Kraftklub celebrates life with "Dying in Karl-Marx-Stadt"

Karl-Marx-Stadt is history, but it lives on with Kraftklub. For the video for "Schief in jedem Chor", the five musicians pose on a metal pole at a lofty height, with the words "Kraftklub Sterben in Karl-Marx-Stadt" (Kraftklub die in Karl-Marx-Stadt) in huge red capital letters. It is the title of their new album, which the band announced at a surprise concert at the end of May. Where? In Chemnitz, the former Karl-Marx-Stadt. But why die?

"We've often had to deal with death," says singer and lyricist Felix Kummer. In his circle of friends and family, some people have died "far too early". He has also written about death and dying time and again. But in Germany, he says, people are "very tight-lipped" about it.

It was only during a stay in Mexico that he found a way to make songs about it, says the 36-year-old. There, the band experienced the celebrations for Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. "That showed us that there is a different way of dealing with the subject of death and dying than we know."

Deichkind and Nina Chuba as guests

Several single releases have given a foretaste of the album. And anyone who knows and appreciates Kraftklub will probably not be disappointed by the new album. It's about saying goodbye and dying, but above all about life before that: about celebrating, falling in love and standing up to it. The band has enlisted support for this: Nina Chuba, Domiziana, Deichkind and Faber are on the bill as guests.

The song "Unsterblich sein" sets the tone about the intoxication of a party night and the hangover afterwards. It is the bracket for the other ten tracks on the album. "I thought I had forever," sings Kummer later in "All the beautiful words", which is about missed opportunities. Because death often comes as a surprise.

With Deichkind, Kraftklub throw time out of the window with their hands full to rousing beats. And the track "Wenn ich tot bin, fang ich wieder an" (When I'm dead, I'll start again) presents a very unconventional idea of a funeral service and life after death. "It is the fate of the atheist that I have to somehow visualize paradise for myself," says Kummer.

"Maybe we are no more"

Kraftklub is one of the most important German indie bands and is known for taking a political stance. They took a stand with the #WirSindMehr concert when there were days of riots by right-wing extremists in Chemnitz in 2018. Today, Kummer says that at some point they realized: "Maybe we are no longer, maybe we never were. It's all the more important that we're not alone." In the song "Schief in jedem Chor", they say in Kraftklub style: "As long as someone is still shouting "Fickt euch alle!", we're not lost yet."

The last album "Kargo" (2022) was not the only one to take Kraftklub to number one in the charts. Expectations for the new album are high and have been stirred up on social networks since the summer.

The tour starts in March and is sold out in many places. Kummer speaks of the biggest tour the group has ever played. Even though the album is about saying goodbye and dying, the band is not saying goodbye, he assures us. "It's only just getting going again. We're looking forward to everything that comes next."