Berlin-based dark wave/electronic artist Jennifer Touch has announced the release of her sophomore album 'Midnight Proposals.'
the follow-up to her debut album ‘Behind the Wall’, will be out on 17th February via FatCat Records. Pre-order your copy here.
Touch was reading ‘Grapes of Wrath’ by John Steinbeck when she started to work on her record ‘Midnight Proposals,’ due out in February on FatCat Recordings. “The whole settlers movement touched me, and I really felt like a cowboy whilst writing and recording these songs,” she explains. It reminded her of her great grandparent’s story, and the house they built in the 30s that was her sanctuary as a child. “As cosy as it was, I always yearned for somewhere else, to find myself and my own place to settle.” Full of hope and mystery, ‘Midnight Proposals’ is a selection of songs that both celebrate and question the romance of this illusion, documenting a very human desire to search for our people and our safe place. For a reinvigorated Touch, it marks the next stop of a journey both artistically and sonically. “These are my dark proposals to the world,” she proclaims. “So come and join me around the fire!”
Unlike biographical debut album ‘Behind the Wall’ which took years to pen, ‘Midnight Proposals’ was written in an explosion of energy and creativity and completed in just 4 months. Touch spent a few weeks prior sorting her set-up from her Berlin studio and gathering the tools she needed to complete the record. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, I just said to the universe: hey, I’m here and I’m your vessel. It was a like a trip or something and I really don’t remember the process, but I love every song on it.”
‘Midnight Proposals’ feels free from the shackles of adolescence, and places her amongst dark wave electronica’s elite, rubbing sonic shoulders with PJ Harvey, Tempers and Depeche Mode. She calls it Post-Wave-Cold-Pop-Acid-Romance. It’s an intriguing and assured record from an artist on a journey, not afraid to share the intimate details on route to her destination, and wherever that may be.
First single and album opener ‘Summerchild’ was born from the dissatisfaction a young Touch felt at not being born in the summer, watching other kids empowered and comfortable celebrating themselves. “I was also always aware of the different freedom boys seemed to have. An ongoing, complex yet important conversation through a child’s eyes, the track questions a general narrative of powerlessness and what it takes to claim your own freedom,” she explains. The accompanying visual was directed by Pilar Gost and stars i7lemoja, who Touch feels expresses gender and style more freely than herself. “I still feel like I’m in a cage, and as a woman and an artist I am deeply inspired by those who have managed to break free. The video is a tender platform for different stages of freedom and power, enlightening the summer child within.”
Check out the album's tracklist and watch the video for "Summerchild" below.
Midnight Proposals Tracklisting:
1. Summerchild
2. Rumor
3. A Day
4. Prayer
5. Sacred Type
6. Gudrun
7. Twisted
8. Soft & Dark
9. Shot Shot
10. Already There
11. Art
12. Sold Out
13. Sad Strings
(facebook.com/touch.jennifer)
Tags: Jennifer Touch