4. September 2025
Home » Music & Media » Media Review » Sonia Liebing – Ganz nah bei mir
Media Review

Sonia Liebing – Ganz nah bei mir

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Sonia Liebing - Ganz nah bei mir

Sonia Liebing - Ganz nah bei mir
4.2

Rating

 4.2/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Good stories and melodies
  • Some very intimate and personal tracks

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some tracks with too strong beats / synth parts

Sonia Liebing is definitely one of my favorite artists in the German schlager scene. In 2023, I reviewed her album Liebe ist für alle da (“Love is there for everybody”); additionally, she has been in my Songs of the Week thrice. On 5th September 2025, she is releasing her new album Ganz nah bei mir (“Very close to myself”) – one day before her birthday. Here is my review.

 

Sonia Liebing – About The Artist

Sonia Liebing was born on 6th September 1989 in Cologne. Nowadays she lives in Pulheim, a Cologne suburb, with her family. She already did music as a singer of a school band. In 2017, she released her debut single Gänsehaut. Her most popular song is likely a duet with schlager legend Bernhard Brink – Du hast mich einmal zu oft angesehen has been released in 2020. This has been the year after she released her debut album Wunschlos glücklich. She has released three studio albums so far, the latest being Liebe ist für alle da (2023).

 

Sonia Liebing – Ganz nah bei mir – Track by Track

The fifteen track album last 49 minutes.

1. Ganz nah bei mir

Heut’ bin ich ganz nah bei mir (“Today, I am very close to myself”) – the album does not only start with the title track, but also with a very personal and autobiographic opener. The typical synth pop schlager style does not lead to big surprises, but the song as such is a really good one.

2. Sag ihr nichts von mir

Almost half of the Ganz nah bei mir songs have already been published. Sonia Liebing fans might run into very familiar tunes at this part of the album – there are four previously released songs in a row now. Sag ihr nichts von mir (“Don’t tell her about me”) is the first one. The chorus confuses me slightly as the vocal style strongly reminds me of Michelle. The song has a good and catching melody – thus, it is overall a good listen.

3. Tausend Gründe

The third song of the album is Tausend Gründe (“A thousand reasons”). The song starts with a slightly darker atmosphere – and also also in the chorus, the beat is not as pumping as in the song before. The track somehow demands for a less rhythmic version. Indeed, Sonia Liebling and her team feel to agree to this. The penultimate song of this album is Tausend Gründe in the piano version.

4. Nein, Baby!

Nein, Baby! comes with a nice melody and a good vocal performance. However, the lyrics are a bit too flat to me, which leads to very soupy listen overall. I typically like Sonia Liebing for staying away from this deep kitsch level. In this song, she does not manage to keep the gap.

5. Können diese Augen lügen

The set of four already released songs closes with Können diese Augen lügen (“Can these eyes lie?”). I wonder how good this song would be if the hammering bass drum would not drown Sonia’s voice in the stanzas. The song does have a nice plot and fine melody.

6. Mach dich groß

The first notes of the sixth track suggest a romantic ballad. The lyrics  suggest it as well. But after 18 seconds into the songs (in fact before the vocals incept), there is the some inevitable element of 2020’s schlager music – an absolutely generic beat, which synth elements, which also just feel slightly adjusted to the theme of this song. This song could be a fantastic one.

7. Danke lieber Engel

The seventh song is coming with really nice storytelling again. I won’t complain about the arrangement any more. But songs like the very personal and thankful Danke lieber Engel illustrate the songwriting power of Sonia Liebing and her team.

Danke lieber Engel
Für diesen Augenblick
Ich hätt’ alles fast verloren
Doch Du hast mich geschützt
Danke lieber Engel
Mich gäb’s es heut’ nicht mehr
Du warst so wundervoll zu mir
Und dafür danke ich Dir sehr.

(“Thank you dear angel
For this moment
I would almost have lost everything
But you protected me
Thank you dear angel
I wouldn’t be he here any more
You have been that wonderful to me
And this is why I thank you deeply”)

8. Komm und tu’s

“Come on and do it” is the key message of the eighth song of the album. Again, the song is a bit too much in schlager stereotypical styles to me. At least I appreciate that the beats are slightly more gentle in here. The chorus has a really striking melody.

9. Dass wir uns wieder sehen

The melody of Dass wir uns wieder sehen (“That we will see again”) is gently flowing. The elements of the song are similar to the ones before. However, the synth and rhythmic elements are more gentle and rather act in the background. I feel that this style is working much better and finally also allow you to enjoy Sonia’s voice much better. A good one .

10. Alles erlaubt

Alles erlaubt (“Everything is allowed”) comes with a similar arrangement. Furthermore, the base melody of the song has a rather characteristic style. The electronic elements remind me of early 1990’s music. Thus, the tenth track of the album feels to strike with an own character to me.

11. Ich wünsche dir

Wishing you ex good luck but nur nicht glücklicher als mit mir (“just not happier than with me”). That’s the topic of the rather slow Ich wünsche Dir (“Ich wish you”). Especially the first part of the song delivers this message very strongly. Nonethless, it is overall one of the songs of Ganz nah bei mir, which have a strong, unique style.

12. Wo zur Hölle

“Where the hell is it going to heaven?”, Sonia Liebing aslks in this song. The track is heading back rather towards the stereotypical schlager style. However, the synth parts feel to be more balanced and better integrated into the general plot of the track. Thus, it is not a bad one at all.

13. Wer einmal liebt

Wer einmal liebt (“Who is loving once”) is about a guy transitioning from one relationship to the other. The song has a slightly nostalgic touch to me. I appreciate feeling a bit of younger while listening to these three minutes with Sonia Liebing.

14. Tausend Gründe (piano version)

Tausend Gründe, the second. While the original version comes with the typical schlager-synth beat, this piano version emphasizes much more the beauty of the storytelling of this song. I just don’t get why schlager goes this route that rarely. To me, this is the far better version of the song.

15. Jugendliebe (2025 version)

Jugendliebe has been one of the key songs of Sonia’s 2019 Wunschlos glücklich album. Now, she is closing with an updated version of the song. Similar to the piano version of Tausend Gründe before, I much more appreciate the gentle, more melodic style. In this case, this means that I significantly prefer the 2019 version.

 

Sonia Liebing – Ganz nah bei mir – Spotify

I will add the Spotify widget once the album has been published. 

 

Sonia Liebing – Ganz nah bei mir – My View

My thoughts about Ganz nah bei mir are quite similar to the ones I had about Liebe ist für alle da. I feel that Sonia Liebing is an amazing artist. She and her team are able to tell lovely stories. Tracks like the piano version of Tausend Gründe spread so much intimacy and emotions. However, for me this feeling is here and there killed by too strong beats and synth elements. If there would be two, three more songs which emancipate from that stereotype, Sonia’s 2025 album would easily make it into the Top Pick! range.

Favorite Song: Tausend Gründe (piano version)

 

Media Review (Cologne artists)

Here are my Media Reviews of artists / bands born / founded in Cologne in Germany:

 

Spain – Travel Postings

Here are all my Travel postings related to Spain:

You might also like

The Kooks – Never / Know

Malia – One Grass Skirt To London

Blood Opera – Songs in the Key of Death

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *