Premiere: Thomas Bodenständig – Langsam Leverkusen

Days, weeks and months passed without any word; all avenues of communication had run dry. It was as though he’d disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace behind him. Taking matters into their own hands, they began their detective work, leaving no stone unturned. But after following all of their leads his whereabouts remained shrouded in mystery. They wouldn’t give up that easily though; the search would continue until they had their answer. 

A year after his first EP, Is This EBM?, Geneva’s Brainwaves crew are gearing up for the release of Thomas Bodenständig’s sophomore album, Speed Am Rhein. But the label are releasing it with mixed emotions. In May they received a box of 66 hand-numbered cassettes from Thomas, along with a largely illegible letter that seemed to detail that he was delving in high-speed trading during visits to Franfurt and had some sort of pulmonary affliction with complications. It outlined one final ask of the label — no matter what happened they must release the album before the end of 2020. 

Since receiving the package, they have made countless failed attempts at contacting him through every possible line of communication, but to no avail. His apartment in Leverkusen is now vacant, his favourite barstool in his local is gathering dust and his cellar seems to have been emptied of all of his recording equipment. They enlisted their friend to go and scour the streets and the bars, and even checked local hospital and morgue records for his name, but it’s as if he’s vanished off the face of the earth. 

The label are still searching for his whereabouts and they won’t be giving up until they do, but on Thomas’ instructions, and after six months of no news, they are releasing the album into the world with a mixture of sadness, pride and nostalgia…

Buy HERE.