"Oben" CD od Hi! Spencer

Hi! Spencer, suddenly light as a cloud? The album cover and title suggest so. But don't worry! 'We still make terribly melancholic songs,' says the band, which traditionally doesn't fit into any category but somewhere between indie, pop, rock, and punk. And yet, in 'oben' (above), there is a twist that is new for the Osnabrückers: The songs don't stay where they begin, they don't always delve deeper into the emotion – instead, they show solutions and perspectives. And so, 'oben' seamlessly connects to the last album 'memori,' because what did it say so nicely there? 'But that works if you start to change perspective.' Taking a different view, accepting a situation as it is – that is a central theme in the new Hi! Spencer songs.

The interplay of being above, staying above, and occasionally falling down is powerfully expressed by lead singer Sven Bensmann. And the understanding that there is no universally good time, only accepting the fact that at some point, you find a way to deal with your issues. And by doing so, you stay above. It's not the circumstances that change – it's the perspective on them: 'It hurts differently, because now I understand...' ('Vermissen'). In 'oben,' it's also about preserving the good and the certainty that you can drift off and will drift off again sometime. And, for example, in songs like 'Nebel' or 'Juno,' that others can also pull you out of a low point – and therefore, it's always worth celebrating the good!

In line with this, the artwork of the album shows a collective photo of the five for the first time. The central element on the cover, as well as on merch and other items, is the cloud – because hardly anything is further 'above.' Clouds are light. They float. They are bright, often transparent. And yet, they can obscure our vision and hang heavily in the sky with rain. They disappear, reform. Drift away. Dissipate. They can be anything.