15. January 2025
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Media Review

North West – Hamburg

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

North West - Hamburg

North West - Hamburg
4.1

Rating

 4.1/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice range of sounds
  • Characteristic sound

Despite the album name Hamburg, the German indie-pop band North West is in fact from the very North West of Germany, from Leer in East Frisia. I ran into their music and was happy to be able to have an early listen to their debut album, which will be available from 14th April 2023.

 

North West – About the Artists

North West is a German indie-pop quartet. The four members are Dennis Gall (guitar, vocals), Jonas Vehndel (keyboard, vocals), Sven de Vries (drums, guitar) and Patrick Zersen (bass). They decided to form the band in 2018, after three of them did a road trip and played music on the streets. Already quite soon after North West has been born, they released the EP Speak Out Loud.

 

North West – Hamburg – Track by Track

The nine track album lasts 31 minutes

1. Hamburg

North West open their debut album with the album. Hamburg will not change me almost feels like pleading bid tot he Northern German metropolis. Great work, especially the melodic chorus stays in your mind. This song finally persuaded me to have a deeper listen into the album, by the way.

2. I Just Like That

I Just Like That starts with keyboard chords – but with the first chorus latest, the East Frisia band is increasing the energy level significantly. The chorus feels a bit too repetitive, but overall nicely works out. The vocals add a characteristic touch.

3. Trisha

This third one is the first really new song. Again, the song starts slow, the vocals feel a bit whiny and melancholic. Instead of rocking and feeling very energized, this song stays on a moderate level, but therefor creates a nice groove. Sven de Vries is working a lot with the cymbals in here, which leads to an itneresting touch.

4. Chemicals

Chemicals closes the set of three songs already released before the album. From the very beginning, bassist Zersen and Vehndel on the keyboard control the melodic sound. Later, strumming guitar chords are adding a nice sound between indie-pop and indie-rock. Cool one.

5. 1998

How will the slightly whiny vocal style of North West work in a ballad? 1998 gives the answer to that. A looking back to youth years, about love and a lot of good experience in the past. One of my favorite listens.

And I know we can’t go back
And I hope we can try again
In another life.

6. Rosegold Heart

The sixth song does not add too many surprising elements. A nice blend between the genres the Germans represented in the songs before. The vocals are very characteristic and lead to another really nice chorus.

7. Instagram

The seventh track with an obvious social media reference starts with some smashing guitar riffs. However, the song as such has very present melodic elements. I like how North West work with a backing choir-alike setup in the chorus.

8. Is This Really True

I love you – is this really true is the key phrase of this chorus. The verses have a soupy touch, but the chorus is coming back to the typical sound of the album. Nice!

9. Don’t Wait

The closing song Don’t Wait connects to the rather groovy songs on the album. There are also some synth samples in the track, which leads to a nice, different kind of listen.

 

North West – Hamburg – Spotify

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

 

North West – Hamburg – My View

I really enjoyed listenting to Hamburg. The band has its own sound, driven by the vocals (I guess they have a certain potential to be bothering, give them a try…). Some songs are a bit of similar, but overall, they cover a nice range of moods. Very nice debut.

 

North West – 2023 Tour

Right with the album release, the band will tour Germany and Austria:

Th 13.04.2023 Hamburg (Germany) – Jolly Jumper
Sa 15.04.2023 Chemnitz – Club Krone
Su 16.04.2023 Dresden – Mora Bar
Tu 18.04.2023 Würzburg – Club L
We 19.04.2023 Bamberg – Der Plattenladen
Fr 21.04.2023 Linz (Austria) – Ann & Pat
Sa 22.04.2023 Munich (Germany) – Subkultur
Tu 25.04.2023 Wolfenbüttel – The King’s Head
Fr 28.04.2023 Leer – Jugendzentrum
Sa 10.06.2023 Berlin – Wurzelfestival

 

Germany – The Very Northwest

Here are all my postings related to the Emsland or the East Frisia region:

 

Scale Modeling at Flyctory.com

Cars, Trains, Planes and more – here are postings about the world in model size:

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