Rückzug by ph4nt.

Rückzug marks my longest break between studio albums so far.
After all the free time and - at least for me - also freedom, wage labor returned to my life. And with it, in a sense, also the pre-pandemic routine, but a bit different than before: Back in 2019 and the years preceding I was unstable, permanently drunk & had a no-future attitude. Soon after I got sober covid kicked in, and the pandemic years made it relatively easy for me to think of myself as an activist and "challenger of the system", because I simply had the time to go to numerous demonstrations, occupations and face trials. In 2022 my everyday life is partly defined by the duty roster again, i'm stable, still sober and red letters don't overflow my letterbox anymore. Experiencing that "daily grind" in a, calmer, non-troublesome way led me somewhat to of a reconsideration of my role in groups, my relationships to people and political activism, and ultimately myself.

This album, which was created this spring & summer, doesn't have a consistent story concept, but some themes run through its songs like a common thread:
Rückzug deals with concepts like truth, group membership and the tendency to be opinionated in social and political discourse. I also question my own beliefs, my tendency towards self-isolation & my lifestyle between relationship, wage labor, existing in and coexisting with the capitalist reality and with that, the threat of becoming a cog in the system. Rückzug is an album marked by doubts and contradictions, which leaves a lot of room for questions, but cannot and will not provide easy answers.

Musically, I had a lot of fun playing around with my 3 synthesizers as well as, for the first time, a few midi plug-ins and my old bass, which I used to play at Leiden years ago. Vocally I improvised a lot, most of the takes were very spontaneous. The result is a playful, restless, emotional and loud album that combines multi-layered soundscapes with sometimes driving, sometimes pounding beats.

Overall, I consider Rückzug to be my most introverted, self-critical album - whereas my older work primarily pointed at guilty parties & marked opponents, Rückzug rather looks in the mirror. I hope the album isn't too much of a downer & delights some people - you don't have much to lose, as always all the music is from ph4nt. Creative Commons ;)

🏳️‍🌈 Industrial Punk.
Angry, noisy, uncomfortable, yet hopefully still danceable.
All done diy, all music Creative Commons.
Non-Binary (they/them | es/ihm) 🏳️‍🌈

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