Short Reviews [Manuel Schmid & Marek Arnold - 2019 - "Zeiten"]

When Marek asked me if I would be interested in hearing his latest project, a German language piano-based art rock project I was of course immediately intrigued. What I hadn’t realised at the time was that his partner in crime in this endeavour was Manuel Schmid, who among other things is singer in Cyril where Marek also plies his trade (as well as Toxic Smile, Seven Steps to the Green Door, Damanek and so many more). I must confess to not knowing exactly who does what on the album, as Marek normally provides keyboards and saxophone, while Manuel is a pianist and drummer, but there are times when it sounds like a duo and at others when it is more of a band. I have no idea what they are singing about, but this is a lush, delicious album which feels like a comfy armchair and all I want to when playing it is to collapse into the music and be surrounded by it. It didn’t take long to work out what this album reminded me of in no small measure, namely “Stay” by The Artwork Project. That is one of my favourite songs of the last ten years, from a group of musicians put together by Marek to record something special for a festival, and contains the same warmth, depth, passion and emotional art rock all held together with wonderful piano. That is in English, sung by the wonderful Melanie Mau, but there is the same sense of purpose, of commerciality bound together with adventure and a determination to do something outside the norm. This may not be massively complex or layered, but is art rock at its very best, with Manuel’s vocals in perfect harmony with the music and in many ways, I am glad I don’t understand the language as then it allows me to drift away that little bit further. As with “Stay”, this is going to take a little more work to find but is well worth the effort. ‘Zeiten’ means ‘time’, and with this album I feel the need to make some more time and relax into it again just one more time…