Casper swims free of his own pathos
With "nur liebe, immer.", Casper has released the most unusual album of his career. After several records with a consistent sound and visual language, the latest work is more of a musical finger exercise. And that's a good thing.
Even the release date is surprising. While Casper's albums in the past were always four years apart, "nur liebe, immer." is the unusually early follow-up to "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh." (Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt). The first new single "Emma" is released while he is still touring the biggest German festival stages with the aforementioned record in summer 2023. It is the harbinger of a project in which Casper can leave the most defining constant of his career behind him: perfectionism.
Before the release of his final breakthrough "XOXO" in 2011, he had already completed more than half of another album. But Casper rejected the project, claiming that it sounded too much like US rapper Drake, among other things. Only the song "230409" later saw the light of day. During the production of "XOXO", he and his team hang up rules in the studio according to which the songs are to be created. For the successor "Hinterland", he also thinks about the live performances. Everything should sound big and powerful. In an interview with "thegap.at" after the album is finished, he explains: "I always torture myself with swan songs during record production because I'm not really up for it."
A new beginning? Not at all
While Casper's own standards are his constant companion, the sound changes from album to album. Almost like an amusement park where a new theme world opens every few years. "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh", released in 2022, seems like a summary of his discography to date. So is "nur liebe, immer." a new beginning?
No. "nur liebe, immer." is a musical finger exercise and that's exactly why it's so much fun. The tenth track on the album is called "luft holen", but that's how the whole record feels. Without any major concept, Casper pauses briefly and enjoys the privilege of being able to do whatever he feels like doing for a moment. As befits a pause, tracks like "noch noch nervös" (still nervous) or "verliebt in der Stadt die es nicht gibt" (in love in the city that doesn't exist) are nostalgic.
The sound of the album, on the other hand, captures the zeitgeist, most obviously on "wimpernschlag" and "falsche zeit, falscher ort". This is anything but coincidental, as Nilly, a producer who usually weaves the soundscape for the Berlin New Wave around Ski Aggu and Sampagne, played a major role on the album. The only feature artist on the record is Cro on the track "sommer". Both sing about their longing for summer, sometimes referring to the season, sometimes simply to a feeling of lightness. And although Casper also talks about dark thoughts in the song ("Im Kopf ist Gewitter"), the beat is upbeat and summer hit-like.
Between M83 and Paula Hartmann
In any case, the musical accompaniment only gets really dark once. "sowas von da (hellwach)" sounds like what a Stranger Things poster looks like. Accompanied by never-ending expanses of synth drone, Casper talks about panic attacks and (unsuccessful) visits to the doctor. The most experimental track on the album borrows from the French dreampop band M83, the chorus is almost completely devoid of drums and Casper's vocals have never had so much space.
There is a lot of singing in the ten songs (plus intro and outro) anyway. On the aforementioned "emma" even exclusively. And although "nur liebe, immer." is Casper's most versatile work, "emma" just doesn't quite fit in.
This is by no means due to the vocals, rather the song falls through the cracks thematically. The song is about a young girl's experiences with drugs and remains very vague and approximate throughout its three minutes. The impressively composed finale leaves the listener perplexed, the character of the somewhat eccentric girl never seems tangible. The mood is reminiscent of songs by Paula Hartmann, but with a much more approachable narrative of drug-filled nights.
Like a child in a toy shop
In the podcast "Oh, Schuhen!", Casper says of his latest work that it "happened completely by accident" and "perhaps it would have been called a mixtape in the past". You can hear that in the album, in the best possible sense. Like a child in a toy store, Casper jumps from one idea to the next on "nur liebe, immer." with shining eyes.
Little gimmicks such as the mention of three Drake albums in three lines on "sommer", but also the highly complex rap introduction to the album "echt von unten / zoé freestyle" are evidence of this. All delivered with a lightness that Casper last radiated on "1982", the joint album with Marteria. "only love, always." is not a new theme world in the Casper amusement park, but an entertaining and amusing funfair that you can go to again and again.
Casper's love for music doesn't limit him to a specific genre. After delving into rap-inspired sounds in the past, 'nur liebe, immer.' showcases his appreciation for various musical styles, incorporating elements of entertainment and art.
Inspired by his creative freedom, Casper collaborates with Nilly, a producer known for crafting the soundscape for Ski Aggu and Sampagne. This collaboration results in a fusion of sounds, with tracks like "wimpernschlag" and "falsche zeit, falscher ort" capturing the zeitgeist.
Source: www.ntv.de
