Albumrelease: Luise Volkmann's »Rites de Passage«

What is more alive - the ghost ship that comes to mind when listening to »Rites de passages« or the world of consumer goods in which we ascribe a life of its own to dead things? And what is more eerie - the prevailing conditions or ghostly music that takes on the real spook in all urgency?

Luise Volkmann’s »Rites de passage« is music of resistance and transition. It contrasts the life in which we settle with a utopian space that has yet to be established. The musical transformations take their cues from the concept of ritual. But Volkmann’s artistic “rituality check” is also a political reality check that evokes the question of how we can overcome walls that actually exist in fact? Walls in the minds of hard heads. Concrete walls at borders. She neither adheres to preconceived genres nor does she stop at crossing the last threshold of existence - the preoccupation with death.

Luise Volkmann sees herself as an artist with a social idea of music. This self-conception expresses itself through the pieces of »Rites de passage« - performatively. They are the first songs she has published under her own name exclusively. Her starting point was the idea of foregrounding compositional experimentation over improvisation. At the same time, there is personal history in the collectivist spirit of the album, which is released in two slightly different versions on vinyl and CD on nWog Records. The recordings, made with varying ensembles over the last few years in different places, reveal a clear signature. They are the soundtrack of a period of life.

The cover photo shoot with Thekla Ehling was supported by NICA artist development. So is the live premiere of »Rites de passage« with the participation of 18 musicians on the 15th of April 2023 at Stadtgarten Köln.

»Rites de passage« was released via the label nWog Records and is available on bandcamp.