#1 Feat. New Releases in Downtempo

wo years after making their bow via a fine contribution to the Claremont Editions 3 compilation, Nurembergs Neumayer Station are ready to drop their debut full-length excursion, the mesmerising and immersive Crossings. The brainchild of drummer-turned-producer Michael Kargel, a musician with a bulging CV that includes stints in various German indie-pop and rockabilly bands, Crossings was co-produced and mixed by Frank Mollena (best known to Claremont 56 fans as the man behind the Fursattl and Bambi Davidson projects), with additional contributions by Alexander Sticht and an impressive roll call of guest musicians plucked from Nurembergs vibrant musical underground. Recorded at different points over the last three years, the eight tracks showcased on Neumayer Stations inspired debut album draw influence from the hypnotism of classic German kosmische recordings, the freewheeling and stoned headiness of CAN, and the gently unfurling beauty of sun soaked Balearica. Kargel, Mollena and their collaborators set the tone with opener Unterfuhrung, where Stichts layered and sonically hazy vocalisations rise above space-rock guitar motifs, droning analogue synth sounds, languid bass and slow-motion drum breaks. With effects aplenty and all manner of melodic electronic flourishes, its a deeply psychedelic and mind-expanding affair. Nalut follows, with Kargels own atmospheric howls and whistles cannily combining with sun-bright tropical guitars, echoing chords and delay-laden saxophone solos riding the dub-flecked, low-slung groove. The collectives Balearic influences are explored in more sonic detail on A Gentle Flow, a shuffling and soft-focus affair marked out by emotive piano & jazz guitar, brushed percussion, sunrise-ready synths and pleasingly stretched-out electronic textures. Neumayer Station return to this drifting, morning-fresh and eyes-closed sound later in the LP, via the wonderous Von der Morgenrote. The heady influence of spaced-out dub production techniques comes to the fore on Bassrutscher, an Alexander Sticht co-production rich in Americana-influenced guitar textures, metronomic dub bass, rim-shot heavy drums, mazy organ and orange-hued sundown sounds. It ushers in the more up-tempo shuffle of Zielgerade, an inner space, out-of-mind affair whose driving but loose-limbed groove provides a platform for exotic, droning and otherworldly guitar, sax and synth sounds. As with all great albums, Crossings gently builds towards a triumphant and memorable conclusion. The spacey Balearic/kosmische crossover of Feeling Forst, where darting intergalactic synth sounds rub shoulders with gentle acoustic guitars in a hallucinatory soundscape, tees up closing cut Crossings, the krautrock-rooted, sax-sporting slab of enveloping late-night beauty that first introduced listeners to Neumayer Station back in 2023. Its a fitting conclusion to a staggeringly good debut album.

Neumayer Station