Welcome to Einschornsteinsiedlung. This little village within the City of Duisburg was designed in 1927, and the architects were strongly inspired by a certain art school founded by Walter Gropius. The spirit is still here. Tangible. I have been fascinated with it since I moved here in April 2012, and what I have learned is this: Architecture can save lives – and it has surely been saving mine. I have often tried to imagine what the working-class people who moved here in the late 1920s must have thought about this unfamiliar, minimalist, uncompromising architecture. Did they think it was silly, modernist nonsense? Or were they proud to live in a place that seemed to herald a new, brighter era for mankind? When I recently learned that large parts of the village were bombarded in 1942 and that it was then deemed important enough to be built up again exactly as it was, unlike so many other buildings in this city, I felt that I had received an answer to my many questions. Yes, people thought it was important. They needed it to be intact again. Two weeks ago, I wrote, recorded and mixed this album in only two days. It was suddenly there. It is not about Einschornsteinsiedlung, in the strict sense, but it came out of it. I thank the Denkmalbehörde and the Stadtarchiv of Duisburg for their kind support, Juan Almarza Anwandter for providing me with the historical pictures and Dominique Fabien Conscience for helping me with the artwork.

The album is exclusively available on CD through Opus Abscondi and strictly limited to 50 copies. The audio master of the 11-track album has been sent to the pressing plant today. The album will be shipped in early July.