Six years after their last album, The Notwist come back with a much darker edge to their low-key ultra-modern sound. The surface tension of The Devil, You + Me is as fragile as anything the band has released, as velvety techno and trembling basement rock scoot along a delicate line of dour moods. While reclusive and depressed, the band’s fifth album still provides plenty of intrigue as the genre-bending electronic rockers continue to age gracefully.
With track titles like “Gloomy Planets”, “Sleep” and “Gone Gone Gone”, it’s easy to understand the album’s pillow-clutching melancholy just by looking at the back of the case. But unlike other serotonin-deprived musical efforts, The Devil, You + Me is decorated with highly sophisticated rhythm tracks and complex arrangements of synths and acoustic guitars. Singer Markus Acher’s trademark gloomy vocal delivery all but seals the deal on The Notwist’s most downhearted and challenging album.
The “uptempo” moments stand out more than on previous releases, even introducing unexpected arrangements and effects to the mix. The slightly intense strings on “Where In This World” follow-up the chugging opener “Good Lies” with cool vigor. The xylophone on the title track blends beautifully with the acoustic duet. The rapid downstroke of the keyboard and guitar on “Boneless” are surrounded by swirling electronic effects for possibly the most positive – and lush – few minutes on The Devil, You + Me.
The Notwist’s legacy only grows with their fifth album, as the masters of mellow electronic rock create a new deeper, more complicated facet of their sound. The Devil, You + Me has as much emotion as innovation, and charmingly combines their haunting calmness with elaborate arrangements.
