Exile On Mainstream presents “Demons Are Scared,” the first solo endeavor from German Noise Rock, Doom, Experimental scene figurehead Arne Heesch of Treedeon and other acts. Confirming the new album for late February release.
German Noise Rock trio Ulme existed between 1993 and 2012, with a lengthy hiatus between 1999 and 2005, and can rightfully be dubbed as one of the most influential bands of the German alternative music scene. Songwriter, singer, and guitarist Arne Heesch was a member of Ulme, after which he formed and currently fronts sludge/noise outfit Treedeon together with his partner Yvonne Ducksworth of the no less influential band Jingo De Lunch. Treedeon has released two albums on Exile On Mainstream, carrying the cathartic urgency Ulme was regarded for while taking it to a new level. Treedeon played the mighty Roadburn Festival twice and has embarked on numerous tours and shows with the likes of Eyehategod, Confusion Master, Bellrope, Black Shape Of Nexus, and many more.
History as they say unfolds in unexpected and sometimes mysterious ways, and it was no different for this album since most of the tracks on “Demons Are Scared” can be considered the founding basis for what later became Treedeon. After the almost simultaneous demise of Ulme, and the second Spring of seminal crossover punk/metal icons Jingo de Lunch, Heesch and Ducksworth started as an acoustic solo set on the 2012 (and final) edition of the South Of Mainstream Festival, as Ulme had originally been booked but disbanded right before the festival. The songs had been written by Heesch shortly before, under the influence of Ulme’s then impending breakup, inspired by the silence and reorientation as well as by the struggle with inner demons. By that time, he was living a quiet life in a rural landscape in Northern Germany, but headed for Berlin, to move in with his new partner Ducksworth. The dichotomy between pain resulting from ending a chapter in his life, and the hope for a new beginning, shaped the tracks in a constant flow between melancholic and hopeful approaches. With all this inspiration the songs kind of created themselves.
Shortly after their performance on the South Of Mainstream Festival, a second gig was booked at Berlin’s Schokoladen and as much as these two shows did foretell what now, almost ten years later, materializes itself as an album, life navigated the two to different shores: away from the introspective emotionality towards the loud but no less cathartic noise of Treedeon. The time simply wasn’t right yet. But it is now.
“Demons Are Scared” is the first solo album by Arne Heesch, featuring Yvonne Ducksworth on most of the songs. After two albums with Treedeon and a third one currently in the works, life changed for the two in 2020 and 2021; things went quieter, more focused, and private. So did these songs – dawning towards a new urgency, gaining a new life. The two reworked them and added two more – the intense “Treeprayer,” which was written on the day of Heesch’s father’s death, and “The Glowing,” which especially deals with starting over again and the unconditional dedication to follow one’s own paths. “The Glowing” is an older song which was released as first track when Ulme reformed in 2005 after six years of hiatus and thus illustrates a new beginning as much as it has a historical reference attached to it.
“Demons Are Scared” is a fully homegrown album, recorded by Ulf “Fluffi” Reinhard mostly in Heesch’s living room. Ducksworth’s vocals are featured on most of the songs, as well as some additional guitar and keyboard work by Reinhard. The album was mastered by Exile On Mainstream alumni Stefan Brueggemann. In August 2021, HEESCH and Ducksworth presented the album for the first time; in a stunning performance on Ruegen Island. The open-air concert by the sea at the very North of Germany, was part of the inspirational Heumond Festival, alongside performances by Might, and Conny Ochs, the latter, who also drew the lettering for the album cover of “Demons Are Scared.”
“Demons Are Scared” will be released digitally and on LP with an included CD, limited to 300 copies on February 25th. Find physical preorder options at the Exile On Mainstream webshop HERE and digital preorders HERE.
Demons Are Scared Track Listing:
- Sick Of Saying Goodbye
- The Goddess
- Treeprayer
- The King Rises
- Demons Are Scared
- Magneto
- The Glowing
- Treedeon Song