"Actually, as I had planned when I started the album about two years ago, it was supposed to be an album about the apocalypse; an album about my fear of the end of the world. And even as I was flirting with this, the present caught up with me: it's no fun writing songs about the end of the world as I know it when the end seems to be happening.
And when I looked around, I realised that one generation in particular – mine – has this fear. I also realised that I didn't want to wallow in my fear after all, but would rather deal musically with the things that lead to this feeling of fear. And suddenly I was confronted with myself; with the process of getting older, the questions of identity, relevance, comfort and hope – and not least with the realisation that I was probably also speaking a little of the despair of Generation X. The generation that was just allowed to be children in abundance, that had a positivistic image of the future almost hammered into them, and that experienced the beginning of the computer age, the playful dissolution of heteronormative constraints, new wave, post-punk, 80s pop, acid house, the internet and the end of a reasonably healthy work-life balance.
Melancholia Beach is a place of retreat. A place to lick wounds, a place to mourn – but also a place to re-energise, re-write history and take the horror out of the future. Melancholia Beach is sometimes a very lonely place, but for me it was and is necessary in order not to lose my mind completely.
I was very lucky that I didn't have to make the trip to Melancholia Beach alone. For example, Loretta Who once again co-wrote two songs and lent not only her voice but also her words to two songs – "Say Something", perhaps the most cheerful song on the album, is one of them.
Chasing after an ideal and yet never arriving; being an ideal for others and yet never being seen for who you really are: the collaboration with French singer Christelle Constantin, who also co-wrote the song "Ideal", was the starting signal for the album for me, so to speak. It also was a special pleasure for me to work with Seph U on "White City": I've been fascinated by his voice since the early 90s, and now it's finally worked out.
The definitely most unexpected feature is actually too crazy to be true, and de facto draws a bow to my early teenage years: In the credits of the "Falco 3" vinyl, I often read the name Rob Bolland, who was listed as the songwriter – and a myth arose in my head about this person. I almost don't dare to say it, it seems so unbelievable to me, but Rob created "Melancholy Mary" for the album with his words and his voice. What makes me particularly happy is that his more than talented son Justin Dylan Bolland spontaneously contributed the smooth backing vocals during the studio recordings.
Most of the song lyrics speak for themselves – the last track on the album, however, is a somewhat experimental instrumental that once again conjures up panic and horror; like the soundtrack to a fictional documentary film that might one day be made about what we now call our present."
credits
released March 29, 2024
all tracks written and produced by Peter Zirbs - except*
* track 2: written by Peter Zirbs, Christelle Constantin
* track 3: written by Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Matthieu Hartley, Lol Tolhurst
* track 4: written by Peter Zirbs, Loretta Who
* track 6: written by Peter Zirbs, Rob Bolland. Additional vocals by Justin Dylan Bolland
* track 7: written by Peter Zirbs, Loretta Who
* track 8: written by Peter Zirbs, Seph U
track 1, 9 and 11 contain vocal snippets by Loretta Who
all tracks published by Edition Fabrique - except track 3: published by Universal Music Publishing
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