This hasn’t appeared on any of the Cologne-based artist’s albums — at least not under his own name — though it did appear as early as 1993 on the album by the band SALLY DAVIS JUNIOR., for which he was also responsible for vocals and songwriting. So does this bring things full circle? Not really. Although Mathias is primarily known as a producer of minimal, techno, and house tracks, almost all of his albums have also featured vocal tracks that — especially in recent years, and particularly on “Diderot” — have stylistically come very close to the tracks on “Singing About It.” The real difference from what Schaffhäuser has released over the past thirty years is the song structure shared by all the tracks on the new album — “Singing About It” wasn’t produced for the dance floor, even though some of the tracks on it would certainly hold their own there.
The inspiration for this concept, however, didn’t stem from any plan; in fact, “concept” is actually too grand a term. As has often been the case in Mathias’s musical career, chance and the joy of making music — this time, especially singing — were the main factors. Over the past ten or so years, singing has become an increasingly important part of his DJ sets. Starting with his own songs, Schaffhäuser found himself reaching for the microphone more and more often, singing lyrics by Bowie, the Talking Heads, and whatever else came to mind — even over his colleagues’ records — and increasingly improvising lines that, in the best cases, coalesced into new songs. The basic ideas for the tracks “I Fall With You,” “Return (Again),” and “Cover Me” all emerged from live improvisations during performances. Ultimately, the joy of singing was the driving force behind “Singing About It.” And since the dance floor wasn’t the focus, influences from outside the club scene — such as experimental electronica, playful pop, and even blues and prog rock — were able to carve out more space for themselves. The result can certainly be categorized as art or indie pop, but it also fits comfortably into other genres. Of course, the album’s content isn’t limited to playful and “lighthearted” themes; the “it” in the album title could be understood as “the world as it is today,” or as one of the many systems that influence life on Earth — unfortunately, often in a negative way.
The system referred to in the track “The System, Not The Symptoms” can perhaps be inferred from the urgency of the speech, but essentially, many overarching institutions and power structures can be applied here: Unfortunately, changing the symptoms usually does not lead to a solution; it’s about the system — see the perpetually failing attempts by politicians to reform individual sectors such as education, health care, or energy supply — or to establish a “green market economy.”
Three songs on the album were not written by Mathias alone: “Cover Me” was created in collaboration with Pawas and continues a series of collaborations between the two, with releases on Compost Records, among others. The lyrics for “Things To Know About A.I.” were written by Enno Park, and “We’re Going Wrong” is the only song on the album written by someone else — it was penned by Jack Bruce and originally appeared on the Cream album “Disraeli Gears.” Everything else on “Singing About It”— lyrics, music, vocals, and production — is Mathias’s work.
The cover illustration, however, is not; it was created by another resident of Schaffhausen: Mathias’s father painted it in the early 1970s after watching a television broadcast of the Cologne Carnival parade, which took place in pouring rain. He was inspired by the endurance and unwavering joy of the guards in their transparent, full-body plastic raincoats. And here, too, chance plays a role, for the family did not live in Cologne at the time, nor was Schaffhäuser’s father a carnival enthusiast.
Live performance: Friday, October 11, 8:00 p.m., Cologne, Blue Shell (with Stahlnetz)
Tracklisting CD:
Links:
www.soundcloud.com/mathias-schaffhauser
https://www.youtube.com/user/mathiasschaffhaeuser
www.facebook.com/mathiasschaffhauser
https://www.facebook.com/fanaticomusic https://gmo-thelabel.com
The inspiration for this concept, however, didn’t stem from any plan; in fact, “concept” is actually too grand a term. As has often been the case in Mathias’s musical career, chance and the joy of making music — this time, especially singing — were the main factors. Over the past ten or so years, singing has become an increasingly important part of his DJ sets. Starting with his own songs, Schaffhäuser found himself reaching for the microphone more and more often, singing lyrics by Bowie, the Talking Heads, and whatever else came to mind — even over his colleagues’ records — and increasingly improvising lines that, in the best cases, coalesced into new songs. The basic ideas for the tracks “I Fall With You,” “Return (Again),” and “Cover Me” all emerged from live improvisations during performances. Ultimately, the joy of singing was the driving force behind “Singing About It.” And since the dance floor wasn’t the focus, influences from outside the club scene — such as experimental electronica, playful pop, and even blues and prog rock — were able to carve out more space for themselves. The result can certainly be categorized as art or indie pop, but it also fits comfortably into other genres. Of course, the album’s content isn’t limited to playful and “lighthearted” themes; the “it” in the album title could be understood as “the world as it is today,” or as one of the many systems that influence life on Earth — unfortunately, often in a negative way.
The system referred to in the track “The System, Not The Symptoms” can perhaps be inferred from the urgency of the speech, but essentially, many overarching institutions and power structures can be applied here: Unfortunately, changing the symptoms usually does not lead to a solution; it’s about the system — see the perpetually failing attempts by politicians to reform individual sectors such as education, health care, or energy supply — or to establish a “green market economy.”
Three songs on the album were not written by Mathias alone: “Cover Me” was created in collaboration with Pawas and continues a series of collaborations between the two, with releases on Compost Records, among others. The lyrics for “Things To Know About A.I.” were written by Enno Park, and “We’re Going Wrong” is the only song on the album written by someone else — it was penned by Jack Bruce and originally appeared on the Cream album “Disraeli Gears.” Everything else on “Singing About It”— lyrics, music, vocals, and production — is Mathias’s work.
The cover illustration, however, is not; it was created by another resident of Schaffhausen: Mathias’s father painted it in the early 1970s after watching a television broadcast of the Cologne Carnival parade, which took place in pouring rain. He was inspired by the endurance and unwavering joy of the guards in their transparent, full-body plastic raincoats. And here, too, chance plays a role, for the family did not live in Cologne at the time, nor was Schaffhäuser’s father a carnival enthusiast.
Live performance: Friday, October 11, 8:00 p.m., Cologne, Blue Shell (with Stahlnetz)
Tracklisting CD:
- Singing About It
- Fancy Grey
- I Fall With You
- The System, Not The Symptoms
- Things To Know About A.I.
- Return (Again)
- We’re Going Wrong
- Don’t Go Crazy With Your Fantasy
- Cover Me
- Keine Eile, keine Hektik, kein Stress
Links:
www.soundcloud.com/mathias-schaffhauser
https://www.youtube.com/user/mathiasschaffhaeuser
www.facebook.com/mathiasschaffhauser
https://www.facebook.com/fanaticomusic https://gmo-thelabel.com