“Now you can hear it again – the voice” – with these words Curse starts his new album. A thought that will speak to the hearts of many fans of the artist, because the 45-year-old took over six years to make his new record. Now the “philosopher among German rappers”, as he is called by his fans, is back with exactly these words on the album “Unzerstörbarer Sommer”, which is being released today.
Michael Sebastian Kurth alias Curse combines 17 songs, some exciting experiments and his usual creative play with language on his eighth studio album. The work includes flashbacks to his past, sounds like joie de vivre and nostalgia, but also strikes a socially critical tone.
Journey into earlier phases of his life
The 45-year-old takes listeners back to his youth and describes the attitude to life he had back then with “1994”. The song about friendship, teenage love and parties is light and playful and thus provides a pleasant contrast to the much darker episodes on the album.
In “Part 1 Overdrive,” the rapper describes how he had to grow up too quickly and the unhealthy pace that drove him at the beginning of his 20s. This is followed by the relaxed number “Part 2 Slow Down,” in which Curse calms down his former self.
There were also times in his life when he was very driven, as the musician and certified systemic coach and yoga teacher told the German Press Agency. “That is something that has calmed down more and more in recent years.” However, the memories of such times are still there. “And of course I sometimes fall back into old patterns, you can coach and meditate as much as you want, that’s just how it is.”
According to Curse, the oldest song on the new album is “Avocado Toast”. The original version was written shortly after the release of his last album. The quieter number with piano sounds and gentle beats describes how he used to strive for success, material things and the feeling of being special, and how smaller things are enough for him today, such as making his son a sandwich. “The feeling that this song conveys is very close to me. The image is very close to how I feel in life at the moment,” says the 45-year-old.
On his new album, the rapper, author and coach remains musically true to himself: with his usual flow, he lets the listener look into his inner self. In addition to pain and doubt, he also repeatedly becomes political: poverty, everyday racism, the Gaza war – these are just some of the topics that are touched upon in “Anunnaki Flow” and “Überdosis Tee”.
Made music the whole time
In 2018, the rapper’s last album landed at number two in the German charts. Fans had to wait a long time for the new album. “It doesn’t seem like six and a half years to me. It seems like – I don’t know – two years or something,” says Curse.
In addition to music, meditation and coaching took up an increasingly large space in his life. He has published two books and has a podcast called “Meditation, Coaching & Life”. “I was very busy. I did a lot of cool things that I really enjoyed, and the whole time I was also making music,” says the 45-year-old.
“Of course, I also wanted to take the time and the space to get everything properly finished and to spend a lot of time in the studio and to shoot videos and do a tour and so on and it took a while.”
Moses Pelham and Udo Jürgens sample
The German rapper was not alone in the studio: for “Sonne”, a song about the good in bad times, he worked again with the reggae singer Patrice. One surprise, however, is the voice of Udo Jürgens – Curse samples a part from his 1967 song “Immer wieder geht die Sonne auf”. Swiss singer Jan Seven Dettwyler and Italo Reno & Germany are other old acquaintances among the features.
Fans will be in for a treat with “Firmament” featuring German rap legend Moses Pelham: In the catchy number about living in the moment and moving on, Curse raps: “No album for six and a half years, then no album, but two albums – three albums.” When asked about this, he is mysterious: “There will definitely be musical things happening this year that I think a lot of people will be happy about.” In just a few months, he wants to reveal what they are. Yes, you can hear it again – the voice.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240906-930-224616/1
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