Up to now, the many impressive projects of psychologist Frank M. Spinath (Seabound, Edge Of Dawn, Ghost & Writer) have always been conceived in duo form: Spinath cared about the vocal duties, while his respective counterpart took control of the music. With LIONHEARTS, Spinath has realised his first real solo project as the music is created by him as well. In this endeavour, Ben Lukas Boysen (Hecq) supports him in the role of producer.
The songs have gathered just like driftwood over the course of the years, and in terms of content, they span a whole range of subjects without coming across as random.
Spinath has chosen to arrange his compositions in a manner reminiscent of the impressionistic classical cycle “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Russian
composer Modest Mussorgsky who orchestrated his pieces like pictorial motives with various subjects. Thus, LIONHEARTS comes across as a consistent album dedicatedto different topics from the universe of Frank M. Spinath, arranged without breaks in a “Continuous Mix,” partially preluded and led over by instrumental parts.
The sonic palette of the album first changes between golden and bright before getting progressively colder and darker.
The subject matter is varied: There’s the love story between two people not meant for each other in “The Ardent City,” and there’s “Cloud,” a song
about the last fight of a dying boxer, sarcastically commented on by the singer from a shielded VIP lounge (“Have a headache on me”) – here, even
the music seems to hover almost impassively above the cruel violence. Central topics such as searching, destiny, and guilt are the cornerstones of
Spinath’s compositions, and just as it is the case with paintings, the atmospheric electronic music does not surrender all of its hidden meanings at the first glance.
Take, for example, the track “Murder” which is inspired by the highly intelligent serial killer Edmund Kemper who only handed himself in after he murdered several hitchhiker girls as well as his own mother.
The album was excellently arranged by Ben Lukas Boysen whose production adds a special depth to the songs. This mixture of dark and ambiguous topics,
the electronic lightness of the compositions, and the impressive arrangements of the tracks makes the album LIONHEARTS a profound and hypnotic trip,
inviting you to discover the diversity of Spinath’s sonic universe.