From Luxembourg's impressive music scene comes Postindustrial Poets, a band of contrasts between continents, contrasts between styles, and contrasts between eras. Since 2019, they have developed a sound that, while firmly based in tradition, also moves continuously toward reinvention. Their latest release, "Still A Stranger Here," perfectly captures that paradox: an album about belonging and exile and the search for self in a world that feels increasingly unfamiliar.
At the center of Postindustrial Poets is Pete, the creative engine behind every song. Over the years, the lineup of the band has changed, musicians have come and gone, relationships have changed, marriages have changed, and places of community have changed, but Pete's vision has remained steady. His songwriting is honest, conscious, and human, connecting the emotive landscapes of blues, soul, and modern rock.
Pete drew inspiration for Still A Stranger Here from personal life experience. He wrote it as a contemplation on life away from home, experiencing the quiet suffering of feeling out of place in a foreign country, with foreign languages, foreign customs, and foreign faces that have not yet become home. "It’s a song about trying to belong," says Pete, "but also realizing that sometimes, being an outsider is what makes your perspective valuable." This notion has certainly struck a chord with listeners; one fan wrote to the band not too long ago, stating the song "It triggered some memories of mine. There was a time I was exactly in the same feelings as the song's words describe. I am glad that I am finally home, though.”
Still A Stranger Here provides a mix of old-school lineage of music and a new-world cool. The song leans deep into the traditions of soul and blues that can be found in the music of musicians like Solomon Burke, Tom Waits, and blends it with the emotional grit and storytelling of someone like Nick Cave. Add a little French and German indie here and there, reminiscent of Miossec or Wir Sind Helden, and it makes for something cosmopolitan, yet entirely personal. It is a mixture the band describes as modern retro: the music respects the past yet refuses to live there.
Another unique layer is developed from the recording of the title track. The band discovered their tone by complete accident when the bassist was plugged into a guitar amp rather than a bass rig. The combined saturation with delay resulted in a distortion and warmth that they had not heard before. Rather than correct this "mistake," the band dove headfirst into the lucky incident to craft the entire song around this discovery. It is a bit of a metaphor for the Postindustrial Poets themselves: to discover beauty in the accidental and to make magic out of mistakes.
In addition to the existing single, the new album will also feature a narrative evolution from the gloomy sadness of "Weeping for the World" and "I Guess this thing is done" to more playful sections that highlight how versatile a band can be. It really showcases Pete's guitar work throughout, navigating between soft and jagged textures, while his lyrics transport you into a cinematic world of longing and resilience.
As "Still A Stranger Here" gains momentum, especially on Amazon Music, where it is currently already melting hearts, it is quite clear that Postindustrial Poets are more than a band; they are storytellers for the displaced, the dreamers, and those who have ever felt like they did not belong. Their music reminds all of us that our identities are a process of movement in time, movements that move through every note, every city, and every heart. While so much music is designed to be grasped by an algorithm, the sincerity of this band stands on its own. They are not trying to follow the trends; they are trying to follow the truth. And with their newest "Still A Stranger Here," the current title track, they have made being lost sound completely unforgettable.
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Website: https://postindustrialpoets.com