Cheerfulness

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Cheerfulness
The joy at the Berlin Festival, September 2012
The joy at the Berlin Festival , September 2012
General information
origin Hamburg, Germany
Genre (s) Indie pop
founding 2010
Website dieheiterkeit.de
Founding members
Stella summer
Bass , vocals
 Rabea Erradi
Stefanie Hochmuth (until 2013)
Current occupation
Singing, guitar, piano
 Stella summer

Die Heiterkeit is a German pop band that was founded in Hamburg in 2010 and released their debut album Herz aus Gold in 2012 . The band consists of the singer and songwriter Stella Sommer and a changing live line-up.

history

Sommer and Erradi met in 2009 while studying at the University of Hamburg . Both decided to form the band, also because of the similar taste in music. At this point, Sommer and Hochmuth were already making music together, the first rehearsal for three took place on January 1st, 2010. They started the band project without previous concerts or demo singles. At first the three women kept the band a secret from the Hamburg music scene, as no band name had yet been found. Together with this, the logo, a smiley face with a straight mouth, was created a short time later and the band was finally founded. Soon after, the first untitled EP was released on white vinyl .

In December 2010, Die Heiterkeit was added to the “Hot for 2011” list in the Musikexpress . There they stood in line with Friends , Alabama Shakes and Azealia Banks, among others . In 2011 the band went on tour and in February 2012, this time by Rolling Stone , they were listed on the list of "12 for 2012".

In 2012, Die Häuslichkeit released a split EP with the Austrian band Ja, Panik , on which the two bands cover each other. In the same year, the debut album Herz aus Gold was released on the Hamburg label Staatsakt . On May 6, 2013, the band announced on their Facebook page that Stefanie Hochmuth had left the band. Anna-Leena Lutz, the previous drummer for Half Girl, took her place.

In 2016 the band released the double album Pop & Tod I + II, produced with producer Moses Schneider . Philipp Wulf from the Messer band played the drums , and Sonja Deffner, who had previously accompanied the band as a tour keyboardist, joined the band as a member.

On December 6, 2018, the band released the new single What happened . The fourth album of the same name was released on March 1, 2019, most of which was recorded by Sommer alone with the producer Moses Schneider. There was also a tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland in March. The album received high praise from the press. For example, B. Spiegel Online 10 out of 10 points, the Musikexpress spoke of a “Goth Chanson masterpiece” and the Radioeins Soundcheck awarded the highest rating four times.

Singer Stella Sommer released the solo album 13 Kinds of Happiness in 2018 , on which she sings in English.

Style and reception

The band's style is described as emphatically calm, gloomy or “cool, almost strict”. ByteFM recognizes "cultivated slacking ", the band represents the "laconic in all its facets". The voice of Stella Sommer is considered to be the group's trademark. Her distinctive deep and smoky voice is described by the Hamburger Abendblatt as "dark, slowed down, pretty bored". According to Birgit Reuther, the author of the article, “Sommer takes the listener by the hand with this voice and goes down a dim basement staircase. Towards the unlit corners where beauty seems all the more mysterious. "

The Rolling Stone wrote that Sommer, Erradi and Hochmuth conquered "soil on supposedly male territory: rock music and the pub ". FM4 describes the music as "scrappy guitar pop".

The album Pop & Tod I + II is characterized by sacred choir songs and harmonies. With regard to Pop & Tod I + II, Andreas Borcholte from Spiegel Online speaks of a “free, independent sound that searches for a more universal truth apart from fashions, generations and sensitivities” and awards 9.2 out of 10 points. Tomas Kurianowicz from the FAZ judged that the songs were "really good, really authentic ... even if the undercooled Weltschmerz lyrics, perhaps the most distant since Tocotronic , sometimes seem a bit averse".

Discography

Albums

  • 2012: Heart of Gold ( State Act / No, Serenity)
  • 2014: Monterey (State Act)
  • 2016: Pop & Tod I + II ( Buback )
  • 2019: What Happened (Buback)

EPs

  • 2010: Die Heiterkeit (vinyl; self-published)
  • 2012: split with yes, panic (act of state / no, serenity)
  • 2013: Daddy's Girl (vinyl; State act)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Joy: Lassie Singers 2.0. In: musikexpress.de , September 18, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b c indie pop women The cheerfulness: First the attitude, then the chords. Spiegel Online, September 19, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ Joachim Hentschel: 12 for 12. In: Rolling Stone Edition 208, February 2012, p. 41
  4. ↑ Die Heiterkeit release new single “Was Passiert Ist” and announce an album. In: diffusmag.de. December 6, 2018, accessed February 18, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Everything is so new and exciting! Spiegel Online, February 26, 2019.
  6. ↑ The cheerfulness - "Heart of Gold" - ByteFM. In: ByteFM. August 19, 2012, accessed on May 7, 2020 (German).
  7. ↑ a b Summer girls sound different. In: Abendblatt.de , January 8, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  8. ↑ Something for the Weekend: Tips for going out. In: fm4.orf.at , November 30, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  9. ↑ Daniel Gerhardt: The floating goes on. Die Zeit, June 3, 2016, accessed June 20, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Frau Sommer and her coldness. Spiegel Online, May 31, 2016, accessed June 20, 2016 .
  11. ↑ FAZ, June 13, 2016, p. 17.