ZOMBI

Kante were a somewhat late coming but still leading band of what was called Hamburger Schule (Hamburg School) at the time. The Hamburg School had influences from post punk, post rock, the German branch of new wave, Neue Deutsche Welle, indi rock and others. The music was often relaxed, and the lyrics were German and often sophisticated and intellectual. On the other hand, there was often a no frills approach to singing with rather untrained everyday voices. It is somewhat surprising that Kante as a Hamburger Schule band find their way into progarchives, but on their albums they shine with the most complex and thought through arrangements and compositions, also taking on jazz and even the odd classical influence. The connection to progressive rock becomes pretty clear, and Kante's albums are certainly the most sophisticated and composition centered of the Hamburger Schule, even though (as typical for Hamburger Schule) the singer has a rather casual storyteller approach. While working well for the music and lyrics, he is no Peter Gabriel or David Bowie for sure, and people looking out for an expressive and passionate frontman better look elsewhere. In fact the priority of lyrics and instrumentation over the singing and the anti-stardom are part of the concept, and the singer has his own appeal in this way. I should also say for those who are interested in German lyrics that that these are not actually overly intellectual, but rather poetic in a nice down to earth way, well done without pretention.

Zombi had to follow up on the marvellous Zweilicht, and continues in the same vein. The album is very rich instrumentally, mostly dominated by acoustic instruments, with a strong harmonic and melodic role taken by the piano. Besides the rock standard of drums, bass (double bass occasionally), and guitar, various percussion, saxophone and further wind instruments are used. On top of that, some tasteful electronics and samples also appear. The songs all have their very unique character and there is quite some variation on the album. Mostly the atmosphere is relaxed and tracks are low to mid-tempo with the title track as only exception. The arrangements evoke the sense of open rolling landscapes; despite a great number of ideas and influences, everything has enough space to breath deeply.

The whole album is very melodic and harmonic, with some quite catchy numbers and art pop influences. But there is also space for experimentation, particularly in the two instrumentals, the rather symphonic Baron Samedi and New Babylon, which even features some free jazzy parts. The subtle use of tapes and samples is also remarkable. This is ensemble music without ego trips that lives from the complex interplay and the rich sound world. The instrumental performances all serve the overall impression; this is not for fans of flashy solos; a somewhat weak point for me as a rhythm addict is the fact that drums and bass don't usually do more here than assisting the flow of things; even this kind of music could do with more interesting drumming. Fortunately the percussion helps quite a bit.

Overall a very elegant and beautiful album, melodic, relaxed, but still quite sophisticated. Wo die Fluesse Singen is one of my favourite love songs. Maybe the best, most symphonic starting point into Kante for prog fans.