The Berlin-based musician Yousef Kekhia just released his sophomore record "Polylog". It follows the introspective "Monologue" but turns its gaze outwards. Influenced by conversations, encounters, and exchange the record is a fluid piece of music opening doors and asking questions. We met the artist to speak about his music and he curated a "Beyond Borders" playlist update with his personal favorites from the contemporary Arab music scene.
Over the course of this pandemic lot of us felt the urge to rearrange our lives, reflect on the way we live, and make room for new experiences. For beloved composer Nils Frahm his new album "Old Friends, New Friends" was a beautiful opportunity to do exactly that in musical form. Just in time for its release, he sat down with NBHAP author Anna Stich to talk about immortality, melancholy, friendship, and a few other things.
In a few days, Danish indie-darlings Efterklang will release their beautiful new album "Windflowers". A record which brings the three band members back to their musical roots. Nine lovely and emotional songs take the listener on a journey to the essential things in life. NBHAP author Miriam met up with the two bandmembers Casper and Mads to have a pleasant chat about the creation of their newest work.
Contemporary folk music would most likely not be the same without José González in it. The iconic Swedish indie folk artist who has brought us a number of subtle, yet eclectic albums and who is now returning with his fourth solo work to date: Local Valley. A sonic landscape José was happy to discuss with NBHAP author Annett Bonkowski in a recent chat.
Every now and then we ask befriended musicians to recommend us an album that inspired their own art and the stories never fail to surprise and entertain us. The fact that beloved songwriter Faye Webster was heavily inspired by a joint venture of iconic bluegrass musician Alison Krauss and former Led Zeppelin leader Robert Plant was new to us. We invited Faye to write a few lines on the importance of this very special record for her.
Isn't it wonderful to have a record that travels with you throughout most of life's weird twists and turns? For British songwriter Eliza Shaddad the iconic debut album by her American colleague Tori Amos is exactly such a piece of music. In the wake of her upcoming new album "The Woman You Want" we asked Eliza to write down a few personal thoughts on that record that shaped her understanding of music.
Swedish indie-rock artist Linn Koch-Emmery has been a longtime favourite of the NBHAP staff and after years of following her blossoming career we're really happy that her debut LP "Being The Girl" is finally out and we're sure it will become the favourite album of many people out there. We were interested in whether Linn got a favourite album as well and she suggested a more recent one from 2020. But that shouldn't stop you from discovering Dominic Fike's work.
The ongoing climate crisis can leave you numb and disillusioned from time to time. Instead of waiting for a miracle to happen or getting way too cynical it might be best to simply start doing little changes in your everyday life. Taking action is one aspect, redefining our relationship with nature in general is a whole different one. Acclaimed musician Martin Kohlstedt is fighting for exactly that and NBHAP head Norman spoke with him about his ambitious yet very pragmatic plan and how we all can learn something from it.
