The cryptic behavior shared by NEUNUNDNEUNZIG and Blanche Biau, is a response to the overwhelming abundance of information in the modern world. Being home in a well-isolated corner of the internet, the Austrian band and the Swiss singer met in the underground scene and both evolved to emerging indie live acts, all
while keeping a low profile from the public eye. "When did it become so empty?" they ask in six languages for their first joint tour, visiting six European countries.
The answers found in their respective shows differ because NEUNUNDNEUNZIG and Blanche Biau communicate through distinct aesthetic languages, positioning themselves at the outer edges of the spectrum of the current German-speaking Post-Punk revival while challenging its boundaries.
NEUNUNDNEUNZIG are turning the act of hiding their identities into a game. Their projects oscillate radically between kitsch, vibrant colors, and highly stylized romanticism to stark black and white aesthetics and sparse, desolate sounds. Around their first collaborative album, "99 in dein Herz", the duo has already assembled a
roster of alter egos.
The clearly staged characters Nicki Papa and Saiya Tiaw are juxtaposed with the inquisitive personalities AMANDUS 99 and DANZINGER 99, who play with the necessity of context in a contemporary manner, without regard for old formats or established boundaries, only to dissolve into thin air after channeling
their chaotic energy.
Their unconventional and decentralized approach to their own discography resonates beyond language barriers, as demonstrated by their official remix of Lana Del Rey's hit, "Say Yes To Heaven". During their first sold-out club tour in Germany, the duo brought together all the fragments and clues they intuitively scattered across the internet into a coherent show for the first time. In Blanche Biau's music, such playful elements seem out of place.
The Swiss artist immerses herself in an unattainable past in her debut album, "Maraudé". Influences from (Dark)-Wave and Shoegaze signify a surrender to the future, creating boundless, hazy dance floors filled with melancholy. Her lyrics transition from English to German to French. Not every emotion can be expressed equally and honestly in every language. It's only natural that she performs music in which one gets lost, alone on stage, completely immersed by her own synthscapes and guitar melodies, lost in thoughts of better times.
"When did it become so empty?"