Guido Mobius - Spirituals (CD, Vinyl LP)

Previously Guido Mbius has mostly given lyrics a wide berth. On his last album "Gebirge" Mbius' strategy to avoid meaning and pathos altogether was the collaboration with Andreas Gogol with his wordless dada-song. And although Gogol's highly musical stuttering is also present on Spirituals, Mbius now goes the other way on his fourth album: this time he's allowing himself to indulge in meaning and pathos.

"Spirituals" unites crooked humour and dark premonition, apotheosis and kitsch. With each track Mbius highlights another aspect of spirituality, be it religious or another kind. Indeed, maybe one does come close to a feeling of transcendence through hypnotic rhythms. Maybe one can even achieve purification through noise or just take solace in singing spiritual songs. Mbius plays with the neo-pagan spirituality of Black Metal ("all evil ways") as well as with egocentric rallying calls of soul music ("the right thing"). He evokes the spirits of the end of days ("babylon's falling") and harnesses the touching confidence of an amateur choir ("though the darkness gathers"). His pleasure in the unexpected is ever present in his music. Just as much as his preference for unusual sounds.

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