Anja Huwe Archives — Post-Punk.com https://post-punk.com/tag/anja-huwe/ Your online source of music news and more about Post-Punk, Goth, Industrial, Synth, Shoegaze, and more! Thu, 07 Mar 2024 19:25:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://post-punk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cropped-postpunkincon-2-32x32.png Anja Huwe Archives — Post-Punk.com https://post-punk.com/tag/anja-huwe/ 32 32 Xmal Deutschland’s Anja Huwe Unveils her Gothic Expressionist Video for “Rabenschwarz” (Raven Black) https://post-punk.com/xmal-deutschlands-anja-huwe-unveils-her-gothic-expressionist-video-for-rabenschwarz-raven-black/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 19:17:58 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=68375 Wir wissen nicht, was morgen wird Wir ziehen durch Zeit und Raum In global mythologies, the raven emerges as a figure of paradox, weaving threads of transformation and intellect across…

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Wir wissen nicht, was morgen wird
Wir ziehen durch Zeit und Raum

In global mythologies, the raven emerges as a figure of paradox, weaving threads of transformation and intellect across Norse sagas, Native American tales, and Celtic lore. This enigmatic bird, at once a trickster and a sage, embodies the duality of creation and destruction, offering insights into the empowerment derived from wisdom, adaptability, and the mystical. From Odin’s feathered emissaries to the Tlingit creator, the raven’s shadow dances over the collective human psyche, urging us to embrace the complex interplay of light and shadow within ourselves and the world around us.

This Friday Sacred Bones celebrate the parallel releases of Xmal Deutschland’s Early Singles 1981-1982 (including two bonus tracks), and the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable front-woman Anja HuweCodes. To whet our appetites, Anja Huwe celebrates the mystical power of the shadowy corvid with Rabenschwarz, a spectacular new single, and an Expressionist video from Codes.

“The main theme is the raven, a classic symbol for black (raven black), which stands for empowerment and is also a symbolic transmission of wisdom,” explains Huwe. The raven also stands for the rediscovery of mystical paths. The emerging egg represents fear but also stands for rebirth.

Directed by Anja Huwe and Stefan Heintzenberg, the video for Rabenschwarz (raven black) ties in with the album artwork, inspired by a private collection of photos from the late 1920s and public domain film footage. The clip also includes video bootleg footage from early Xmal Deutschland shows, as well as textual collages and text boards, created by Anja Huwe.

“We combined old film footage—such as The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) and White Zombie (1932)—with additional material filmed in the basement of a derelict bunker in Hamburg,” Huwe explains. We’ve intercut all the subjects with private outdoor footage filmed at Hamburg Harbor, Brooklyn, and New York City.”

The source material from the original films employ distorted sets, stark lighting, and surreal imagery to externalize the characters’ inner turmoil and a pervasive sense of doom. The iconic crumbling mansion serves as an extension of the characters’ psyche, its deteriorating structure mirroring their mental disintegration. Huwe cleverly and seamlessly merges the century-old Expressionist visual language—characterized by distortion, shadow, and angularity—with her unique style, infusing the narrative with suspense and the supernatural. She casts herself as a mystical creature inhabiting this psychological depth and underlying tension, effectively bending the fabric of time and space and artfully forging her own interpretation…and she does it all in a spectacular black feathered collar.

Watch the video below:

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Pre-order ‘Early Singles (1981-1982) here.

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to Codes—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Pre-order Codes here through Sacred Bones Records. 

Xmal Deutschland – Early Singles 1981-1982:
1. Schwarze Welt
2. Die Wolken
3. Großstadtindianer
4. Kälbermarsch
5. Incubus Succubus – YouTube
6. Zu Jung Zu Alt
7. Blut Ist Liebe
8. Allein – YouTube
Anja Huwe – Codes:
1. Skuggornas
2. Rabenschwarz – YouTube
3. Pariah – YouTube
4. Exit
5. O Wald
6. Zwischenwelt
7. Sleep With One Eye Open
8. Living In The Forest
9. Hideaway
Follow Anja Huwe:

