Fritz Kalkbrenner's New Album is Half Party, Half Tragedy

Not that his work as a producer is anything to scoff at, but Fritz Kalkbrenner's voice—a blues-infused, twangy soulful tenor, is one of the most recognizable in dance music. This is probably the two-fold result of his impressive output of three long-players to date, as well as the fact that along with his equally-recognizable brother Paul, Fritz created (and crooned on) the track "Sky and Sand," the 2004 hit track that was released as part of the soundtrack to the film Berlin Calling. If you were listening to dance music in 2004, you've more than likely heard it.

Listen to MIXED BY Fritz Kalkbrenner above.

"On the second album I was working with a studio and bass guitarist which worked out nice and well, but I was thinking—'how can I add more,'" Kalkbrenner tells THUMP over the phone from his office and studio in Berlin. Linking up with such artists as Britain's downtempo outfit, The Cinematic Orchestra, as well as a collection of other German-based live musicians, Kalkbrenner created a pipeline with many of his album sketches for the artists to jam on, as well as a sight for them to circulate feedback on the progressing sound of the project, one that would turn out to be a multi-layered, evolutionary project. "Im really glad with how the sound turned out but some of the tracks became orchestral to the point where I was forced to strip them down slightly…There needs to be a balance, it is still dance music after all," he affirms.

Entitled Ways Over Water, Kalkbrenner's latest album is eleven tracks, the lot of which stay true to his ethos as both an astute lyricist as well as studio-nerd, the latter of which maintains it focus on a surplus of live-instrumentation and the organic vibe that flows along with it. The LP's opener "Easin In" is a chugging, guitar led welcome-mat to the LP, "Heart of The City" is an emotional, nostalgic folk-sounding cut, while "Void" is a glistening number surrounding lyrical themes of hope in the bleakest of surroundings. It's a message of which Kalkbrenner tells me surrounds the album's theme as a whole. "The title comes from an excerpt of the track "Back Home," which I used as a sort of metaphor for when you're faced with life's real serious problems— when it seems like the pain is impossible to overcome and you're stuck in a room without doors or windows—its here when you're looking for a way out…a way….over water," he chuckles.

While the artist gives this brief explanation for the album's title, he maintained his reluctance to decipher other of his production's inner-meanings. "When people ask me to explain my lyrics, I decline, because when I agree to do that I'm building up boundaries within my work which is something you don't want to do as an artist. Music only belong to me as long as I'm not releasing it, once it gets out it's part of mankind and they can do with it what they want," he says.

Unsurprisingly, the artist as always had a deep relationship and personal connection to lyrical themes in music, and more specifically soulful music, the type that have always led him through an array of darker times, giving him an outlet to escape limiting situations, especially as a youth growing up in divided East Berlin, a place his father bleakly told him was the "end of the world." "I had just dropped out of high school and was working in a construction site, feeling like I had no opportunities, but Nina Simone—she sang for only for me, she understood my pain," he reflects. Like many talented musicians and artists in isolating settings, music would be his eventual escape and push towards creative expression. Years later, in the peak-moment of an illustrious career, he's still using those measures of youthful despair to not only tell his own story, but also help others get a grasp on their own futures.

Currently Kalkbrenner's now amidst a mammoth global tour in which he gets to play out his album live at iconic venues like London's Electric Brixton and most recently, New York City's Cielo—gigs in which he sports a headset microphone so his hands are free to tinker controllers cued up the multiple elements of his track on Ableton Live. Still, while he's currently unleashing his sound to more fans than ever, the nostalgic peril of his youth serves to give the orbiting message of his album's lyrical themes even more justification in the bigger picture. Needless to say, its a far cry from many of the party-centric, lyrical narratives that run through a good deal of house music that's being released in 2015.

"In actuality, dance music is really tragic music, it's often used to celebrate and party, but there still needs to be a dark, melancholic energy to it. It can't just scratch on the surface—life has way more layers than that," he says.

'Ways Over Water' is available now on iTunes.

Fritz Kalkbrenner is on Facebook

MIXED BY TRACKLIST:
Gidge - I Fell In Love
Seb Wildblood - Hide The Picture
Casino Times - Some Of Her Love (Version)
MermaidS - Cherry Cola
Cubenx - First Wave Front
Paume - Transalpine
Real Cosby - Always
Vellico - Beck's Brew (Chocky Remix)
Deft - One Eye Open
Klaves - Return
Extrawelt - Neuland (Robag Wruhme Rekksmow 001)
Max Cooper ft. BRAIDS - Automaton (Ghosting Season Remix)