Preoccupations – München, Strom

In the organizer's words:

Info long

Presented by curt

It is with love and pride that Preoccupations present Ill at Ease, their fifth album and their first on the Born Losers record label.

This is what the band themselves say about their new work:

'We've spent 13 mostly very happy years constantly breaking new ground. Happy if you ignore all the broken bones, broken cars, exploding and stolen equipment, lost luggage, lost friends, lost hearing and lost sanity. We used to think some of these misfortunes were exceptions, but as we get older we realize they are just part of the process and the rewards we receive over time. We have played over 400 concerts all over the world, mostly living and working together in cramped conditions. We've aged together and recorded albums along the way. Some were even somewhat celebrated, others were merely tolerated. That brings us to the present and our album Ill at Ease. It's hard to say how it fits into our canon. It definitely draws from areas or genres that we haven't used before. Whether we want to admit it or not, any music we're listening to right now is always, I'm sure, influencing our collective subconscious.

Frontman Matt Flegel says:

The well of dark things I can write about doesn't seem to have dried up, and lyrically I still draw from it. Putting all my fears into a song is often the only way to get through a day. Some songs exist in a world with barren plains of scorched earth, covered in dust of shame, fear and death, where all the things I love are killing me. Some come from the perspective of another, distant world, gazing skyward into a sci-fi ocean of space, loneliness and faint hope. Sometimes I look at the world we live in with disbelief, feeling incredibly dissatisfied with the way things have turned out and assuming that it can't be long before it's all over. Some songs just reflect the way I look at my feet as I drag my feet, wondering what I'm doing to myself and whether the rug is going to be pulled out from under me at any moment.

Ultimately though, this is simply another collection of new songs. After 13 years, it's a pleasure and a privilege to still be making new things and sharing the new worlds we've created with others. At the moment we still have solid ground under our feet, but it's hard to shake the feeling that it might not stay that way for much longer and that we'll be uncomfortable forever.