Katzenjammer ‘Rockland’ - UK album release March 2nd 2015

KATZENJAMMER

‘ROCKLAND’

 

UK album release March 2nd 2015

Propeller Recordings

 

www.facebook.com/katzenjammerne  @katzenjammers www.youtube.com/Katzenjammerne1

 

Norwegian alt-folk-country-rock mavericks Katzenjammer are nothing if not utterly distinctive. One of the most accomplished, instinctive, charismatic and nonconformist bands around, Katzenjammer - Anne Marit Bergheim, Turid Jørgensen, Solveig Heilo and Marianne Sveen - are all impressive singers and multi-instrumentalists, sharing lead vocals, instruments, song-writing duties and, as The Guardian observed recently, “an enormous sense of fun”.  There is no one like Katzenjammer.

 

And right now this band are writing the best songs of their career. From their earliest days being invited to play David Byrne’s personally curated stage at Bonnaroo, to supporting Keane at London’s O2 Arena, selling out two of their own headlining UK tours and having Steve Lamacq proclaim them as “the best gig of my time at Glastonbury”, Katzenjammer have always had a huge impact with their genre-mixing, instrument-swapping, full-on riotous shows.

 

Katzenjammer recently announced a four date tour in May 2015 in support of Rockland.

 

Friday 8 May      Nottingham        Rescue Rooms                 

Saturday 9          Glasgow               Oran Mor                           

Sunday 10           Manchester       Ruby Lounge                    

Monday 11         London                 Scala                                    

 

Their 2008 debut, ‘Le Pop’, proved that they were as dangerous and fun on record as they were live, while 2011’s ‘A Kiss Before You Go’ delivered a symphonic and harmonic journey through every one of their emotions. The one constant has been that Katzenjammer do things their own sweet way in their own sweet time.

 

“That feeling has to be there” Marianne says. “I think of Joy Division or the Velvet Underground in that way. You don’t listen to them for technical perfection; you listen to them for their sense of creation, for their energy and emotion.”

 

That energy has fired this huge leap on with their third album, ‘Rockland’, marking another twist and turn in their story. Their singular sound is driven by a deep sense of adventure and invention. “It’s about being curious and open to everything. The moment you stop being curious it all stops,” says Anne Marit. This curiosity goes beyond the fantastic blending of styles, extending to the array of unusual musical instruments they use.

 

Take the unofficial “fifth member” – a gigantic, triangular contrabass balalaika they bought on a whim upon seeing it backstage one night. Or the fact that Anne Marit recently moved to a bigger house just so she’d have enough space for all of her instruments. The music and instrumentation may vary, but what they have created is an aesthetic which is entirely their own.

 

‘Rockland’ is undoubtedly their most refined and accomplished effort so far. “We wanted to go back to the roots and be more stripped and not add all these symphonic elements,” says Anne Marit. The moods ebb and flow throughout; from the bass-heavy, rapped-up funk of ‘Oh My God’, to the more serenely melodic singalong tracks like ‘My Own Tune’, the gorgeous first single ‘Lady Grey’, the stomping, wild-hearted blues of ‘Bad Girl’ and the brilliantly inquisitive ‘Curvaceous Needs’, a future live classic if ever there was one. This is a focussed and fired-up Katzenjammer - the excitement coming off them in waves.

 

Each member travelled across the world to write songs for ‘Rockland’, including separate visits to Nashville for Anne Marit and Marianne and to London for Solveig. A mind-boggling 83 songs was the result, though this was carefully cooked down to the eleven finely-wrought beauties which make up this new album, a collection that captures the very essence of the band.

 

“I think it’s even closer to what we want Katzenjammer to be because it’s directly from the source,” says Solveig.

 

You could say it was fate that led them to Australian producer Victor Van Vugt who’s previously worked with PJ Harvey and Beth Orton. A Katzenjammer cover of NickCave and the Bad Seeds’ ‘Henry Lee’ – originally produced by Van Vugt himself – was a feature of their early sets. “It’s like the circle is finished,” Solveig says.

 

Unknown to them, Van Vugt was already a fan of their music; having been impressed by a performance on the streets of Austin at SXSW. His diplomatic and meticulous approach to finding the right atmosphere, as well as listening to what they wanted to express in the record, helped the process hugely and so the group’s ethos is reflected thematically throughout ‘Rockland’, but no more so than on the title track.

 

‘Rockland’ is Katzenjammer’s musical manifesto. Partly based on Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl, ‘Rockland’ – the name Ginsberg gave to the psychiatric hospital in which he briefly spent time – deals with the ideas of being an outsider and the concept of individuality.

 

Solveig explains: “We have our own world in Katzenjammer. We never follow the rules, or try to be commercial when we write music. We’ve always done what we feel like and went with our hearts. It’s not a parallel to getting imprisoned but we’re together in this bubble where the rules are quite different to the rest of the world. That’s what ‘Rockland’ is a symbol is for.”

 

Just as this approach underpins their philosophy, the sheer verve of their originality is something that touches people in many ways. Having an impact is the main reason they make music - both audience reactions and the feelings that these inspire within the band are the special moments which affirm their existence.

 

“Katzenjammer is like a train,” Marianne says. “It’s up to you whether you get on or not, but there’s no way it’ll pass by without you noticing…”

 

“We’re on stage and people are looking for us and getting something that is bigger than them and bigger than us and that’s fantastic,” says Anne Marit. Solveig clearly agrees: “Some nights you get this moment of realisation, that right there you know what you are actually doing. You have to pinch yourself. Most of the time people get really happy. And what could possibly be better than that?”

 

For more information please contact Republic Media info@republicmedia.net +44 20 3213 0135

February 19, 2015 11:59am ET by Republic Media   Comments (0)

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