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Anja Huwe Debuts New Solo Track “Pariah” — Plus Listen to the Original Version of Xmal Deutschland’s “Incubus Succubus” https://post-punk.com/anja-huwe-debuts-new-solo-track-pariah-plus-listen-to-the-original-version-of-xmal-deutschlands-incubus-succubus/ Thu, 08 Feb 2024 04:05:20 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=67475 Sacred Bones has just unveiled two more tracks from the parallel releases of Xmal Deutschland’sEarly Singles 1981-1982 (including two bonus tracks) and the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable…

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Sacred Bones has just unveiled two more tracks from the parallel releases of Xmal Deutschland’sEarly Singles 1981-1982 (including two bonus tracks) and the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable front-woman Anja Huwe, ‘Codes.’ Both records are set for release side-by-side on March 8th, 2024.

Throughout the 1980s, Xmal Deutschland distinguished themselves with a voracious and unwavering approach to their art. Their distinctive aesthetic, characterized by bold hairstyles and intense, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the complex nature of their music, which combined relentless energy with a nuanced finesse. This blend allowed them to break free from the confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement, differentiating them from peers like DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Xmal Deutschland embraced punk’s bold break from traditional norms, finding solace in its anti-establishment ethos—a stark contrast to the rigid conventions of the past. Their recording debut, the single Schwarze Welt, was characterized by an unforeseen turn of events: Rita Simon, the intended lead vocalist, was unexpectedly absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate thrust Anja Huwe, initially the bassist, into the spotlight as the lead singer. Despite her initial hesitations, she stepped into the role, marking a significant shift in the band’s trajectory.

“The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”Their breakthrough came with the release of Incubus Succubus in 1982, a pivotal moment that was further amplified by a landmark performance in London the same year, where they opened for the Cocteau Twins. This event propelled them into the spotlight, attracting an avant-garde audience characterized by torn fishnets and a penchant for the unconventional.

Listen to the original version of the single “Incubus Succubus” below:

 Schwarze Welt was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Pre-order ‘Early Singles (1981-1982) here.

Pariah is the second offering from the debut solo release from Anja Huwe. Invited by her long-time friend Mona Mur, Huwe reconsidered her decades-long hiatus from music and decided to join Mur in her studio in Berlin. Together, they worked for a year and a half, composing, performing and producing the tracks from scratch which eventually became the album Codes.

The razor-sharp new single shows the intentional interchange between languages on the record: “Since I sing multilingually, and often work with metaphors, I hope that the listener can grasp the moods without understanding them literally. I believe that voice, expression, and sound can achieve an overall atmosphere. Sometimes melancholic and blue, but also uplifting, vibrant, or subliminally aggressive.”

Listen to “Pariah” below:

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to Codes—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Pre-order Codes here. 

Follow Anja Huwe:

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Anja Huwe Announces Solo Album “Codes” and Xmal Deutschland’s Early Singles for Release on Sacred Bones https://post-punk.com/anja-huwe-announces-solo-album-codes-and-xmal-deutschlands-early-singles-for-release-on-sacred-bones/ Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:12:06 +0000 https://post-punk.com/?p=66568 Xmal Deutschland, German post-punk pioneers, exhibited a voracious and unyielding approach throughout the 1980s. Their aesthetic, marked by flamboyant hairstyles and heavy, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the dual nature of their…

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Xmal Deutschland, German post-punk pioneers, exhibited a voracious and unyielding approach throughout the 1980s. Their aesthetic, marked by flamboyant hairstyles and heavy, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the dual nature of their music—imbued with both a relentless energy and a certain finesse. This duality enabled them to transcend the boundaries of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement, setting them apart from contemporaries such as DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten. Their emergence was crystallized with the release of the ‘Incubus Succubus’ single in 1982. That very year, a seminal performance in London, opening for the Cocteau Twins, catapulted them into the embrace of an eager, avant-garde audience, typified by torn fishnets and a thirst for the unconventional.

