Michael Rother has today announced details of a new boxset, featuring brand-new material. Solo II will be released on the Berlin based Groenland Records on 4 September 2020.
The new boxset features Michael’s previous solo albums Lust, Süssherz und Tiefenschärfe, Traumreisen, Esperanza and Remember (The Great Adventure), as well as a CD of Bonustracks and Dreaming, Michael’s first new album since 2004. The release will come as a seven-cd boxset, as well as a vinyl version of the new album.
Speaking about writing new music for the album Dreaming, Michael says:
“I had a goldmine of ideas – about seventy-five sketches, and I knew there were some gems in there. I’m delighted by the way the album has turned out“.
The earliest records presented here show Rother working in fine detail, using the expensive Fairlight CMI synth and sampler to create the detailed, hyperreal soundscapes on 1983’s Lust (‘joy’). He then stepped back from the electronic intricacy on 1985’s Süssherz und Tiefenschärfe, with “Süssherz” perhaps the purest ever distillation of his guitar work.
Traumreisen (1987) is Rother at his most electronic with his trademark guitar sound almost totally absent but his folk-tinged melodies intact. Along with Esperanza (1996), the pair of albums are considered to be some of his most experimental work.
Bonus tracks is a collection of bonus tracks from reissues of Rother’s earlier work. They are presented here for the first time in their original form, with album highlight The Doppelgänger a favourite of Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ John Frusciante.
Remember (The Great Adventure), released in 2004, marked a change for Rother, featuring dancier beats and for the first time, vocals from Sophie Joiner and Herbert Grönemeyer. Rother’s new album Dreaming was created as Germany went into lockdown due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Speaking about the experience he says:
“My routine every day became the same. If I’d had concerts to play, these interruptions would have prevented me from focusing so deeply on this album. There’s a lot of creative energy that needs expression, that needs to be channelled into something, and this was the right time“.
Solo II by Michael Rother is released by Groenland on 4 September. Pre-order Solo II and Dreaming.
