Neumatic Parlo – brightness
Neumatic Parlo tease the upcoming debut album with their new single, «brightness». Today, we celebrate the video premiere.
Into the brightness of the day. Neumatic Parlo's latest single shifts between light and dark, between optimism and despair, between tenderness and exclamation.
After the single carnage, released in July, the German band ups the anticipation for their debut album, play it as it lays, once again. But while carnage was a whirling-wild affair, brightness shines a different light on their musical prowess.
You can‘t kill the flame with water
When the oily ground is burning
These lines indicate that brightness is, at its core, a love song. However, the smouldering desire does come with an eery feeling of despair—maybe even pain. If you want an overly romanticised concept, this song will disappoint you.
But Neumatic Parlo's urging ode to love has its own raw beauty, meandering between soft melancholy and heavy post-rock, hailing back to 90s alternative.
Today, we proudly host the video premiere for brightness:
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«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.
With Songs of Homecoming, The Beauty of Gemina are about to release their 10th studio album. It is an intimate record featuring well-rounded compositions that bridge the band’s early dark, electronically driven gestures and the playful acoustic nuances from recent years.
Negative White sat down with the band’s creative mind, Michael Sele, at «Altes Kino Mels», his musical home base, for an extensive conversation. Across from us sat a man who found his confidence as an artist rather than a part of a band.
Michael, we last spoke officially eight years ago, before the release of Minor Sun. Looking back, what was the most influential moment for The Beauty of Gemina?
It’s difficult to pinpoint the most formative moment. Shortly before Minor Sun, there was another big personnel change in the band. These changes have followed me throughout the years of the band’s history. Minor Sun was the moment that led me to where I am today: I gained more self-confidence and put myself at the centre. The romantic notion of the band at the centre disappeared. It’s easy to say you’re the bandleader now, but it was a long process with many small steps.
Another critical moment was our first visit to South America in 2018. An autograph session was organised in Mexico; many came with things for us to sign. Printed fan artwork and flyers from all phases of the band, and I realised that the musicians constantly change; only one thing is the same: me and, of course, Mac Vinzens.
That’s when I realised that it’s all about this person. Clearly, music plays an important role, but it is immediately associated with me as an artist.
It’s interesting that you saw The Beauty of Gemina more as a band until Minor Sun. From an outside perspective, I would argue that it was always the artist Michael Sele and a changing cast of musicians around him. At the same time, my impression is that The Beauty of Gemina is more of a band today.
Yes, emotionally, I’m absolutely with you. The live band is undoubtedly the strongest formation I’ve ever had.
However, you must differentiate between two aspects: The musicians on stage are not the same as in the studio. For the production, I often worked with people in the studio who were never mentioned afterwards.
This was often not realised and is also the fault of digitalisation. On streaming platforms, there is hardly any information about the people behind the music. It’s madness that this is being lost today.
In any case, I created the last three albums mainly with my long-time companion, Philipp Küng. He was also involved earlier, but I only really mentioned this for the first time in my book.
What makes today’s live band the strongest formation in The Beauty of Gemina’s history?
I feel that, for the first time, everyone involved is purely about the music. That certainly has to do with age and maturity. It’s less about the side effects: the tours, the limelight, the autograph sessions. I’ve always been fascinated by creating. The encounters with the music. Who can I touch? What happens afterwards? That’s my driving force.
Now, I have people in the band interested in the same thing. We were recently back in Chile for the first time since 2018. At all the concerts, I felt that the band was all about the music and the encounters with the fans. That’s an excellent feeling.
It sounds so simple, but you must never forget: Applause is dangerous, especially when you’re younger. You can lose yourself in it. Suddenly, things become possible, but you forget yourself.
As the artist Michael Sele moved more into focus, so did his private life. And in 2019, a drastic event would further change Sele’s self-perception and perspective: heart surgery.
Edition #126
Today, we recommend the new songs by Alexia Thomas, Baby Schillaci, The Vices, Jesper Munk, and Soela.
Lost in space or lost in the fog? Today's recommendations range from soothing sounds to angry and fiery rock escapades to ambient explorations.
You can listen to today's curation on selected streaming services:
Spotify • Apple Music • YouTube Music • Bandcamp
Alexia Thomas – Lost in Space
A soothing melange of soulful indie rock and dream pop takes you away in Swiss artist Alexia Thomas' new single, Lost in Space. Playful instruments, evocative songwriting, and a sense of melancholic longing make this song a well-rounded and pleasing experience.
