With their latest album Terminal Beach, the band Newmen goes sunburnt and surreal.
If Futur II was NEWMEN’s polite handshake, then Terminal Beach is the cheeky wink followed by a perfectly timed spin on the dancefloor. The German quintet have taken their Krautrock DNA, polished it with shimmering synth-pop gloss, sprinkled in some indie-electronic seasoning, and lobbed it straight into bold, slightly surreal territory.
Inspired by the dystopian daydreams of J.G. Ballard (because nothing says “beach holiday” like existential unease), Terminal Beach is a seamless Möbius strip of analog warmth, heartbeat rhythms, and lyrics that feel equally at home in a philosophy seminar or a sweaty basement club at 3 a.m.
Following up on Futur II’s critical glow-up, plus flirty studio moments with Rusty Egan (Visage) and Wolfgang Flür (Kraftwerk), NEWMEN have deepened both their sound and their message. The result is a record that’s at once a danceable think-piece on digital decay and a dreamlike escape pod for those who prefer their escapism with a groove.
The hooks hit quick ! Comfort Inn and Echo System are pure pop catnip — before you’re pulled into NEWMEN’s trademark spherical, hypnotic loops on tracks like Legato Linear and Exit. It’s the musical equivalent of alternating between champagne toasts and staring at the horizon, wondering if the Wi-Fi signal will survive the apocalypse.
Stylistically, the album drifts somewhere between Stereolab’s cosmic cool, Fleetwood Mac’s melodic velvet, and Can’s motorik hypnosis — a Venn diagram where contradiction somehow morphs into coherence, and subtle humour slips in like an inside joke you only get on the third listen.
Sure, it tips its hat to the past but Terminal Beach has both feet firmly planted on the avant-garde edge of pop. The sand might be artificial, the cocktails suspiciously neon, but you’ll want to stay until sunrise.
Krautrock tans well, synth-pop wears sunglasses at night, and NEWMEN have just built you a dancefloor on the edge of the digital void.
“Terminal Beach,” out now via Ferryhouse.
Tracklist_
- Concrete Beach
- Soft & Somber, Pt. 1
- Soft & Somber, Pt. 2
- Comfort Inn
- The Loop
- Legato Linear
- Cashmere
- Exit
- Latter-Day Martyr
- Peel to Peer
- Echo System
- Swim
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