THE FIRST SINGLE FROM DEATH & OTHER DESTINATIONS: CARS IN CAIRO
The first single from Death & Other Destinations, Cars In Cairo, is released on 10 April. The poem, voiced by Nick, was written by him while he was a visiting writer in a Cairo school. Thies took a recording of this poem and cut it up to fit to his music (on which he plays all the instruments). The whole is a lively and uniquely compelling urban mix.
THE ALBUM: DEATH & OTHER DESTINATIONS by Nick Toczek & Thies Marsen
Death & other destinations, subtitled The Second Bavariations Album, was released in January 2021. Pressed in blood-red vinyl, it’s actually nothing like as dark as its tongue-in-cheek title might suggest.
It’s the result of a long-term remote collaboration between the British poet Nick Toczek and the German producer, singer-song-writer and multi-instrumentalist, Thies Marsen. The pair have only ever met once and rarely speak by phone, preferring to conduct their on-going partnership via email.
Their debut release was The Bavariations EP, a three-track CD released in 2012 by Soundshack Records. This was followed, in June 2019, by The Bavariations Album, a twelve-track CD released by indie label Not-A-Rioty. This received enthusiastic reviews in the UK and German music press.
Now their latest release, Death & Other Destinations, is garnering similar praise:
‘Death & Other Destinations is a total delight, words running gloriously riot encouraged by a post punk, prog-metallic soundtrack. Nick delivers... with rhetorical authority and relish. His poetry sounds conversational and freights intelligence... Thies Marsen’s accompaniments are appropriately intelligent and sensitive. It’s beautifully presented on vinyl, a darkly comedic celebration of the power of words.’
- four-star album review by Robb Johnson, RNR Magazine 85 (Jan/Feb 2021).