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The times they are a changin’

Swiss melodic pop band Lunik are back with a new coming-of-age album and a new line-up reflective of two years of soul-searching and musical exploration.

The album “What is Next?” brings a fresh sound and sophisticated melodies. Not surprising considering the changes the band, regular chart-toppers in Switzerland, have undergone of late. After the departure of their regular drummer, frontwoman Jaël Malli, guitarist Luk Zimmerman and pianist Cédric Monnier resolved to embrace the change a la Tabula Rasa and continue as a trio, with new management and breaking from their old record company. The result is a rich album of 14 songs recorded with gusto and which soaked up the contrasting atmospheres of Luk’s home studio in Berlin, the remote Italian island of Lipari and the bohemian Swiss capital, Bern.

More than ever before, the band took their time in the songwriting process. “It was like an intensive training camp,” says Jaël. The new album is their most diverse-sounding yet. Witness the instrumentation. A six-member choir, a tuba, Berlin birdsong, potato chip packets and washing up brushes as improvised percussion instruments. A banjo, a violin, a xylophone. “We’ve created 14 musical gems and are very excited to see how audiences will respond,” says Jaël.

The title song “What is Next?” is about growing up and the end of the experimental 20s. This could also be described as the album driver, written by Jaël when she relocated to London for a year seeking new inspiration and new vistas. This inner searching was compounded by time spent taking acting classes.

“I found London an endless source of inspiration. It’s so vibrant and alive, packed with extremes and opposites, all sorts of people interesting to watch and make up stories about and which can be transformed into songs... I also loved the fact that nobody knew me as a singer so no one had a preconception about who I was when I met them for the first time. Sometimes in Switzerland I feel I have to prove myself harder to some people who think they know me because they might have read about me in the press. So in London there was no such thing. I felt free and unobserved and that was a good feeling. It gave me the opportunity to free my mind, redefine myself, reconsider who I am and who I want to be. Those thoughts and struggles are captured on this album.”

Furthering the need for experimentation with the album, Jaël would perform ten of the album songs with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in February 2012, all of which had been specially arranged for this concert by American singer, arranger and composer Anita Kerr. For the title song “What is Next” Lunik decided to also feature the Chamber Orchestra on the record, giving the album an unexpected introduction into the world of Lunik 2012.

Other songs are a direct expression of raw emotion, such as the one-take recording of “Little Fly in a Spiderweb”, which gives the work an extraordinary authenticity and immediacy. Lunik’s simple video for “What is Next?” brilliantly illustrates this point.

Balancing out this quiet and contemplative side are the album’s catchy single “Me Time”, the summer track “Feet in the Sun”, and the rocky “The Bubble I am in”. With Lunik’s newfound maturity comes new understanding of relationships. From unequal relationships (“Cat and Mouse”), and being true to oneself (“Truly You”), to lost love (“I Have Loved”), discarding immature lightheartedness (“Your Tomorrows”) and giving a nod to the coincidences and twists of life (“The Line”, “A Different You”).

A diverse album that Lunik plan to bring to life on stage. As a prelude to their tour, they will perform with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra in the Tonhalle in Zurich on October 7. A club tour will follow in November with some special guest performers.

The new CD What is Next is released on August 17, 2012. Swiss tour starts on October 7, 2012. For tour dates go to www.lunik.com