Holygram - Modern Cults (2018)

German post-punk shoegaze outfit HOLYGRAM has announced their long-awaited debut LP ‘Modern Cults’. Comprised of eleven tracks, this album will be released on CD and double vinyl, as well as digitally via Cleopatra Records, on October 19.

This is the first major release for the Cologne-based outfit since their 2016 self-titled EP. Here, the collective blend new wave and Krautrock with post-punk and shoegaze to achieve headstrong multi-layered bliss. This is a thoroughly contemporary homage to the sound of the ’80s with a resolute look to the future - the result is driving, dark and catchy.

Produced by Maurizio Baggio, who also produced The Soft Moon’s 'Deeper' and 'Criminal' albums, this long-play was recorded at Cologne’s Amen Studios.

HOLYGRAM is Patrick Blümel (vocals), Sebastian Heer (drums), MariusLansing(guitars), Pilo Lenger (synthesizers) and Bennett Reimann (bass). Formed in 2015, the band's approach to making music references the past, while remaining future-oriented. Hard-to-combine elements cleverly come together to become the soundtrack of a city that appears threatening in the twilight.

The new album intensifies HOLYGRAM‘s contemplation of themes such as big cities, alienation and anonymity, hope and memories, love and identity. These reflections interact closely with the band’s unmistakable signature sound. Atmosphere oscillates between the brutal sounds of the big city and the fragility of the people that lose themselves in it – intelligently observed scenarios of a world falling apart in which individuals have long ceased to play a leading role.

The lead track 'Signals' is cloaked in a new-wave guise that belies an emotionally torn lyric, elevating the deeply melancholy chorus (“Sometimes when I close my eyes I see you walk away / And everytime the sun comes up the feeling is the same”) to a pop-like anthem, illustrating that in this world people are only cogs in a much bigger, increasingly autonomous machine.

The band recently accompanied British synthpop legends OMD on their 2017 European tour and have played numerous festivals, including Mailfeld Derby, Wave-Gotik-Treffen and New Waves Day. Wrapping themselves in dense wafts of mist and cool lighting on stage, they've made quite a name for themselves on the live circuit.

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