The Persistence of Memory (album)

The Persistence of Memory is the fourth album by Emigrate.

The Persistence of Memory
Album by Emigrate
Recorded:	Funkhaus Studio Berlin, Germany (Drums) Sky van Hoff Studios, Germany (Drums) Studio Engine 55 Berlin, Germany (Vocals, Guitars, Basses)
Producer:	Richard Kruspe Sky van Hoff
Released:	12 November 2021
Length:	34:19
Label:	Sony Music
Emigrate album chronology A Million Degrees (2018) The Persistence of Memory (2021)
Singles:
Freeze My Mind      27 August 2021 You Can't Run Away      24 September 2021 Always On My Mind      15 October 2021

Information

After Richard came home from the Europe Stadium Tour 2019, he fell into a deep hole. He didn't know what to do and thought about quitting music in general, and turn to other things. While he didn't like the present he was living in, he forced himself to go to the studio and listen to old demos, as a way to travel to the past. When he started to work on all those songs, he re-arranged and wrote new lyrics, he felt that he was still having fun in making music. Richard says: "The past has probably saved my life a little bit, through that I then saw the future again." Taking the trip down memory lane was also the spark for the album title: "That's why the album is called The Persistence of Memory - the only thing that held me during that time were my memories. Going back to the past finally showed me the future." It is named after the painting by Salvador Dalí.

Together with Andrea Marino, Richard worked on electronic remixes of the songs. But Richard decided to not mix those songs, because he wants to end this phase of Emigrate with a last album, before he turns to these electronic songs. The original idea was to release a vinyl box of the first three Emigrate albums with an additional disc with songs that weren't previously released.

Album title, artwork and pre-order date were revealed on 12 September 2021, via Emigrate's official social media channels. Two days later, the German magazine Sonic Seducer, leaked the release date of the album. The press release shows a release date of 22 October, which indicates that the album release has been pushed back. On 14 October 2021, the release date was postponed to 12 November 2021. The vinyl editions were postponed to 17 December for Germany, Austria and Switzerland and to 21 January for the rest of the world.

The first issue of the CD release of the album has a few mistakes in the tracklist and in the credits of the booklet. The tracklist on the back still lists the song Yeah Yeah Yeah, which has been renamed to I'm Still Alive, which is already to be seen on all digital platforms and the tracklists of the physical releases on the official website. Additionally the song You Can't Run Away is named Runaway in the booklet credits. In December 2021, the first corrected CD has been found, which lists I'm Still Alive in all necessary places of the artwork.

The album artwork was created by Arnaud Giroux.

Songs

• Always On My Mind was planned to be released on Silent So Long. Additionally Richard revealed that he started to work on the song ten years ago, because of a request by his label for an Elvis tribute album. So the songs earliest date is around 2011.
• Freeze My Mind was the first song ever written for Emigrate in 2001.
• I'm Still Alive comes from the sessions to the first album, Emigrate, as evidenced by scenes from it's music video, which were shot in 2007, which show Richard singing the song.
• Blood Stained Wedding was written between 2007 and 2011, when Richard was living in New York.

Promotion

A press release was given out to promote the album. The full press release text is the following:

German original

Emigrate. Aus dem einmaligen Projekt ist mehr als das geworden. Viel mehr. Die drei Alben EMIGRATE (2007), SILENT SO LONG (2014) und A MILLION DEGREES (2018) beweisen, dass hinter Emigrate mit Richard Zven Kruspe ein überaus kreativer Kopf steht, der neben Rammstein die Freiheit braucht, sich musikalisch anderweitig zu verwirklichen können. Bei Emigrate gibt es keine Grenzen, keine Barrieren, keine Schranken. Alles ist möglich, Sounds sind nicht limitiert – das zeigt besonders THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, das neue Studio-Album, das am 22. Oktober erscheinen wird. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY ist ein ganz besonderes Juwel, denn die neun Songs vereinen Ideen, die Richard in fast zwei Jahrzehnten gesammelt hat. Die Stilrichtung ist somit vorgegeben: Industrial Rock, Rock mit elektronischen Elementen, immer melodiös, mitreißend, tiefgängig. Beinahe hätten die Stücke nur als Beiwerk das Licht der Welt erblickt: der ursprüngliche Gedanke war es, eine Vinyl-Box der ersten drei Alben mit einer Zusatzplatte zu veröffentlichen. Auf dieser Bonus-LP sollten sich Songs zusammenfinden, die nicht veröffentlicht worden waren. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY offeriert somit neun Tracks aus den Jahren 2001 bis 2018. Richard tauchte in seine Festplatten und hörte Ideen, Songs, Lyrics, die unbedingt an die Öffentlichkeit wollten. Kruspe fing Feuer, arbeitete sich tief in seine musikalischen Bilder von heute, gestern und vorgestern hinein. „Eine gute Idee bleibt eine gute Idee“, ist er überzeugt und so arrangierte er um, textete neu, nahm Teile frisch auf, ließ den Mix renovieren und verpasste den neun vorliegenden Songs einen zeitgemäßen und dennoch zeitlosen Anstrich. Zu gut waren die Songs, um in den Archiven zu bleiben. Es sollte dieses Mal nicht zu komplex werden, die Kreativität fließen, daher richtete Kruspe sein Hauptaugenmerk auf pure, rohe Emigrate-Songs. Kruspe resümiert: „Diese Songs sind zwar zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt in meinem Leben entstanden, aber Ideen haben ja kein Verfallsdatum. Sounds, Texte und Themen hingegen schon.“ „Freeze My Mind“ zum Beispiel ist einer der ersten Emigrate-Songs überhaupt, entstanden 2001. Jetzt, 20 Jahre später klingt er frisch, gegenwartsnah und dennoch eindeutig nach Emigrate. So verhält es sich mit dem kompletten Album. Es ist ein Auf und Ab von vermeintlich bekannten Songstrukturen, Melodien, Elementen und neuen Aspekten, Einflüssen und musikalischen Herausforderungen. Man hört förmlich die Lust, die Motivation, die Tiefe, die Kruspe noch einmal in diese Songs gelegt hat. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY hat keine große Gästeliste wie die letzten beiden Alben. Einzig und allein Till Lindemann interpretiert mit Richard gemeinsam das von John L. Christopher Jr., Mark James und Wayne Carson geschriebene Stück „Always On My Mind“. Vielen besser bekannt als Cover-Version von Elvis Presley oder als Interpretation der Pet Shop Boys, die in den Achtzigern damit die Charts anführten und den Mega-Hit ihrer Karriere ablieferten. „Ich habe bei dem Song immer nur an Elvis gedacht“, erinnert sich Kruspe. „Weil er mit seiner Stimme den kompletten Song charmant dominierte. Ich habe lange überlegt, wer das denn noch leisten könnte und dann fiel mir der Naheliegendste ein: Till.“ Eine Zusammenarbeit der beiden Freunde ist kein Novum bei Emigrate, Lindemann sang 2018 bereits bei „Let’s Go“. Dieses Mal wirkt es intensiver, vor allem dann, wenn Kruspe gesanglich einsteigt und den Song mit Till im Duett zu Ende bringt. Einen intimeren, vertrauteren Beweis einer Freundschaft gabes selten musikalisch manifestiert. „Mit dem Ergebnis bin ich total glücklich“, freut sich der Sänger und Gitarrist undfügt hinzu: „Erst mit beiden Stimmen hat der Part plötzlich Sinn ergeben: Der Song ist gar nicht für einen Interpreten alleine bestimmt.“ Auch beim Coverartwork wird groß gespielt, grinsend hört man Kruspe das Wort „Größenwahn“ sagen, aber wie schon beim Debüt und bei A MILLION DEGREES sehen wir Kruspes Kopf auf dem Cover. Dieses Mal losgelöst, allein schwebend, von Sternenfeldern umgeben blickt er aus der Atmosphäre auf die Erde. Ein Sinnbild für das Universale, das bei THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY solch eine große Rolle spielt. „Es geht darum, Welten zu erschaffen und Dinge aus anderer Perspektive zu betrachten“, gibt Kruspe erklärend zu Protokoll. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY ist in erster Linie Kruspes Gedankenwelt, aber Emigrate lebt natürlich auch von der Teamleistung. Kapitän Kruspe braucht die Reflektion durch andere Menschen, diverse Meinungen, Reibungspunkte. „Das ist essenziell für mich, um weiterzukommen. Ein Vakuum wäre Stillstand“, sagt er über die Zusammenarbeit mit seinen Mitstreitern. Darüber hinaus bringt ihm der Austausch neue Impulse, ein wichtiges Elixier für den weltoffenen und auch immer noch risikobereiten Kruspe. Die intensive Arbeit mit dem neuen Emigrate-Keyboarder Andrea Marino, der auch als DJ in seiner Heimat Italien arbeitet, ließ Kruspes Liebe zur elektronischen Musik erneut entfachen, und er denkt schon über die Veröffentlichung von THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY hinaus in die Zukunft. „Vielleicht ist das neue Album ein Abschluss und hilft mir dabei, eine Ära beiseite zu schieben und neue Türen zu öffnen.“ Wer weiß es besser als Kruspe, ob die Zukunft der Band fernab der Rockmusik liegt. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY lässt, wie jede andere Emigrate-Platte auch, hören, wie es in Kruspes Gedankenwelt aussieht. „Ich hoffe doch, dass man mich nach dem Hören besser kennengelernt hat“, merkt Kruspe an und freut sich darüber, dass die Interpretationsmöglichkeiten der Emigrate-Songs individuell veränderbar sind und Zuhörer von den Songs berührt werden. So fern und doch so nah. Emigrate 2021.

