Das Beat – Identität

‘Identität’ is the debut EP by Berlin’s Das Beat. The duo of Eddie Rabenberger and Blue Hawaii’s Agor provide duel-lingual soundscapes underpinned with the driving beat their moniker suggests.

The opening, former single, ‘Bubble’ propels itself along with glorious bursts of synths and percussion whilst vocalist Eddie’s words glide between German and English culminating in the earworm chorus “And you know there is trouble when I kick you out of your bubble”.

Second up is the hypnotic, electronic pulse of title track ‘Identität’. The song is interspersed with Moroder-esque synths and a joyous vocal delivery. The track seems to sit somewhere between intense and playful and is all the better for this juxtaposition.

‘Adriane’ is arguably the strongest of the four tracks; a beautiful, understated reflection on the breaking up of a relationship and how this can ultimately be empowering. It both extenuates the sadness “The rock of my own island, drowning in the bitter silence” whilst embracing the strength to move on.

There’s something Velvet Underground-y about final track, ‘Jackie’, not only in Eddie channelling her inner Nico but the simple guitar line which wanders along through the whole song. ‘Jackie’ is a really nice left turn to the previous three tracks indicating that Das Beat can shift their sounds in all sorts of directions whilst still sounding utterly themselves.

Das Beat have a very distinctive sound which serves them well and bodes well for an interesting future both in their atmospheric moments and their more driving electronic adventures.

‘Identität’ is out June 4th via Arbutus Records.

Matthew Bryan