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PRESSKIT

ENGLISH (SHORT)

Sound Of Smoke from Freiburg, South-Western Germany play vintage-vibed Psychedelic-/Bluesrock. Elements of stoner-rock and soul create Soundscapes to dive in, or groovy, heavy riffs to dance. Isabelle forms with her warm voice the individual sound of the band.

 

GERMAN (KURZ)

Sound of Smoke aus Freiburg im Breisgau spielen Psychedelic-/Bluesrock mit kräftigem Vintage-Vibe. Elemente aus Stonerrock, aber auch Soul ergänzen diese Mischung mal zu sphärischen Klangwelten zum eintauchen oder zu fetten Riffs zum mitdancen. Isabelle formt mit Ihrer Stimme den individuellen Sound der Band.

BANDTEXT SOUND OF SMOKE LP „PHASES“ (Release Februar 2023)

„WATCH OUT! Sound of Smoke will drop the bomb with their new album PHASES in February 2023“

 

With their second full lengh album „PHASES“, the german Psychedelic-, Soul- and Bluesrock band SOUND OF SMOKE are going to release their new album in February 2023 incooperation with the independent label TONZONEN RECORDS from Krefeld, Germany.

 

In long, excessive and very psychedelic jams sessions inn 2020 the quartet wrote eleven songs, which where recorded in Berlin in May 2021. To be precise, the recording took place at the legendary BIG SNUFF STUDIO in BerlinWeissensee. The eleven songs where recorded completely analog in 10 days in the studio by RICHARD BEHRENS (who worked with bands like: KADAVAR, ELDER, ODDCOUPLE, ALL THEM WITCHES or SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT). BEHRENS also mixed therecord and the mastering was done by EMANUELLE BARRETO at the beginning of 2022.

 

In this process the band recorded a creative mix of different styles. The 11 songs vary from bluesrock to oriental tunes to heavy psychedlic soundscapes up to legendary 60/70ies german krautrock. A wild psychedelic mix which willl fufill all the wishes of sophisticated listeners. For all the fans of the first LP „TALES“ , SOS is still rocking with their unique style and adding some new, hot influences. Isabelle Baptè with her versatile flute playing and her warm voice is often compared to Grace Slick, singer of Jefferson Airplane. Florian Kiefer is playing a heavy, banging and distorted Bass like he is the „Reincarnation of Lemmy Kilmister“. Johannes Braunstein is hitting the drums with his groovy, motorik beats like a never ending „Coo-Coo-Clock-Beat“ from the Black Forest or like John Bonham in his early years. Last but not least there is Jens Stövers brilliant guitar work, which is often compared with Richie Blackmore or with the words like Jimmy Page once said „Im just tryin to write the best guitar riff in history“. At the end of the recording process Isabelle, Johannes and Florian added some overdubs for organ, percussion and synthesizer. Be ready for an unique record that will blow your mind!

 

The artwork was done by the mighty MIRKOW GASTOW, a berlin based artist which is very known in the Stoner- and Doom-Scene. The title PHASES inspired the artist to create a colorful artwork which is based on the different moon phases and a mushroom castle on a lonely plantet. Psychedelic, warm, sometimes soft, sometimes hard. Thats a perfect match forthe sound of this record.

 

With the single release of the song „SHADOWS“in december 2022, SOS want to promote their upcoming album. The band worked with video expert KAJO ENGELICHT together and created a video using concert recordings and natural surroundings. SOS is playing a Pre-Release Show on the 21. January 2023 at the Jazzhaus in Freiburg. The band is very happy to introduce their most sophisticated record so far and share it finally with the public from February 2023.

 

„Sound Of Smoke zünden die nächste Lunte!“

 

Mit „PHASES“ veröffentlicht das Freiburger Psychedelic-, Soul- & Bluesrock Quartett im Februar 2023, kaum ein Jahr nach der Platte „TALES“ (Februar 2022) ihre zweite LP über das Independent Label TONZONEN RECORDS aus Krefeld.

 

In zahlreichen psychedelischen Jamsessions in ihrem Proberaum entstanden 2020 elf neue Songs, welche man in einem Studio im Mai 2021 in Berlin aufnahm. Um genauer zu sein, in Berlin-Weissensee, fand man sich im legendären BIG SNUFF STUDIO wieder. Das Album wurde in einer 10-tägigen Session komplett analog mit der Technik aus den 60er & 70er Jahren auf Tonband von Szenen-Ikone RICHARD BEHRENS aufgenommen und gemixt, sowie im Anschluss von EMANUELLE BARRETO gemastered. Behrens, welcher bereits lange der Szene angehört und schon mit zahlreichen Bands wie z. B. KADAVAR, ELDER, ODD COUPLE, ALL THEM WITCHES oder SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT arbeitet(e), verstand es mit seiner Erfahrung die unterschiedlichen Stimmungsspektren der Songs geschickt aufzuzeichnen.

 

So entstand im Eldorado für Vintagegear-Liebhaber*innen mit PHASES eine abwechslungsreiche Platte, welche mit eingängigen Bluesrockriffs, orientalische Klängen, bis hin zu schwebenden, sphärischen Klangwelten aber auch Krautrock, jeden Geschmack abdeckt.

