Greyscale

The year 2015: one retro wave follows the next. Synthpop is bigger than ever. All around the world, current productions reference the sound that emerged from pre-reunification Germany. So where are the originals - the bands and artists of that time - today? Many can be found doing the rounds at '80s parties held by local radio stations. Others are investing the royalties from their back catalogs in the cultivation of organic vegetables. Not so for Camouflage. That's right - THE Camouflage - the masters of sadness dressed up in electronic songs. Flashback: In the late 1980s, Heiko Maile, Oliver Kreyssig, and Marcus Meyn were schoolboys with synthesizers and a keen ear for the musical zeitgeist. It was a world dominated by fears and apocalyptic scenarios, non-aggression pacts and embargoes. The Cold War was almost over; the Berlin Wall was still standing. It was in this landscape that Camouflage unleashed their music: driving, demanding, and so beautifully sad in it's invitation to lose oneself in eternity while dancing. The band flitted directly from the small German town of Bietigheim-Bissingen all the way to the United States in 1987 with "The Great Commandment." Their music brilliantly combined the icy coolness of Kraftwerk, the pop of OMD, and the melancholy gloom of Depeche Mode. Their 1988 debut album Voices & Images went to number one on the Billboard Dance Charts in the U.S.A., and the 1989 follow-up, Methods of Silence, merged seamlessly with this momentum. With the single "Love Is a Shield," Camouflage created a gem of a hit that still graces dance floors and radio stations worldwide. A lot has happened on the planet since then, and the band has traveled a long path that was anything but straightforward. In the '90s they played with styles and producers and experimented. The record companies, meanwhile, placed their bets on other horses that could chase the trends faster. "That's show business," thought the band, while continuing, undeterred, to make records and tour the world from Russia to Mexico, steadily expanding their fan base all the while. The temptation to indulge in nostalgia has always remained very faint with this band, so it's no surprise that Camouflage now emerge with Greyscale, an album that is strikingly current and compelling, both musically and lyrically. Features an appearance from Peter Heppner (Wolfsheim).