30 March 2019

RADARE – Der Endless Dream 2019 (LP/CD Golden Antenna Records)

Radare is a German quintet, releasing records since 2010 and this is their 4th release. Let’s have a few info about the band through the Press Release: “After four years of meticulous songwriting, Radare return with their fourth album titled Der Endless Dream. In contrast to their previous, self-recorded album “Im Argen”, the Wiesbaden and Leipzig-based band chose to record “Der Endless Dream” with Lari Eiden at Lunar City Studio in Darmstadt. The result is a sonic journey characterized by droning synths, soothing woodwind, and wailing guitars, for fans of Slint, Bohren & Der Club of Gore, and the soundtrack of Twin Peaks. “Der Endless Dream” explores the confusion of adolescent desires in a collage of warm greys and dark earth tones, retaining the cinematic aspects of previous records, but exchanges the narrative focus for one more diverse and scenic. Whilst the band’s debut album, “Infinite Regress” (2010), was an affair of heavy riffing and abrasive textures – a sound they moved away from on 2011’s “Hyrule” – it was their 2015 album, “Im Argen” (also released by Golden Antenna Records), which marked the fruition of a more contemplative sound dominated by Rhodes piano and brushed drums. “Der Endless Dream” is a further progression from that sound, being more guitar and synth-driven, and features an updated line-up of Fabian Bremer (guitars, synths), Henrik Eichmann (drums, clarinet), Jobst M. Feit (guitars, synths), and Dominik Fink. Fink replaces long- time band member Matthias Jurisch on bass and adds a different tonal color to the album with his saxophone. “Der Endless Dream” was mixed by Henrik Eichmann and mastered by Harris Newman, the latter of whom has previously worked with bands such as Timber Timbre and Arcade Fire. The album features cover art and packaging designed by Fabian Bremer, and will be released on the 29th of March in all formats through Golden Antenna Records.”

“Der Endless Dream” consists of just 7 songs with a total time of 39 min and 33 sec and it kicks off with “Loup De Mer”, under a dark psychic atmosphere becoming adventurously scary but when the Sax enters, the scenery becomes even more dark leaving the listener with an intense sad jazzy ‘funeral’ feeling! “Stalked” has a cinematic musical motive, someone could describe this as music-for-thriller-films, it’s a weird experimental-like darky tune, a tune that is searching for a hopeless climax and it mixes with the next one, the dark-psych “Eternal Love”, with a marching-like psychotic atmos sooner to be transformed into a powerful modern post-rock tune. The self-titled “Der Endless Dream” is a Sax-based cold and sad tune while “Who Put The Fear In You” is a mid-tempo dark effected tune, experimental and cinematic, a composition that could easily dress a future remake of any Hitchcock film! Their ‘film-music’ continues with “Room”, a weird improvised tune with a dark jazzy atmosphere under a kind-of-torturous creepy environment. The album closes with the slow “Second Son”, a not so dark tune with a light jazzy musical shade… So, open and tune in your antennas, Radare is transmitting Dark Electromagnetic Jazzy Waves… Are you listening? (TimeLord Michalis)