The Notwist
The Devil, You + Me
Cityslang/ Domino


'Neon Golden' was possibly one of the biggest indie LPs of 2002, spreading across the world from Munich via internet hype and plonking itself on a wide variety of top ten album lists. The record deserved the praise; a truly superb piece of electronic pop mastery, finding the balance between organic honesty and electronic effects.

6 years or so since the much lauded LP The Notwist return with 'The Devil, You + Me'. It is a slightly softer and guitar oriented offering running with the same formula of previous releases, accompanied at times by experimental orchestra, Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra (see Where In This World).

Opener Good Lies is devastatingly beautiful pop, with a fragile simplicity that rides on Markus Acher's familiarly accented vocals imploring "let's just imitate the real, until we find a better one," over sweet backing hums, spatial guitar and the electronic blips and beeps. What Achers means by 'good lies' is open to interpretation, good as in white or good as in excellently deceptive. Regardless, lies are something we must live with, "we carry them home with us."

Running for the entirety of the record are themes of emotion and melancholy, the realities of structured and restrictive realities. Up tempo Gloomy Planets asks "why is everything so locked up?" through fuzzed telephone vocals, wavy synth and complementary organ before clearing up to an acoustic ballad and changing once again for a finale of minimalist electronica with surging beats and brooding bass that never goes too overstated and grandiose. What first breaks your heart, slowly rebuilds to mend and inspire.

The album takes a darker twist on songs like the drum and distortion heavy Alphabet (an indirect homage to Notwist's heavier history) and the Depeche Mode-like industrial groove of On Planet Off but appears focussed on prettier pop like the irresistible pop rock highlight, Boneless.

Ultimately though,' The Devil You + Me' sees The Notwist focus on beauty in darkness rather than gruel and misery, making for an album comparable to the lofty heights of its predecessor

Dan Gladys