Biografia
Marching, brute force, slavish discipline, technocracy, and techno. Quintessential German clichés. Ironically though, whenever a German band is loved abroad, it is for these traits exactly. DAF, Kraftwerk, and Rammstein are prime examples. But can there be German pop music?
Imagine Portishead formed in Berlin today. Josef Beuys comes along, shreds the band with a coarse wire brush, and exhibits them in a dark, 100 foot high silo for the production of artificial icebergs. The resulting Gesamtkunstwerk may well be a close approximation of Hope. Their self-titled debut album was recorded by Olaf Opal (The Notwist) in the remains of an abandoned lung sanatorium to capture inner destruction and coldness. It has what it takes to become a timeless classic.
The first ones to fall in love with this burstingly emotional monster of a band were IDLES, with whom the band went on tour. („Hope are mesmeric live. Beautiful music by beautiful people.- Joe Talbot, IDLES).
Subsequently, Hope played Eurosonic Noorderslaag, Reeperbahn Festival, Liverpool Soundcity and SXSW, toured throughout Europe and the UK, and was celebrated as the new, avantgarde pop miracle (The invention of what we all have long needed: a new German way to sing in English“ - Zeit Online, „I was absolutely blown away. The album is fantastic“- John Kennedy, RADIO X, „a monumental experience“ - NBHAP.com)
With their second album „Navel“ the band has matured, calmed. And yet grown to be even more intense. With „Navel“ the four musicians have created a zen garden, radical in its minimalism, clarity, vulnerability. It’s an album fallen out of time, underlining once more Hope‘s potential to become timeless classics. Not only the press agrees - „a masterclass in minimalist restraint, understanding exactly what each song needs.“ Under The Radar, “An impressive hymn to reduction. An album worth celebrating.” - ROLLING STONE - in 2022 the band collaborated and shared the stage with dark wave legends Bauhaus, and just recently received another accolade: In summer 2023 the band joined Depeche Mode for the European leg of their Memento Mori Tour.
Hope’s music has been featured in motion pictures and TV series, among others as title tracks for Ferdinand von Schirach’s series „GLAUBEN“ and Christian Schwochow’s film „Je suis Karl“.