hackedepicciotto – Zeitenwende
“Zeitenwende” is the fifth track on Lichtung and the third single released ahead of the album, which arrives July 10 on Mute. We’ve covered the lead-up closely: Wiederbelebung (W14) established the context when the album was announced, and Einig (W18) went deeper into the duo’s working method. “Zeitenwende” means turning point, or a shift in era, a German compound that’s been in wide cultural circulation since Olaf Scholz used it to describe Europe’s changed security situation in 2022. Hacke and de Picciotto’s use of it here carries that weight without needing to spell it out.
Lichtung is the first studio album Alexander Hacke and Danielle de Picciotto have made since The Silver Threshold (2021), and the first composed entirely in German, written and recorded at their home on the outskirts of Berlin after fourteen years of nomadic living. As I noted when “Wiederbelebung” arrived, the significance of that context runs through everything: the language choice, the move away from drone structures toward more complex arrangements, de Picciotto’s return to piano. This is a record made by two people who have genuinely changed their circumstances and are working out what that means in sound.
At this point I’m counting down to July 10. Lichtung is the record I’ve been most looking forward to this year and every single released from it has made me more certain of that.
Tour Dates:
- Jun. 6 / Frankfurt, DE / Ono
- Jun. 10 / Regensburg, DE / Ostentor Kino
- Jun. 13 / Düsseldorf, DE / Art:Walk Festival, Weltkunstzimmer
- Jun. 27 / Berlin, DE / Silent Green Kulturquartier (Lichtung release celebration, with Sonic Morgue)
- Jul. 10 / Porto, PT / KISMIF Museum of Science
- Aug. 27 / Poznan, PL / Estrada w Centrum
- Sep. 1 / Geneva, CH / Cave 12 Festival la Bâtie
- Sep. 12 / Den Bosch, NL / William Twee
- Sep. 15 / Prague, CZ / Archa
- Sep. 16 / Brno, CZ / Kabinet Mu
- Nov. 20 / Amsterdam, NL / OCCI
- Nov. 27 / Sofia, BG / Club Pave
- Jan. 30, 2027 / Lübeck, DE / Treibsand
