Jenny Thiele

In the organizer's words:

Anyone who has ever fallen in love with a disco ball hit knows that electronic pop can be more than just the sum of its parts. But the extent to which this principle can be brought to mastery requires Cologne-based Jenny Thiele and her new album "Platz".

If Wikipedia were to follow up with a furrowed brow and nervous coffee breath, it would officially number "Platz" by Jenny Thiele as her third album.
However, her previous solo work is much more of a prequel. Because the space and time for the self-design of her enchanting dream pop have only now fully opened up. Now there is finally "space" and, oh boy, is Jenny ready to fill it.
Despite all the continuity in her work, she makes a big change visible here: unlike its predecessor "Killing Time", "Platz" speaks to you in German. The musician with the razor-sharp bangs wants to tell her stories on this new record. Friendly, vague pop English? That would be too much at the expense of precision. Deep encounters require equally deep communication. In this way, the pieces sound far more intimate than the pleasing local radio pop; on this album, you get the impression of what it must be like to experience acts like Feist or Róisín Murphy in German. Because despite its minimalist, very select sounds, "Platz" draws the curtains wider than ever. It's an album with a panoramic feel that has fun lining the different facets of Jenny Thiele's songwriting.

How much longing can you actually nail into a bittersweetly flowing piece of pop? The answer is given by the song "Nehmt mich mit". Or "Burn On", this shimmering new wave track, whose chorus opens the door to an ecstatic dance floor, the existence of which one would have liked to have known about earlier. Or "Wasserbombe" or "JULI" - oh, and anyway. It's fascinating how all the pieces in their versatility seem to paint one big picture in the end. So is "Platz" really an album conceived down to the last detail? The artist herself doesn't want to know. "I only realize what exactly I want when I'm making it," Jenny Thiele describes, "it's a blatant, almost philosophical practice. Getting involved in something, even if you don't yet know what the end result will be. Simply learning to trust your own taste and intuition. It's not easy, but that's the only way I can enjoy it myself."

She writes the music alone and pre-produces the songs herself. At the next stage, she is joined by her producer Tom Millhope, the two have known each other for ages - the creativity they can conjure up together can make you dizzy. Tom complements and tinkers, sets the scene for the equipment (analog synths and such) and is responsible for the warm album sound that holds the tracks together. The album will once again be released in collaboration with the indie label Hey!Blau Records, one song was recorded live by Philipp Ullrich, the Cologne-based multi-instrumentalist who is also part of Jenny's live line-up, and the dramatic cover photos were taken by millhope productions in Antwerp.
That's it.
Jenny Thiele's team is small and select: "I simply enjoy the creative role. I also enjoy taking responsibility for my band, my crew. Treating everyone fairly, paying them properly," says Jenny Thiele and adds... "making it better than you've already experienced yourself." DIY is not a constraint here, but an attitude, a small, lived utopia.
And the extent to which this is elevated to an experience in pop on "Platz" is perhaps the greatest achievement of this release. Intimacy, style, melancholy and ecstasy. Where it all comes together as it does here, settle down - and then just go a little crazy.
It doesn't get any more beautiful than this for a long time.

Jenny Thiele ... Basics

Cologne lies outside her window. Cologne-Mülheim, to be precise. Jenny Thiele loves it here, a creative, lively neighborhood that is never stressful. Cologne at its best. Born in Dresden, grew up in the tranquil, mousy Lower Rhine region and studied in Benelux, the musician is one thing above all: a natural-born artist. Where others may end up on the stage by chance or entanglement, for Jenny Thiele there was never any doubt, never any other option. And where others lose focus between art, life and self-promotion, Jenny Thiele still has a few tentacles left to push on with a new project.

Jenny Thiele has a crush on pooling ideas and resources - getting inspired, trying things out. Together with Irene Novoa, she runs the duo AnnaOtta - on their joint musical journey of discovery, the two emulate hypnotic jazz with electronic means, making avant-garde danceable. And how! Jenny Thiele has also been closely (and most recently loosely) associated with the band Fortuna Ehrenfeld for many years. Yes, that's right, the charismatic act with the guy in the stole, slippers and pyjamas. The last commando. Thanks to Fortuna Ehrenfeld alone, Jenny Thiele's concert count rose to dizzying heights.
In 2022, she finally released her own album "Killing Time" - with English-language lyrics. The enthusiastic response that her own songwriting is able to trigger in the outside world feels great. Although she has always written music herself, "Killing Time" opens up completely new spaces. The reduced sound makes the emotional singer-songwriter pieces appear both pointed and gentle. Now it can really get going. And so this record also functions as a kind of floodgate. From this point, Jenny Thiele can now separate her own legacy from all the bustling before. Slogan: make space. Because this is more necessary than ever. And for an album that will be released in 2025. The first really big arrival after all the departures is called: "Space". Adrenaline!

Text: Linus Volkmann

Organizer: Capitol Betriebs GmbH