English DeepL translation

Emigrate. The one-time project has become more than that. Much more. The three albums EMIGRATE (2007), SILENT SO LONG (2014) and A MILLION DEGREES (2018) prove that behind Emigrate is Richard Zven Kruspe, an extremely creative mind, who needs the freedom to be able to realize himself musically in other ways besides Rammstein. With Emigrate there are no limits, no barriers, no barriers. Everything is possible, sounds are not limited - this shows especially THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, the new studio album, which will be released on October 22. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY is a very special jewel, because the nine songs combine ideas that Richard has collected in almost two decades. The style direction is thus given: Industrial Rock, Rock with electronic elements, always melodic, rousing, deep. Almost the tracks saw the light of day only as an accessory: the original idea was to release a vinyl box of the first three albums with an additional disc. On this bonus LP songs were to be collected that had not been released. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY thus offers nine tracks from the years 2001 to 2018. Richard dove into his hard drives and heard ideas, songs, lyrics that were dying to be released to the public. Kruspe caught fire, working deep into his musical images of today, yesterday and the day before. "A good idea remains a good idea," he is convinced, and so he rearranged, rewrote lyrics, recorded parts fresh, had the mix renovated, and gave the nine songs at hand a contemporary yet timeless coat of paint. The songs were too good to remain in the archives. It should not be too complex this time, the creativity flow, so Kruspe directed his main focus on pure, raw Emigrate songs. Kruspe sums up: "These songs were created at a certain point in my life, but ideas don't have an expiration date. Sounds, lyrics and themes, on the other hand, do." "Freeze My Mind", for example, is one of the first Emigrate songs ever, written in 2001. Now, 20 years later, it sounds fresh, close to the present and yet clearly like Emigrate. It's the same with the whole album. It is an up and down of supposedly known song structures, melodies, elements and new aspects, influences and musical challenges. You can literally hear the desire, the motivation, the depth that Kruspe has once again put into these songs. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY doesn't have a big guest list like the last two albums. Only and only Till Lindemann interprets together with Richard the track "Always On My Mind" written by John L. Christopher Jr, Mark James and Wayne Carson. Better known to many as a cover version of Elvis Presley or as an interpretation of the Pet Shop Boys, who topped the charts with it in the eighties and delivered the mega hit of their career. "I always just thought of Elvis when I heard that song," Kruspe recalls. "Because he charmingly dominated the entire song with his voice. I thought long and hard about who else could do that, and then the obvious one came to mind: Till." A collaboration between the two friends is not a novelty on Emigrate, Lindemann already sang on "Let's Go" in 2018. This time it seems more intense, especially when Kruspe steps in vocally and finishes the song with Till as a duet. A more intimate, more familiar proof of a friendship was rarely manifested musically. "I'm totally happy with the result," says the singer and guitarist happily, adding: "Only with both voices did the part suddenly make sense: The song is not at all meant for one performer alone." The cover artwork also plays big, grinning you can hear Kruspe say the word "megalomania", but as with the debut and A MILLION DEGREES we see Kruspe's head on the cover. This time detached, floating alone, surrounded by fields of stars, he looks out of the atmosphere to the earth. A symbol of the universal that plays such a big role in THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY. "It's about creating worlds and looking at things from a different perspective," Kruspe states explanatorily. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY is primarily Kruspe's world of thought, but Emigrate naturally thrives on team effort as well. Captain Kruspe needs the reflection by other people, diverse opinions, friction points. "That's essential for me to move forward. A vacuum would be stagnation," he says of the collaboration with his teammates. In addition, the exchange brings him new impulses, an important elixir for Kruspe, who is open-minded and still willing to take risks. Intense work with new Emigrate keyboardist Andrea Marino, who also works as a DJ in his native Italy, reignited Kruspe's love for electronic music, and he's already thinking beyond the release of THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY into the future. "Maybe the new album will be a closure and help me push aside an era and open new doors." Who knows better than Kruspe whether the band's future lies far from rock music. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, like every other Emigrate record, lets you hear what Kruspe's mind is like. "I do hope that after listening to it, you get to know me better," Kruspe notes, pleased that the interpretations of Emigrate songs are individually changeable and listeners are touched by the songs. So far and yet so close. Emigrate 2021.

Tracklist

CD / Digital
Rage - 04:20 Always On My Mind (feat. Till Lindemann) - 03:29 Freeze My Mind - 03:19 I'm Still Alive - 03:01 still titled Yeah Yeah Yeah on the first batch of CDs Come Over - 03:47 You Can't Run Away - 04:09 Hypothetical - 03:51 Blood Stained Wedding - 04:56 I Will Let You Go - 03:27

Vinyl
1. Rage - 04:20 2. Always On My Mind (feat. Till Lindemann) - 03:29 3. Freeze My Mind - 03:19 4. I'm Still Alive - 03:01 5. Come Over - 03:47 1. You Can't Run Away - 04:09 2. Hypothetical - 03:51 3. Blood Stained Wedding - 04:56 4. I Will Let You Go - 03:27

Formats

Release	Country		Label	Type		Comment	Bonus content	Discogs
2021-11-12	Germany		Sony Music	CD	Digipak
2021-12-17	Germany		Sony Music	Vinyl	Gatefold
2021-12-17	Germany		Sony Music	Vinyl	Gatefold	RammsteinShop exclusive	Red vinyl