In punk’s audacious departure from traditional mores, Xmal Deutschland found a haven for their anti-establishment inclinations, a world remote from the rigid conventions of bygone eras. Emblematic of punk’s ethos, the band’s members—Caro May, Rita Simon, Manuela Rickers, Fiona Sangster, and Anja Huwe—ventured into music without the trappings of prior experience. Their initial foray into recording, with the single Schwarze Welt, was marked by an unexpected shift: Rita Simon, who was set to take the helm as lead vocalist, was absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate propelled Anja Huwe, originally the bass player, to the forefront as the lead singer, a role she accepted, albeit with reservations.  “The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”

Photo: Jan Riephoff

The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Finally, however, the persistent clamour for reissues has met a resonant response. Sacred Bones Records announces with palpable enthusiasm two simultaneous releases: a reissue of Xmal Deutschland’s ‘Early Singles,’ enriched with two bonus tracks, and the inaugural solo album from Anja Huwe, titled ‘Codes.’ These records are slated for a concurrent release on March 8th, 2024,

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

The Schwarze Welt seven-inch was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There’s an urgency in its repetitive dirge, a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with Die Wolken and Großstadtindianer, whose crude synthesiser noises escalate in tension. Most of all, Huwe’s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.

Anja’s debut solo album Codes, a pleasant surprise, emerged following an invitation from her long-standing friend, Mona Mur. Huwe, reevaluating her extended sabbatical from the music scene, decided to collaborate with Mur in her Berlin studio. Over eighteen months, the duo meticulously crafted, performed, and produced the tracks that would culminate in ‘Codes.’ A critical element of the album’s distinctive sound came from the involvement of Manuela Rickers, who infused it with her renowned guitar style. This partnership was marked by a shared artistic vision and mutual understanding.

“Mona and I have a similar artistic background since the 1980s,” says Huwe. “We hung out together, and we sport a similar attitude towards life and art. We don’t have to explain ourselves to one another.”

Mur adds: “Anja’s voice is like a spear, her appearance a torch in the darkness.”

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to ‘Codes’—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Along with the announcement today, she shares the frenzied Rabenschwarz, which, with Rickers’ hypnotic apocalyptic guitars, Mur’s agitated and distinctive electronic sounds and beats, forged together with Huwe’s unmistakably energetic and expressive vocals, hits you in the face

Pre-order Early Singles (1981-1982) here. Pre-order Codes here

Follow Anja Huwe:

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Delinquent: An Interview with Mona Mur https://post-punk.com/delinquent-an-interview-with-mona-mur/ Fri, 19 Apr 2019 12:38:45 +0000 https://www.post-punk.com/?p=22894 As a songwriter, producer, and German Underground music legend, and International Martial Arts Champion Mona Mur, has a long storied career. Breaking onto the “German Wave Explosion” during the early…

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As a songwriter, producer, and German Underground music legend, and International Martial Arts Champion Mona Mur, has a long storied career.

Breaking onto the “German Wave Explosion” during the early 80s with John Peel championed track Mona Mur and die Mieter 12 inch Jeszcze Polska, Mona would continue is garner accolades when in 1986 Dieter Meier of Yello became her producer, and they hired JJ Burnel and David Greenfield of The Stranglers to work on her first solo album”Mona Mur”, which was released in 1988.

Now, following the release of Delinquent, Mona’s first solo album in 30 years, we sat down with her at her studio in Berlin to discuss the new record, her collaborations on it with Anja Huwe of Xmal Deutschland, Bettina Köster of Malaria! (see “Sex to Go”), and co-writer/producer Ralf Goldkind, as well as her thoughts on industrial music, and achieving the 40 plus club from touring the US.

Watch below:

Delinquent is a fantastic record, mixing Neue Deutsch Welle sounds with twangy cowboy guitars, and is the perfect soundtrack for the autobahn, or route 66.

Order a copy here

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The Women of Post-Punk and Goth https://post-punk.com/the-women-of-post-punk-and-goth/ Thu, 08 Mar 2018 21:04:29 +0000 http://www.post-punk.com/?p=16534 We think everyday is a day to acknowledge our heroes in the post-punk and goth music scene that just so happen to be women. These ladies are not only brilliant…

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We think everyday is a day to acknowledge our heroes in the post-punk and goth music scene that just so happen to be women. These ladies are not only brilliant musicians and artists, but also cultural pioneers.

