Adopting a slower and more calculated approach to writing and recording results in the group’s most emotive and creatively mature release to date.

Producing their almost-self-titled third album ‘Langzamer,’ Langkamer have taken much needed time to create an emotive album which challenges the listener with a maelstrom of gritty raw lows, traded off against delicately gentle highs. Having fled to record their latest long player in the salty-air seaside town of Falmouth, the Bristolians adopted a far more calculated and methodical approach towards writing and recording. Drummer/vocalist Josh Jarman explains, “The first two albums felt pretty urgent and each was finished in about 6 months, but this one feels a lot more deliberate. It’s taken us two years to get this done.”

The ten track long player begins with ‘Heart Of Tin’, and we are met with a fuzzy blues-style guitar riff which is quickly brought into focus by pulsating drums and contrasting acoustic guitar. The opening line, “Do you want the good news or the bad news first? They’re both bad news, but the bad is worse” sums up a lot of the themes explored on ‘Langzamer’. Silvery melodies and catchy rhythms mask a dark underbelly, as songs tackle heavy subjects ranging from God and atheism to death and grieving.

Talking about fifth track ‘Salvation XL’ which was inspired by a bad case of food poisoning in Marrakesh, Jarman explains, “This trip was shortly after a few of my friends had passed away, and I think a lot of my thoughts and actions at that time were being influenced by my grief without me realising it. Whenever I dwell on grief, and how death has given my life a new context, I come back to that. The ongoing battle between agnosticism and atheism. I wasn’t raised in a very strict religious home, but I come from a long line of Methodists, and it’s interesting to think about the way theism and religion have shaped my life without me knowing it. I think that’s being channelled on this album a lot. The uncertainty that comes with disbelief.”

The band approached Ben Woods (lead songwriter for The Golden Dregs) personally for production assistance and it is clear how the Cornish native had an effect on ‘Langzamer’. 2021’s ‘West Country’ and 2023’s ‘The Noon And Midnight Manual’ both felt brighter and lyrically more optimistic, whereas this album sounds a lot darker and philosophical, in keeping with its themes. Together with Woods, the band took to the vaults below The Cornish Bank, turning the depths of the iconic Falmouth venue into a makeshift studio to record the bulk of this record within a week.

Final track ‘Bluff’ closes the album with a lingering effect as it tackles the harsh yet inevitable realities of disease, death, funerals and grieving. Ending with this, perhaps one of the group’s darkest songs to date, ‘Langzamer’ showcases a maturity to Langkamer and a growing depth to their songwriting, evolving the band beyond the brighter jangle of their first two records.