Stream and Follow us on these Platforms
Reviews and interviews with e.g. Diedrich Diederichsen, Ane Hebeisen, and Simone Keller—featured on taz, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Radio RaBe, Bandcamp, and others—are coming in. Read and listen here.
Melodies in My Head is the new group of Thomas Burkhalter (anthropologist, AV artist, and founder of Norient) and music producer Daniel Jakob (Dubokaj, Dejot). Their debut album, «Joy Anger Doubt» (digital release early 2025, vinyl is out), takes us on a ride through joyful pop, hard-hitting club tracks, and experimental sonic landscapes.
The lyrics are drawn largely from ethnographic interviews conducted with artists and thinkers in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe over the past fifteen years. They bear witness to the diverse emotions people go through in turbulent times: hope, joy, ecstasy, depression, doubt, fear, trauma, and anger.
The album was mixed in Gothenburg by Christoffer Berg (Depeche Mode, Fever Ray) and mastered in Berlin by Norman Nitzsche at Calyx Mastering.
The album features:
Sophie Adam (aka Namaka, singer, Zurich), Kacey Moore (singer, Accra), Christophe Jaquet (singer, Lausanne),
Joy Frempong (aka OY, singer, Berlin), Balbir Bhujhangy (singer, Birmingham),
Philippe Wicht (singer, Biel) and Renee Van Trier (performer, Tilburg).
Interview statements come from:
Joseph Kamaru aka KMRU (Nairobi), Emma Nzioka aka Coco Em (Nairobi),
Boutross Munene (Nairobi), Hitman Kaht (Nairobi), Mr. Lu (Nairobi), Leon Omondi aka Debe (Nairobi),
George Githuma Njogu aka Baby Elephante (Nairobi),
Victor Munyasya (Nairobi), Ali Gul Pir (Karachi), Garo Gdanian (Lebanon), DJ Ritu (London),
Jenny Mbaye (London), Michael Calandra Achode (London), and Federico Campana (London).
Melodies In My Head on Spotify
Interview Skits: with Ana Van Tendeloo and Ivan Larson
Wars, climate change, migration flows, crises, and changes. We live in an uncertain time with an uncertain future that leaves no one untouched. Melodies In My Head looks at these times from many angles, in a new concert format: between pop and electro, anthropology, dance, and film.
«Joy Anger Doubt» is a 75-minute audiovisual trip that speaks of today's world through pointed interview statements, through dance and video, through atmospheric to oppressive images. The texts are largely taken from ethnographic interviews conducted over the last fifteen years with artists and thinkers in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. They bear witness to the diverse emotions people experience in turbulent times: Hope, joy, ecstasy, depression, doubt, fear, trauma, and anger.
Line-Up
Daniel Jakob (CH) – Music
Thomas Burkhalter (CH) – Music, Video
Ana Van Tendeloo (BE, e.g. Bühnen Bern) – Dance
Ivan Larson (CH – e.g. Gilles Jobin) – Dance
Sophie Adam (CH) – Singer
Kacey Moore (GH) – Singer
Christophe Jaquet (CH) – Singer
Jonas Fehr (CH) Video + Light
Beryll Ryder (CH) Sound
Johanna Hilari (CH) Dramaturgy
Buy our music on Bandcamp
