On This Track: German Voices #3
Five releases about mental health, digital overload, everyday absurdities and a country struggling with its own future.
German-language music doesn't always have to offer answers. Sometimes it's enough to say what's bothering you, laugh at the absurdity of everyday life, or put a feeling into words that are hard to say out loud. This edition of On This Track German Voices 3 brings together five artists who do exactly that, each in their own way. Leto deal with mental health, Petra Buchholz turn everyday frustration into indie-punk, Angela Aux questions our relationship with technology, Salomon finds humor in awkward situations, and Das Aus Der Jugend take on a future that doesn't look particularly bright. Five releases, five different perspectives, and plenty to listen to.
Leto - “Das Ende / das Nichts”
Leto are entering a new chapter. The Hamburg emo-punk and post-hardcore band return with “Das Ende / das Nichts”, the first single from their fourth album, "Ich versuche mir selbst ein Zuhause zu sein", due January 22, 2027, via Rookie Records. It marks a clear break from what came before: a heavier sound, darker lyrics and what the band describes as the darkest point in their history. The song was written during an acute psychosomatic crisis, directly from a clinic. That experience shapes both the single and the upcoming album, which make a case for speaking openly about mental illness even when doing so comes with personal and social risks. Naming diagnoses and fears, rather than hiding them, becomes a necessary first step toward getting better. Musically, Leto have also pushed for a new direction. A fifth member, synthesizers, new approaches to songwriting and production, and clearer roles within the band helped make the shift possible. Produced by Kristian Kühl, with mixing and mastering by Konstantin Cajkin, “Das Ende / das Nichts” sets the tone for an album about facing what hurts and trying to feel at home in yourself again.
🎧 Stream “Das Ende / das Nichts” by Leto on Apple Music
Petra Buchholz - “Eine andere Arbeit”
Petra Buchholz call their sound “Bierdosen-Indie,” and the description fits a band that isn't interested in making everyday life sound more polished than it is. The Cologne quintet move between indie rock, punk, emo and indie pop with scruffy guitars, strong beats, and choruses that stay with you. Their songs find material in ordinary frustrations, absurd situations, and the small details that can say something about the bigger picture without turning every observation into a grand statement. “Eine andere Arbeit” is the final single from their upcoming album "Eine andere Stadt", out November 13 via Scene Police Records. The band balance melancholy with humor and don't take themselves too seriously, but that doesn't mean they avoid taking a position. Their song “scheiß afd” makes their anti-fascist stance explicit, without dressing it up in elaborate rhetoric. There is something appealing about that combination: frustration with the world, a sense of humor about the mess, and no need to pretend that music has to solve everything. Fans of bands like Captain Planet and Turbostaat may feel at home here. Petra Buchholz turn the everyday into indie-punk that sounds direct, restless, and full of character.
🎧 Stream “Eine andere Arbeit” by Petra Buchholz on Apple Music
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Angela Aux - “Das Nichts macht Kopien von sich selbst”
What happens when technology knows what we want before we do? And how much of ourselves are we willing to hand over in the process? These questions run through "Das Nichts macht Kopien von sich selbst", the first German-language album by Angela Aux, aka Florian Kreier and his first release with Hamburg label Clouds Hill. Across eleven tracks, he takes on AI, surveillance, biohacking and the pressure to constantly improve ourselves. But this isn't an album full of serious lectures about the future. Angela Aux mixes indie pop, lo-fi beats and '90s grunge guitars with dry humor and some pretty strange ideas. On “Hab Supplements bestellt”, a routine attempt at self-optimization leads to xenobots, tiny living robots made from synthetic cells. “Schöne Replikantin” asks, “Woher weißt du so gut, was ich mag?” It's a simple question, but it gets at something unsettling: what happens when even the feeling of being understood can be copied? Then there's “Sie wissen Alles”, a song about being watched and understood a little too well by the systems around us. The proposed solution is almost comically simple: “Komm wir tauschen Handys / dann checken sie nichts mehr.” It probably wouldn't solve much, but the thought is appealing. The album also takes a more unexpected turn on “Im Wald ist Licht”, featuring Roger Rekless. The song imagines how aliens might see humanity, raising the uncomfortable possibility that visitors from another planet might have good reasons to keep their distance. Elsewhere, Angela Aux brings together musicians including Cico Beck of The Notwist, while moving between wry indie songs and more offbeat experiments. There's a lot going on here, but the songs don't pretend to have everything figured out. Instead, Angela Aux looks at the things we already accept as normal - tracking, optimization, the idea that every part of life can be improved - and makes them seem strange again. Sometimes the joke lands first. The questions tend to stick around longer.
🎧 Stream “Das Nichts macht Kopien von sich selbst” by Angela Aux on Apple Music
Salomon - “Rauchen”
Salomon started out as a singer-songwriter, but the new EP "Schlechter Musikgeschmack" leaves that identity behind. The acoustic guitar has given way to a full band, with a sound that moves between indie-punk and indie-rap without following either genre too neatly. Across the EP, apocalyptic romance, the hopelessness of making a living as an artist, and a hazy nostalgia for small-town youth become the starting points for catchy songs with a sense of humor. “Rauchen”, chosen as the EP's focus track, takes a familiar social situation and turns it into a small dilemma: should you start smoking just to have a reason to talk to someone interesting in a crowded bar? It's an everyday question with a slightly ridiculous premise, and exactly the kind of detail that makes the song stand out. Rather than overstate the moment, Salomon lets the awkwardness and the humor do their work. Salomon is also one third of punk band BSK, who released their second album on Kidnap Music last year. On "Schlechter Musikgeschmack", he brings that punk energy into a looser, more unpredictable set of songs. The result feels less like a clean departure from his earlier work than a chance to let different sides of his songwriting collide.
🎧 Stream “Schlechter Musikgeschmack” by Salomon on Apple Music
Das Aus Der Jugend - “Morgen wird es schlimmer”
The title of Das Aus Der Jugend's new EP doesn't leave much room for optimism. "Morgen wird es schlimmer" moves between crisis analysis, end-of-the-world moods and a kind of fun that doesn't cancel out the darkness. Released via Flight13 Records on tape and digitally, the seven-song collection takes aim at wage labor, militarization, the rise of fascism and the people running a country that seems to be coming apart at the seams. But the band's response isn't simply to point out what's wrong. The songs also question the comfort of believing you're already on the right side of history. Is it enough to have always been against the things that are now unfolding, or does that belief become another way of doing nothing? The alternative suggested here is the underground: not as an easy answer, but as a refusal to settle into passive opposition. Musically, Das Aus Der Jugend move between rough German punk, rock riffs and more romantic indie passages. The songs flow into one another, creating a connected seven-track release that feels carefully shaped while keeping the spontaneity of something thrown together in a room. The cynical lightness is part of the appeal. The future may look bleak, but the band aren't about to give up on the pleasure of making a racket.
🎧 Stream “Morgen wird es schlimmer” by Das Aus Der Jugend on Apple Music
There's a lot going on in these five releases, but none of them feels far removed from real life. Leto put something deeply personal into words. Petra Buchholz find the funny side of everyday frustration without ignoring what's wrong with the world. Angela Aux makes you question things you might usually take for granted, while Salomon turns a moment in a bar into a song you can easily get stuck in your head. And Das Aus Der Jugend capture the feeling of watching things go wrong and wondering what comes next. They're very different records, but that's what makes this selection work. Some hit harder than others, some make you laugh, and some leave you with questions you hadn't thought about before. Put them on, see which one sticks with you, and take it from there.
Keep discovering independent music with our other On This Track, Three Track Week and Artist Features.
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