In the fight against the increasing neglect of the planet, a new album by Nina Hagen joins them. On this one, the music knows no bounds. Now the burgeoning protest movement finally has its own soundtrack.
Riot pop from another planet, outfits from designer hell and a provocative mouth that seemed to know no bounds: Nina Hagen once shocked the whole nation as the self-proclaimed "Godmother of Punk". Almost eleven years after her last somewhat overloaded studio greeting "Volksbeat", the shrill Berliner wants to do it again and marches ahead under the "Unity" banner with a tried and tested protest attitude.
Already with the biblical crossover opener "Shadrack" the listener is served the complete sound palette. Rock, pop, rap, electro and lots of theatrics ensure that you immediately remember it: the image of the punk art queen gesticulating wildly and wriggling his hands and feet. Yes, Nina Hagen is still in a kind of revolutionary puberty at the age of 67, which she not only expresses with a lyrically clear edge ("Money, money, money", "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty", "The wind alone knows the answer"), but also lived out with musical openness as if there were no tomorrow.
Of course, the vocal trademarks don't miss out either. Sometimes it warbles like a nightingale, sometimes it falls like a rattling robot with the door and sometimes it sounds like a wind instrument that accidentally ended up in the tumble dryer. Colorful stays colorful. Even with the great Bob Dylan peeking around the corner and delicate acoustic guitars paired with stubborn lo-fi whoosh, you can still feel the blazing fire in the vocal booth.
Nina Hagen is always on fire. That's what she was in her early 20s when she had cult photographer Jim Rakete stage her for the cover of her milestone "Nina Hagen Band" - and she still is today. Basically, with the singer, you never know where the journey will take you next. For example, the banging opening is followed by a snappy finger-snapping rollercoaster ride, with a grinning James Last in front of you, constantly jumping from left to right ("United Women Of The World").
The title track grooves smooth and jazzy like a lost Faith No More b-side. "Tons" sounds as if the gentlemen from BossHoss had looked too deep into a whiskey glass. On "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty" the main protagonist acts as a reprimanding messenger of peace. Of course, love is not neglected either. With birdsong, a tricky beat and disturbing sci-fi sounds in her luggage, Nina Hagen challenges the greatest force in life to a duel ("Give me your love"). If you don't take pink bed linen out of the closet after this, you've probably never met true love face to face.
For forty minutes, the singer stomps and rumbles through pretty much every genre front yard. Nothing and nobody is stopped. Everything is allowed and every idea, no matter how bizarre, is welcome. The resulting chaos is forgiven by the spearhead of pop anarchy with a broad grin on your face. In times when the world threatens to sink into a dreary gray, a motley firework of sound, which is also presented in terms of content at the cutting edge, is ultimately quite good.
