March 19, 2024

New Short-Haired Domestic ‘German’ Single Reveals New Facet of the indie-pop duo

Short-Haired Domestic, photo by Jake Friese-Greene

Trailblazing UK producer Tim Friese-Greene (Talk Talk, Heligoland, Catherine Wheel, Thomas Dolby, Lush) presents ‘A song in German concerning gardens and goodbyes’, the latest single for his project Short-Haired Domestic, a collaboration with Lee Friese- Greene of 90s London Riot Grrl band Sidi Bou Said and lead vocalist / guitarist in Pavlova.

Each track on their debut eponymous album features vocals in a different language. At their heart are a breakbeat loop, sampled fragments, scratching, insistent funk and Latin rhythms, surprising appearances of acoustic guitar and just about every sound that’s possible to wring from a WASP synthesizer.

‘This single ‘A song in German’ is about ageing and change, and empty nests, finding that life can take on a different focus and meaning in middle-age; just learning how to sleep, how to sing, how to purr… “Gerade lerne ich zu schlafen Gerade lerne ich zu singen Gerade lerne ich zu schnurren”. It’s also about the cat,” says Lee Friese-Greene.

“The orchestral samples at the front are from a 1908 tone poem called ‘In a Summer Garden’ by Frederick Delius, who, although brought up in Bradford, was born in Germany. Tim found the double tie-up of this particularly satisfying. The video was produced by our son Dylan, mostly shot on Super 8 to give it that vintage, otherworldly feel and was partly made in tribute to that particular katzenfreund who we laid to rest under the Leanderbusch (butterfly tree) in September. Turns out that this was the time to say goodbye”.

Melancholic and driven with a pop edge and sensibility, this music allows emotion to be largely generated by the music as a response to the lyric.

Earlier, the duo released singles ‘A song in Spanish addressed to men who drive big cars’ and ‘A song in Latin… A song in Hindi…‘, as well as ‘A song in Japanese about trying things out before committing’.

Apart from his work with Talk Talk and Catherine Wheel, Friese-Greene has also produced works by Lush, Thomas Dolby, Sidi Bou Said and Firefly Burning. AllMusic describes him as “renowned for his unerring sense of atmosphere and nuance, Tim Friese-Greene was among the most innovative – albeit underrecognized – producers of his era”.

The ‘Short-Haired Domestic’ debut LP is out now on vinyl and CD, as well as digitally. Available across digital platforms, it can also be obtained directly in all format directly from the artist via Bandcamp.

 

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About Mike D 282 Articles
Hey people I'm Mike D from Athens GR (43). I'm a sound engineer, radio producer, and certainly a music "freak." I couldn't be anything else, you see: I grew up in a musical home (my father was a composer), and wanted to be a rock-star but wasn't patient enough to study music. Instead, I studied the technical stuff and went really "nuts" when I started writing articles about the bands and artists I love. It all started back in 2002 in a printed magazine (Sound Maker - RIP) and I still do it because I really like sharing my libraries, discotheque, info, connections, knowledge, and all. I'm involved in all "waves" music (new wave/darkwave/post-punk/shoegaze), punk, industrial, EBM, alternative rock, indie, electronic, avant-garde/ experimental/ freestyle...but on the other hand I can easily throw a classical CD in the player, or a jazzy tune, or...ok you get it: Music! I'd like to read your comments on my writing because you know how it goes, and you all know the glorious song by Placebo,"Without You I'm Nothing"...Thanx and enjoy Freedom and Music, Loud!
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