As the Notwist worked together on its new album, Close To The Glass (Sub Pop), the trio felt the songs were going in too many directions. Ultimately, the band gave up on finding a center and embraced the diversity. “With this record, there were no rules anymore,” says frontman Markus Acher. This outcome makes perfect sense when considering the band’s history. The Notwist is all about exploring possibilities: of the interface of acoustic and electronic, the planned and the unplanned, collaboration and revision, evolution and experimentation. The group has released only seven albums over the course of a 25-year career, and Close To The Glass is only the second since 2002’s landmark Neon Golden. Acher will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on the band.
Markus Acher: I’m a big fan of the Swedish artist Jockum, since I saw one of his pictures. He does drawings, collages and builds sculptures and houses from matchboxes and paper. He also did some great children’s books. He always tells stories, he has the best titles (his current book is called All I Have Learned And Forgotten Again), and his pictures look different every time you look at them. And you can tell that he loves music and records. And then a while ago, I saw, that he made a record himself, together with Joakim Åhlund from the Caesars. It’s called Paddan Och Hunden, and it’s incredible!!!
Video after the jump.
