PRIMUS INTER PARES

"Gerda"

Eis & Licht - 2006

CD

Could you imagine anything sweeter than a father writing an entire music album for his daughter? It's what did Frank Machau, singer and composer of German neofolk champions Orplid, with his side-project Primus Inter Pares (ancient Latin for "first among equals"). The title of this debut mini-CD is "Gerda", the name of his daughter, to whom the whole music and lyrics are dedicated. The cover of this nice light-blue digipack shows the picture of a knight-doll that belongs to the DDR times, a piece of childhood gone forever celebrating the growth of a new one.

If you are familiar with Orplid's epic battle hymns and Frank's deep, thundering voice, you'll be quite surprised by the music of Primus Inter Pares: what we have here is a very gentle, delicate and, yes, catchy hybrid of 1980s' synthwave and more experimental new wave, in the vein of the bands released by Factory Records, to give an example. Dreamy synths, minimal rhythms, melancholic but also joyful melodies, and vocals still strong, but also full of kindness and paternal care. Each of the six tracks featured on the CD is well-refined and enjoyable, from the sweet lullaby of "Süßer Schlaf" to the touching atmosphere of "Tagensanbruch" (which uses a sampled rhythm from a Human League song!), from the joyful kosmische musik of the instrumental "..." to the final, marvellous "Traum", sparkling with hopes for the future.

Eis & Licht is undoubtedly one of the labels that more than any other contributed to enstabilish the distinctive likenesses of neofolk. Now that the phenomenon is showing signs of weakness, with a release like "Gerda" the Dresdeners are expanding towards new territories, showing the precise will to move beyond any cliché or stereotype and keep providing us with new good music.

- Simon V.

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