Subterranean homesick blues
Each album by Arne Pahlke is a new adventure in style and a personal auto da fe. In Heimweh he embarks on a journey of return to his own sources by making direct and indirect references to his first albums, Dunkel and Abgrundtiefen, whose publication marked him as a powerful and singular poetic voice.
As implied by its title, Heimweh is suffused by the bittersweet chiaroscuro of "homesickness" - a genuinely subjective view on the passage of time through the semi-transparent veil of experience and memory. Events that can indelibly brand a moment in one's life are given just as much stress as needed for their emotional charge to flash through, like those little dramatic details that stand out in a painting; the darkly nostalgic atmosphere brings to mind the quiet but unsettling charm of urban relics, interspersed with sarcastic (Johnny, Ich war noch niemals blau) or deeply affective contemplations of the human condition, disillusioned youth and distorted ideals (Fast eine Jugend, Freiheit, Aus und vorbei), as well as almost impassively recounted stories where realistic detail meets the surrealism of a disturbing fairytale (Die kleine Countryfee).
The melodies and arrangements may seem unsophisticated and minimalistic at first, but by listening closer, one can discern the subtle elaboration that has taken place - in the piano tracks for example, which on some instances gave me the impression of having been reversed, or the guitar sounding like a banjo (Fur immer Freunde, Barfly) or a harpsichord (Traumer).
Despite the poetical self-adequacy of the lyrics, and although Arne's vocal style approaches spoken word rather than a "conventional" singing performance, his voice also functions like a "wildcard" instrument that adapts to the mood of each song, changing from distantiated narration to sentimentality and from hypnotic softness to mockery.
This is a mature and multidimensional work, requiring an attentive ear, an even more attentive mind and a wide open heart. Cerebral and emotional at the same time, it invites us to take a honest look into ourselves, to recognise and accept where we come from, who and what we really are. Imperfect, damaged, vicious or suffering (and sometimes vicious because of suffering), even ridiculous in its delusions, our human existence is a cruel work of art in itself - seductive in its ugliness, profoundly poetic in its contradictions.
NOTE: This album is no longer available on Jamendo, but may still be freely downloadable from The Jamendo Albums Collection @ Archive.org.
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