Die Sauna

It’s one thing to start a band with youthful enthusiasm. It’s quite another to keep that band going for years alongside a full-time job, pouring your passion into songwriting and management in every spare moment. Die Sauna have been performing this remarkable balancing act for over a decade now, producing works that are as understated as they are outstanding within the post-punk revival, leaving a deep mark on the country’s recent musical history ranging from the darkly dreamy “So schön wie jetzt war es noch nie” (2019) – which provides a soundtrack to social decline in a manner that is almost prophetic in its melodies and lyrics – to the coming-of-age soundtrack on “tut beni” (2026). Thus, the new album showcases a band whose members have grown both as individuals and in the face of challenges, singing here in paradoxically hazy songs such as “ich liebe dich” and “sorry” of falling and getting back up, but also of remorse and quiet hope, and conveying this all through wonderfully unpretentious lyrics. A touch of jangle pop, hazy synths, the salty breeze of new wave – it is the long-awaited sign of life from a band that – without exuberance but with a great deal of authentic passion – makes a case for carrying on no matter what.