Holler My Dear – An Only Me Is A Lonely You (english)
Funk Rock Folk with animating grooves from Berlin

Until the pandemic, Holler My Dear enjoyed a great deal of resonance and international stage success. The three albums by the well-traveled Berlin sextet also received much praise outside Germany. The magazine Rondo stated: „Each piece heads inexorably towards an anthemic climax, in whose glowing core Winkler’s masterful art of singing shines.“ Ö1 diagnosed „music as an anti-depressant“, the FAZ praised Laura Winkler’s „humor and subtlety“, among other things. The band celebrated roaring parties at festivals (including X-Jazz, Reeperbahn, Jazz Open Stuttgart, Jazz & the City Salzburg, Mexico City, Seoul, Penang, Cairo, Tehran) and in clubs. In June 2023, Holler My Dear released the EP Aftermath, the songs of which, among other things, deal with the (post)-Corona mood and – as a new facet of the band’s sound – explore a more electronic sound aesthetic. For the video for the single Agree To Agree, the band was able to win over a good friend who has already appeared several times at the band’s concerts: actress Stefanie Reinsperger (Berliner Ensemble, Tatort Dortmund).

Now Holler My Dear is opening the next chapter. The song collection An Only Me Is A Lonely You presents a return to the acoustic grandeur of jazzy trumpet and accordion, which has always been the band’s trademark alongside Winkler’s extremely variable vocals. On the other hand, the sextet has recently ventured into some witty flirtations with raw funk, soul and rock in the style of the early seventies or in the spirit of the unforgotten Prince. Compared to their previous work, the new production seems a little brighter, in some cases rather uplifting. Strong grooves from the drums and electric bass, punchy riffs and eruptive instrumental inserts as well as more humor in musical and lyrical details ensure this. Holler My Dear’s highly praised dynamics and stage energy are captured on record more directly than ever before.

„On the one hand, the sometimes deliberately ‚dirty‘ sound aesthetic has grown out of the style of the songs,“ says Laura Winkler, „on the other hand, our new producer has played a big part in this.“ Dennis Rux, the well-known mastermind behind bands such as Angels Of Libra, Hamburg Spinners and Tetrao Urogallus, is a known specialist for top-class vintage studio equipment and a corresponding sound. „Dennis has been collecting old microphones, preamps, tape echoes and other effects devices for decades, long before vintage became a trend,“ says Winkler, „so he knows how to achieve a lively old-school vibe.“ During the recordings, Holler My Dear was mostly in the same room, which limited certain aspects (the post-production) but sparked the sextet’s well-known live spirit. Post-production corrections or even overdubs were largely dispensed with and some less than perfect passages were allowed in favor of the lively overall impression. In keeping with this, Winkler’s grave voice seems more agile than ever. In addition to catchy and almost hymn-like melodies, she relies more than ever on rhythmic phrasing and even rap-like passages with a percussive character.

In terms of thematic content, the songs once again focus more on the environment and current affairs. „The songs on our EP last year had a more vulnerable, introspective character, triggered by the pandemic,“ explains Laura Winkler, „now we’re looking at certain phenomena from the outside again.“ For example, the climate crisis, which is still in the air. „The initial idea for From Another Mother Earth was to write a song from the perspective of a climate change denier who puts growth above everything else.“ In Pictogram, Winkler only needs a few words to call for respect for personal decisions. The title track An ‚Only Me‘ Is A Lonely You revolves around self-centered people who don’t look left or right, not to mention think about what might come after them. „This ‚after me comes the deluge‘ attitude is becoming a threatening scenario in times of climate change,“ states Winkler. „And even if you want to and can ignore this, it seems pretty lonely in this little comfort zone.“

As always, Holler My Dear also succeeds in avoiding any moralizing in their committed lyrics, instead addressing the listener with wit and subtlety. This applies as much to the raps of London-born Stephen Molchanski. With their new production, the international sextet makes a meaningful, cheerful, multi-faceted and rousingly grooving statement in the pop landscape.