“Who domesticated whom here – the wheat us or we the wheat?” When a line like that becomes a catchy chorus, it can only be Unter Andere Max at work. Behind the project are a changing lineup around singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist Max Kühlem from Bochum.
The lyrics are from the new album "Die Welt im Vorbeiziehen." It comes ten years after the debut "Unter Anderes Max," which featured singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Tom Liwa, among others. Following the singles "Hier Oben" and "Für die Lohnarbeit" (For Wage Work) on Konstantin Wecker's Sturm & Klang label, all twelve new tracks are now being released on the Osnabrück-based label Timezone.
They are as dazzling and diverse as the "Among Others" in the band's name suggests: Max Kühlem may write all the songs or adapt poems musically, but writing something also "only" means grasping and arranging something from the vast space of experience and possibility that is, in principle, available to all people. Thus, there are manifold influences that lead to the songs—conscious or unconscious: the new home office situation, the rediscovery of nature, Japanese haikus, and the path of Zen Buddhism to America in "For Wage Labor." Hannes Wader's distinctive songwriting voice and the questions of the new environmental movements in "Up Here." A guitar motif picked up while jamming by the river forms the foundation of the title song, "The World Passing By." He actually wrote "The Longest Day of the Year" on June 21st. Memories of his own and other people's childhoods are reflected in "Ant's Nest" and "The Little People."For the latter, a live performance and home videos of Max Kühlem's deceased grandfather form a music video with Super 8 charm.
Musically, Untereinander Max is difficult to categorize - the influences of the various line-ups are also evident in the songs. Max sometimes speaks of singer-songwriter folk pop, but he has other passions himself: jazz and (indie) rock, country and classical, bossa nova or the political German pop of the Hamburg School, for example. In "Für die Lohnarbeit" and "My Attitude", the lyrics of which are by Florine Stettheimer, he forgoes driving drums altogether and is accompanied instead by strings from the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, whose principal cellist Wolfgang Sellner also wrote the string arrangement. Stefanie Himstedt plays the violin. Bassist and multi-instrumentalist Robin Heimann provides the foundation and background vocals and also occasionally plays slide guitar.
In addition to opulent songs arranged with a full band and strings, there are also chamber music gems like the cover of "Next of Kin" by Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst and a musical setting of Joseph von Eichendorff's "Winternacht." "Indiefremde" is also an Eichendorff setting and dates back to the MySpace days, probably almost 20 years old. Max re-recorded only the vocals in the studio; the guitar track comes from his old four-track recorder. And for the ambivalent relationship song "Trotzdem," he ventures to play the piano solo for the first time.
Press comment on “For wage labor”:
"Great idea to waltz the song. It's probably my only favorite song that includes the word 'loft bed.'"
Philipp Holstein, Rheinische Post, juror at the German Record Critics' Award
