German Post-Punk Group The Third Sound Released New Single “Wasteland” Via Fuzz Club

Berlin psych/post-punk band The Third Sound are today releasing the second single, ‘Wasteland’, from their upcoming studio album ‘Most Perfect Solitude’. Out April 26th digitally and May 17th on vinyl/CD, the follow-up to 2022’s ‘First Light’ is also supported by newly-announced European tour-dates. Arriving following recent lead single ‘Another Time, Another Place’, you can watch the video for ‘Wasteland’ below.

Talking about the primal psych-rock drone ‘Wasteland’, surely a soon-to-be live favourite, front-man Hakon Adalsteinsson says: “‘Wasteland’ is one of the heavier songs of ‘Most Perfect Solitude’. Repetitive fuzz guitar and hypnotic drums are combined with a nightmarish vision of a city in ruins.” The single is accompanied by suitably distorted, monochromatic visuals courtesy of Methadrome Media / Alexander Schipper.

Talking about the album, Hakon Adalsteinsson adds: “After touring First Light’ heavily and releasing our Fuzz Club Session LP last year – a career-spanning, retrospective document in a way – this album feels like starting with a clean slate. There is a certain warmth to some of the songs that has not been there before, but they still flicker between light and shadows, kind of like a slow motion audio version of Brion Gysin‘s Dreamachine.

‘Most Perfect Solitude’ marks a new chapter, not just in sound but personnel, for the Berlin-based band led by Icelandic musician and author Hakon Adalsteinsson – who, outside of The Third Sound, has played in the likes of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Singapore Sling, the Anton Newcombe & Tess Parks band and, most recently, Golden Hours. Introducing a new Third Sound line up, the new record finds Adalsteinsson (Guitar/Vocals) and long-time member and collaborator Robin Hughes (Organ/Guitar) joined by fresh recruits Frankie Broek (drums) and Golden Hours band-mate Wim Janssens (bass).

With the new group pieced together, Hakon’s early demos of the track were fleshed out over a week of intense rehearsals during a rare gap in his hectic touring schedule with both BJM and Golden Hours at that time. Wasting no time, the band jumped into the studio with Torben Utecht as soon as the songs were ready and laid down the recordings in four days, before being mastered by Ryan Van Kriedt: “We made this album relatively quickly as we only had a tight time frame to make it in. The odds were against us but just like gambling big and ending with a winning hand, it felt incredible, as well as a huge relief to realise when we pulled it off. It’s an album that we are extremely proud of, moving the band forward artistically.”

If Hakon’s non-stop time and mileage on the road influenced the making of the record, it is also equally as integral thematically. The album’s title is a phrase lifted from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but found by way of Werner Herzog’s journal writings in ‘Of Walking In Ice’, documenting his walk from Munich to Paris, which Hakon was reading whilst out on tour: “I noticed after the album was finished that many of the songs touched on the theme of trips or some sort of travel, so I knew immediately that it was going to be the title, especially because of the context I found it in. When you are travelling or touring you can find yourself in a weird sort of isolation, whilst also often looking for solitude to get away from everything. And, sometimes, it is best to listen to music in that most perfect solitude.”

‘MOST PERFECT SOLITUDE’ TOUR DATES

May 2 – Leiden, NL @ Gebr. Denobel
May 3 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club 2024
May 4 – Antwerp, BE @ Djingel Djangel
May 7 – Saint Martin, FR @ Cafe Concert Freppel
May 9 – Basel, CH @ Bar Renee
May 10 – Vieux Ferrette, FR @ Brasserie Radwulf
11 – Schaffhausen, CH @ Radio Rasa
May 13 – Kusel, DE @ Kinett
May 14 – Dortmund, DE @ Sub Rosa
June 2 – Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain
Sep 5 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat
Sep 7 – Folkestone, UK @ The Chambers
Sep 12 – London, UK @ The Water Rats
Sep 13 – Northampton, UK @ The Black Prince
Sep 14 – Hastings, UK @ The Piper
Sep 16 – Rouen, FR @ Le # Pièces Musik
Sep 19 – Oslo, NO @ Revolver
Sep 20 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pustervik
21/09 – Copenhagen, DK @ Rahuset