Baby Schillaci – Blunt Force Trauma
Welsh group Baby Schillaci wanders the paths of the likes of Fugazi. Blunt Force Trauma, a critical dissection of the USA, is a raw outburst of noise rock and post-punk, refined with sharp spoken word lyrics and an exquisite explosive crescendo.
Altin Gün or: how to discover music live
Without prior preparation, our author found himself at Altin Gün’s concert in Zurich to refind the joy of concert reviews again.
I am going to level with you: concert reviews are not my favourite thing to write anymore.
The first time I covered a concert was in 2008, and since then, I‘ve written hundreds of reports. They were exciting at first, also a welcome treat, these free entries, as a quasi salary for the unpaid work. But they also quickly become formulaic and, as a result, boring to write. And a bored writer makes for a boring read.
Even worse, concert reviews are notoriously resistant to concepts and formats. You can‘t really squeeze them in a preconceived idea because you never know what happens that night.
Now, how do I get unstuck?
Edition #125
Today, we recommend the new songs by Long Tall Jefferson, Drea, School of X, Billie Bird, and Ciaran Lavery.
Introducing The Band Canvas
Today, we officially launch the «Band Canvas», a free workshop template that nurtures collaboration and psychological safety among band members.
Our mission is simple: We want to share our love of music with the world and help others discover its joy and power. This effort is, first and foremost, directed towards passionate music listeners.
However, Negative White also wants to support upcoming musicians, naturally, with a special focus on our local indie scene here in Switzerland. Of course, we achieve this through our writing to some degree as well. But we felt we could provide more values, new impulses, and tools.
That is why we developed the «Band Canvas». It is a straightforward and easy-to-use workshop that facilitates psychological safety, the key ingredient in every high-performing collaboration. It leads to a more open and creative environment amongst the band members.
We give away the Band Canvas for free because we feel that it is especially beneficial for bands that are just starting out and might be already strapped for cash. (Although you can pay what you deem fair.)
However, the Band Canvas can also be an excellent tool for artist management, labels, and other music industry professionals to kick off a new project like a new album or an upcoming tour.
The Band Canvas comes with a downloadable template and a handy step-by-step guide, so anyone interested in giving it a try can facilitate the workshop.
With that said, we offer a remote and onsite facilitation service for a symbolic fee that will be fully reinvested into Negative White.
Win Workshop Moderation
In celebration of its launch, we are also giving away 3 free workshop moderations for artists, bands, or labels interested. Both onsite or remote moderations are possible.
With the Band Canvas, Negative White has launched its first (digital) product. However, we are working on and refining other ideas to help newcomer artists.
Fandom Exploited
He was an artist; I was a fan. Then, he wanted to have sex with me. A reflection 14 years later.
I thought long and hard about publishing this story. Not because it is particularly painful or difficult to tell. But maybe because there lingers this notion of insignificance, a feeling that this specific story is not relevant enough to contribute to the discussion of the artist-fan relationship.
However, the more I reflected on what happened 14 years ago, the more I felt it was worth telling despite all my doubts.
It all started in 2010 when I attended a reading in Zurich by an author and musician. The artist, who shall remain anonymous, a man, was then 43 years old. And me, I was 19.
The Dream Machine
Toronto-based indie-rock outfit The Sarandons premiere their new video for «Dream Machine» with us today. Let your mind wander.
When dreams and gritty reality collide, it may actually sound something like The Sarandons: the sprawling colours layered over a rumbling guitar. Shining bells welcome a dirty groove.
The Sarandons are a Toronto-based band, constructing an indie rock hailing back to the 2000s but constantly leaning into an emotional, even vulnerable, side.
«It boasts compact guitar reminiscent of Albert Hammond Jr.’s solo work, and vocalist Suchon also seemingly follows in the footsteps of Canadian countrymen Wolf Parade—the effect is refreshing and yet ever-so-slightly nostalgic,» wrote Beau Heyhoe about Sightlines, the namesake title track of their 2023 debut album.
On July 12, the Canadians followed up their record with the urging single Dream Machine. Today, we proudly host the video premiere for The Sarandons' latest song:
Exploring the ethereal nature of dreams, Dream Machine celebrates the unconscious journeys to long forgotten memories and the emotional connections they represent.
The Sarandons sound raw, energetic yet somehow preserve a sense of nostalgia and bittersweetness in the song's refined composition. Child-like and innocent curiousity grabs the hand of the wild teen. It's all happening right before our ears, and still Dream Machine withstands all pull, doesn't fall apart in its stretch, and remains a beautifully crafted piece of retro-styled indie-rock.
