By Stan Cierlitsky
Last fall I had the pleasure of reviewing a new compilation album from The Notwist called Magnificent Fall. At the time I noted that I was very happy, but also very torn since I was hoping for new music from one of my favorite bands. Well, it didn't take long for them come through. This Friday sees the release of a new full-length album from the band called News from Planet Zombie.
Hopefully, everyone reading this already had the chance to hear their comeback single "X-Ray" which came out late last year. What a return to form! It was a hard driving, perfect song. On this album they were apparently driven to create "a suite of thrilling, fiercely committed pop songs." I couldn't be more happier with that. The core trio of Markus and Micha Acher and Cico Beck wrote the album together, then they arranged, rehearsed, and recorded the material live in their home base of Munich.
Again, after hearing "X-Ray" I couldn't wait for the next song to trickle out. That song was "How the Story Ends" and it was a curious one. Not that the song isn't great; it definitely is. But it's a cover of the Athens, Georgia band Lovers. The Notwist are not known for doing covers but here on this album they actually have two, with the other being a beautiful cover of "Red Sun" from Neil Young.
As much as I like the whole album, I wanted to point out the three songs that follow that Neil Young cover. as they make up a perfect trifecta of music. "The Turning" starts off with driving drums, and then strummy guitar. The vocals are an interplay with fellow member Theresa Loibl, and the cut just blissfully churns along until things end in a flurry of sound. I love songs like this that build so deliberately. The next song "Snow" is considerably slower, and just creates a beautiful landscape in my mind. You really need to pay attention to all the production detail on this album. The final song of the trifecta is "Silver Lines", which is my favorite song on News from Planet Zombie. And, it's probably one of the band's hardest sounding songs that I can remember. It starts off beautiful and slow but then it erupts into guitar and drums. It kind of reminds me a little of the more strummy Wedding Present songs.
Overall I don't think I could be happier with this album. This is exactly what I wanted. Even though I've already talked about most of the songs on the album there are other highlights, including the County-Western-tinged "Projectors", the beautiful slow opener "Teeth", and the reflective closer "Like This River" that even touches on the geopolitical.
I'm pretty sure News from Planet Zombie will be a contender for my favorite album of 2026.
News from Planet Zombie by The Notwist is out on March 13. Details via Bandcamp.
[Photo: Bernd Hofmann]