 

Das Leitmotiv bleibt jedoch weiterhin gleich: Isabelle Bapté’s versiertes Flötenspiel und ihre warme, individuelle Stimme, welche Grace Slick wieder aufleben lässt. Florian Kiefer, welcher den Titel „Reincarnation of Lemmy Kilmister“ mit seinem markanten, grollendem Basssound (und Backenbart) für sich beansprucht, bildet mit Johannes Braunstein aka Brauni, dessen Schlagzeugspiel an die einst legendären Schwarzwälder Uhren erinnert, ein groovendes Fundament im Stile von John Bonham. Getreu dem Motto „Im just tryin to write the best guitar riff in history“ wie schon einst Jimmy Page oder Richie Blackmore und einem Faible für Wildwestromantik, trägt Jens Stöver letztlich das gewisse Etwas zum „Sound Of Smoke“ bei. Veredelt wurde „PHASES“ danach noch mit Orgel- und Synthoverdubs von Isabelle und Florian.

 

Auch das Artwork zum Album stammt aus der Feder eines in Berlin ansässigen Künstlers: MIRKOW GASTOW, welcher sich stilistisch der Doom-Szene zuordnet, verstand es malerisch-farbenreich, das PHASES-Thema mit den verschiedenen Mondphasen und Pilzschloss in Szene zu setzen. Mit dem Musikvideo zum Song SHADOWS koppelte SOUND OF SMOKE bereits eine Single vorab aus. KAJO ENGELICHT, setzte die Band dabei in einem Mix aus Konzertund Naturaufnahmen mystisch in Szene und hielt am Mondphasen-Thema fest.

 

SOUND OF SMOKE spielen am 21.01.2022 im JAZZHAUS Freiburg zudem eine exklusive Pre-Release Show. SOUND OF SMOKE freuen sich mit PHASES ihr bis dato anspruchsvollstes Album produziert zu haben und endlich auch einem großen Publikum präsentieren zu können.

 

 

Releases

ELEUTHEROMANIA LP (2017) - Online Released

TALES LP  (2022) - Tonzonen Records

PHASES LP*  (Release 24.2.23) - Tonzonen Records 

+recorded in BIG SNUFF STUDIO BERLIN by Richard Behrens; former Samsara Blues Experiment

Line Up

Isabelle Bapté - vocals, keys

Johannes Braunstein - drums

Florian Kiefer - bass, synth

Jens Stöver - guitar

PRESS REVIEWS


Strutter'zine

Here we have a very interesting band out of Freiburg, Germany that was formed in 2016 and is now ready to release their first full-length debut album Tales. The band’s line up consists of Isabelle Bapté - vocals, keys, Jens Stöver – guitar, Florian Kiefer – bass and Johannes Braunstein – drums, and their music is a fascinating mix of psychedelic rock, blues, classic rock and a bit of funky soul. The resulting album Tales is a lovely piece of work that consists of 7 strong original songs. Isabelle shines on vocals, and she also plays some cool sounding keys, while the guitarwork is straight out of the classic 70s groovy hardrocking book and the rhythm section surely knows how to keep up with them and improvise here and there (especially during the almost progrocking closing track Human Salvation). All sounds great here and I am quite sure that we will hear much more of SOUND OF SMOKE in the future.

Here and there we can find some similarities to BLUES PILLS and WHEN RIVERS MEET, but on the other hand SOUND OF SMOKE does have an own identity! This is how original rock should sound like


(Author: Gabor Kleinbloesem Rating: 8.4/10)



Rambling Man's Reviews (UK)

German Psychedelic Blues act Sound of Smoke have released their first full-length LP, titled Tales via Tonzonen Records. The seven-track release is a follow up to debut EP Eleutherumania. The band, hailing from Freiburg, Germany, consist of lead vocalist Isabell Bapte, guitarist Jens Stover, bassist Florian Kiefer and drummer Johannes Braunstein. The album blends blues, 70's psychedelia and soulful vocals to create a fresh retro sound. The LP begins with the Billie Holiday
cover "Strange Fruits", Bapte does the song justice with a sultry and tender timbre over distorted guitar breaks that reverberate like a songbird on a summer's morning. Next up is "Witch Boogie" with a riff like Norman Greenbaum's 'Spirit in The Sky". Bapte's deep vocals soothe over thunderous drums and bassline that roll along like Bapte's vocals on this track. Isabell Bapte reminds me of a young Grace Slick full of emotion and feeling. The guitar work is equally impressive with a hypnotic edge with crunchy riffs and solos that are structured. The music is like a throwback to the 1970's feel with psychedelic charms and mid-tempo- guitar breaks that build to a rapturous climax. "Dreamin" is such a track with blues-soaked grooves and misty instrumentals. Other highlights include the foot-stomping 'Devil's Voice' and the final track "Human Salvation", a wondrous ending to this cosmic journey that includes a spoken word intro and a mesmerising jam outro between Braunstein and Stover. Overall, Sound of Smoke deliver an album of a whole new feeling to the summer of love with a reminiscent trip to an era of soul, blues with a rocky edge.


(Author: Anselm Anderson)

MORE REVIEWS IN GERMAN / DUTCH / GREEK / SPANISH / FRENCH / ITALIEN / ENGLISH HERE 

Tales Reviews
(click PDF symbol to see)

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