Groombridge — Der Specht

"Der Specht" (the woodpecker) is admittedly a somewhat unusual name for an album. It emerged from a complex guitar sound. It only takes one stroke to sound an army of tones. After countless years of being defamed as a normal "rock band", the new album aims to show that the band’s sounds require much more work and creativity than merely connecting a guitar to an amp. One can sense the influence of contemporary classical music and jazz – some are even speaking of a new musical style, "clock" or "rossical".
"In reality, we found "the woodpecker" to be quite an interesting animal after a little goofing around in the band room and were able to create a multi-layered story around the bird," the five guys explain. A story with a very artistic artwork, published in form of a book with sketched woodpecker pictures from two-year-old children to 90-year-old grandmothers, that shows the broad diversity of imagination. All contributors were asked to draw a woodpecker and the result is quite stunning and leaves ample room for interpretation. Have a look here: http://groombridge.ch/bookletspecht/

A story with a 15 minutes long music video consisting of four clips (and songs)  that, when combined, tell a story. Some shots were used multiple times but have a different meaning in the specific clip. It’s completely different from what you see in current music videos and it is pretty impressive. Some background knowledge is necessary to interpret the cover: The woodpecker only chooses sick trees. In a healthy tree, he faces the risk of not being able to free his beak. "We have enough "nonsense" songs out there. It is time show our colors and take the risk of exposing ourselves," the guys say. The guiding principle for the new album was to write "compelling pieces". Songs that make some people want to skip! There should be points of friction. But those who feel at home with this sound will get their money’s worth.
Since the last Album, the band has started to incorporate personal content and opinions into the lyrics. The words of "i'LL Trees" represent a slight alteration of the summary on the bird on Wikipedia.org – embellished with a few personal lines, these lyrics decay into something we are currently observing in the world. Too many individualists and dictators are causing turbulent times. In "The Reverser", climate change sings us a love song, and "My Smartphone just Broke" makes us face the true problems of our time. After so much winking, the eyes of a few listeners may begin to hurt.