In times when reality disappears behind filtered images and music is increasingly shaped by algorithms, Odd Couple present a warm and colourful album with their new album Rush-Hour of Life, which is reminiscent of a time when music was still handmade - raw, playful, flawed and therefore convincing. Listening to this album is like taking a trip, but not to escape reality, but to feel more of the depth of the moment again.

How does the supposed ‘rush hour of life’ work as a busy musician who has been slowed down by the pandemic? This album bears witness to the gaps in purpose optimisation and proves that there are anarchic thoughts and feelings in life that no Instagram slogan can help with. Odd Couple would rather ask us lots of questions. The ideas for this album have been floating around for four years, in the heads of the two musicians, through their hard drives and finally across the country, sent back and forth between Berlin and Cologne. A patchwork of fragments from which Tammo and Jascha have put together a great whole like true alchemists.

There is no glossy façade, no polished perfection - and that is intentional. Perhaps it's no coincidence that a bit of the early ‘Die Sterne’ sound shines through in Rush-Hour des Lebens. It is the unbridled love of fuzz guitars, strong hooks and well-garnished synths and naturally interlaced 90s beats that help to give the lyrics their full radiance. It's a cornucopia of unbridled production fun and lyrics that have perhaps fallen out of the ether somewhere, almost magically making sense in a way that sometimes surprised the band themselves.