Some may argue that the first post-punk single was Magazine’sShot by Both Sides”, which came out 40 years ago on January 20th, 2018. But many musical scholars insist that honor, in fact, goes to a woman.

Siouxsie Sioux

Siouxsie and the Banshees’ debut single “Hong Kong Garden” was a game-changer. Released on August 18th, 1978, the Steve Lillywhite-produced song created a sound that everyone took inspiration from. This invariably caused lazy journalists would then begin the sexist epidemic of writing off most women daring to be as creative as Siouxsie as sounding exactly like her—which no one did!

Meanwhile, in Germany, Nina Hagen made her debut with singing in a hybrid style of opera and punk with “TV-Glotzer” (a cover of “White Punks on Dope” by The Tubes), developing a persona whose influence reverberates to this day.

Nina Hagen

We would be remiss if we were not to mention the importance of Debbie Harry, Nico, and Patti Smith, who preceded post-punk and goth by a generation. We also do not want to overlook punk singers like Poly Styrene, whose classic punk anthem “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” set the tone for the feminism to follow.

Each of the women listed below is selected from the original generation of artists that came out in the late 70s and 80s, and has undeniably made an important contribution to post-punk and goth, so much so that there deserves to be a book on the subject.

Lene Lovich

Patricia Morrison (Bags, Gun Club, and The Sisters of Mercy)

Anja Huwe (Xmal Deutschland)

Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins)

Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance)

Gudrun Gut (Mania D and Malaria!)



Bettina Köster (Mania D and Malaria!)

Lydia Lunch (Teenage Jesus and the Jerks)

Linder Sterling (Ludus)

Ari Up (The Slits)

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Viv Albertine (The Slits)

Grace Jones

Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle, Chris and Cosey)

Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchblade, Spell, Sorrow)

Anne Marie Hurst (Skeletal Family and Ghost Dance)

Danielle Dax

Dinah Cancer (45 Grave)

Gitane Demone (Christian Death)

Jarboe (Swans)

Hazel O’Connor

Monica Richards (Faith and the Muse, Strange Boutique, Madhouse)

Diamanda Galas

Anne Clark

Gillian Gilbert (New Order)

Anka Wolbert (Clan of Xymox)

Rosie Garland (March Violets)

Lesley Woods (Au Pairs)

Zillah Minx (Rubella Ballet)

We would also like to thank newer artists like:

  • Karen O
  • Amanda Palmer
  • Jehnny Beth from Savages
  • Larissa Iceglass
  • Tamaryn
  • Riki
  • Alli Gorman from Bootblacks
  • Zanias
  • Sally Dige
  • Zohra Atash from Azar Swan
  • Kennedy Ashlyn from SRSQ and Them Are Us Too
  • Jo Bevan from Desperate Journalist
  • Geneva Jacuzzi
  • Zola Jesus
  • Sarah Taylor of Youth Code
  • Jae Matthews from Boy Harsher
  • Mistina La Fave from The Prids
  • Nicola Kuperus from Adult.
  • Jehnny Beth from Savages
  • Chelsea Wolfe
  • Shannon Funchess from Light Asylum
  • and many more!

Also, special shout out to Katie Sketch and her post-punk revival band The Organ—we miss you!

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X-Mal Deutschland inspired runway show at Berlin Fashion Week https://post-punk.com/x-mal-deutschland-inspired-runway-show-at-berlin-fashion-week/ Sat, 21 Jan 2017 00:33:25 +0000 http://www.post-punk.com/?p=11819 Fashion designer Julia Seeman has shown her love for German post-punk band X-mal Deutschland in her latest runway show at Berlin Fashion Week. One of the dresses is even inspired…

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Fashion designer Julia Seeman has shown her love for German post-punk band X-mal Deutschland in her latest runway show at Berlin Fashion Week. One of the dresses is even inspired by the Tocsin album cover! Singer Anja Huwe was in attendance—along with several other celebrity guests.


The show was also accompanied by a live performance from Berlin Techno/EBM duo Schwefelgelb, who have a new EP titled Dahinter Das Gesicht out on aufnahme + wiedergabe February 24th.

Read our interview with Anja Huwe of X-Mal Deutschland here

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