Metamorphosis: refers to the change or transformation of form or condition. In a tree, roots, shoots and leaves change, adapt to their surroundings, transform, take on new tasks. A metamorphosis is also how Mine describes her artistic development: from the struggle to find herself on "Klebstoff", to struggling with a broken world on "Hinüber". And what comes after the zero point? A blossoming, a growth, a new beginning. Or in short: "BAUM", Mine's new album.
"I had the feeling that what had rotted away was falling away and something new was emerging," she says, "I realized afterwards that it was also thematically very much about retrospection, about looking back. What happened? What has become of it?" Or as the title track says: "All these pictures in my face, I let them go, they have no weight," while she musically lets the sun rise out of the melancholy. It's clear: Mine is back, giving German pop her very own casual mix of depth and lightness that we've missed so much.
"BAUM" is Mine's fifth solo album in ten years, alongside other projects such as "Alle Liebe nachträglich" with Fatoni in 2017 and the monumental orchestral project "Mine und Orchester" in 2018. And it's also the start of a new chapter for Mine, somehow: working methods are changing, song structures are changing, the tracks are becoming shorter, more flexible, freer. Mine, who has always written, arranged and co-produced everything herself anyway, did a lot of pre-production work on her own on the computer this time before continuing to work on the songs with her team in her home studio in Sandhausen until they were exactly as she had imagined. "I was much more excited than usual," she says and laughs, "I didn't even show the songs to my band beforehand. I wanted it to be perfect!"
And at the same time, nothing changes: it's still the same Mine with the wonderfully changeable voice, the hunger for unexpected sounds, the desire for language, for lyrics that are schooled in poetry and German rap and the joy of sharing these sound spaces with other artists she appreciates. This time, these include the male choir ffortissibros and the Kiel Boys' Choir, battlerapper and podcaster Mauli, French singer-songwriter Léonie Pernet - who Mine simply contacted on Instagram after hearing one of her songs - and Berlin singer and producer Madanii.
"BAUM" is the self-confident, self-assured album of an artist who constantly and cleverly combines her diverse influences - and who tells us about her perspective on the world in a clever, refreshingly honest and truthful way. "Baum" is not a radical cut, but a step further in Mine's development, a step closer to herself. And an invitation to take this step together.
LIE NING moves skillfully between the genres of indie, soul and R'n'B, creating moments of timeless pop and emotionally powerful images of dreamy expansiveness and bitter seriousness.
Presented by: Musikexpress, DLF Nova, Diffus, Schall Magazin & Untoldency
