We have for you today a full stream of the self-titled debut album by the German band Trautonist. When I heard the first single from the album back in January — “Distance” — I described it then as flowing like a slow, sinuous stream under cloudy skies, with you the listener floating along with it, a soft breeze on your neck, falling into a meditative trance but still mindful of a knife edge that lingers under your throat.

I was captivated by the song’s drifting atmosphere of regret and longing, and enjoyed the vocal tandem of the band’s two members (Dennis and Katharina), one harsh and shrieking, the other ghostly and pure.

But it turns out that “Distance” (relatively speaking) is the softest and most self-reflective track on an album that, as a whole, is both emotionally intense and more extreme than I might have guessed. On the other hand, the song also turned out to be a reliable sign of the band’s ability to craft bereft but moving melodies. Continue reading »