woman tells her friend. The rain stopped, and the ship came in. A fire crackles in the metal pit outside, drowning everything in its proximity into a golden glow. The baptism of fire for The Beauty of Gemina and Songs of Homecoming is accomplished.