AXEL WOLPH "MUTTERSPRACHE" (EP1)

MUTTERSPRACHE

„Ich bin für diese Welt zu spät dran, aber ich weiß, dass sie die Songs trotzdem hören wird.“

12. Jänner 2020, Andalusien, Spanien. "Den Sonnenuntergang dieses Tages werde ich nie vergessen können. Ich bin mit dem Auto einfach irgendwo am Strand stehen geblieben. Hab das Handy genommen und genau EIN Photo gemacht. Erst später erkannte ich, dass ich auf dem Bild einen Vogel ablichtete. Irgendwie fühlte es sich für mich so an, als wäre dieser Vogel meine Mutter, die jetzt endlich wieder fliegen darf, auf mich runter sieht und mir weiterhin Liebe, Zuversicht und Mut schenkt." An jenem Tag verstirbt Axel Wolph's Mutter nach jahrelangem Leiden an der Alzheimer Krankheit. „Dies gibt einem sehr zu denken - man lernt die Endlichkeit kennen - aber so richtig. Nicht nur theoretisch."

Genau ein Jahr später veröffentlicht der Singer-Songwriter und Komponist erstmals Songs in deutscher Sprache – „MutterSprache“. „Es war schon seit Jahren ein großer Wunsch meiner Mum, dass ich auch mal Songs schreibe, die sie sofort verstehen kann", erzählt Axel. „Mit der eigenen Mutter bleibt man zeitlebens verbunden - diese innige Verbindung kann durch das Durchtrennen der Nabelschnur oder durch den Tod nicht beendet werden."

Bereits in den vergangenen Jahren musste er hautnah den sukzessiven Verfall seiner "einst so aktiven, attraktiven und liebevollen" Mutter miterleben. In den Tagen und Wochen nach ihrem Ableben verarbeitete er diese Erfahrungen schließlich in den drei Songs der EP, zuhause in Aschach an der Donau in Oberösterreich. „Weit gereist und heimgekommen“ – einst von Stationen in Wien und Los Angeles, nun von dieser schweren Reise.

In enger Nähe zu seiner Familie – Wolph ist selbst Vater dreier Söhne - im hauseigenen „Green Meadow Road“ Studio, sollten die Songs schließlich aufgenommen werden, der Lockdown zwang zur Fernarbeit zwischen den Studios aller Beteiligten. Darunter am Schlagzeug der lange Wegbegleiter und Freund Mario Lackner sowie am Bass Tom Niesner und an der E-Gitarre – ebenfalls aus Aschach – David Loimayr.

AXEL WOLPH "MutterSprache" (EP 1) erscheint am 12.1.2021 auf Unites Indies - Titel:
01 Vorüber gehen
02 Du regnest
03 Immer da

CREDITS

Alle Songs geschrieben und komponiert von Axel Wolph (Vocals, Gitarren, Piano). Gemeinsam produziert mit David Loimayr (E-Gitarre), Tom Niesner (Bass) und Mario Lackner (Schlagzeug). Gemischt von Axel Wolph im The Green Meadow Road Studio, Aschach an der Donau. Gemastert von Martin Scheer im Scheer Audio Mastering Studio, Wilhelmsburg.

AXEL WOLPH "MA'AN", Longplayer (United Indies 2018)

"MA'AN" is the name of singer/songwriter, composer and music producer Axel Wolph's inner voice and ancient soul - and now the title of his brand-new and sixth solo longplayer featuring eleven self-performed adult alternative pop rock songs, produced together with London-based music producer Alex Beitzke (James Arthur, Florence & The Machine, Jamiroquai et al) at Axel's The Green Meadow Road Studio in Aschach at the River Danube, Austria/Europe.

During a seven-years-lasting journey to his true, painless self, guided by one of his spiritual teachers, Axel found a way to live and deal with his inherited and recurring depressions and met his inner voice and being "MA'AN" for the first time. This may sound spooky and strange, but it's actually "nothing but natural", says the 38 years old father of three sons, now after 16 years of living in metropolises such as Vienna and Los Angeles, settled in the small village of Aschach at the River Danube, a place in Austria/Europe where he spent his childhood.

His new solo work - where he plays all the instruments by himself (except cello, see credits) - consists of eleven self-reflective, open-hearted, encouraging, laid-back, psychedelic, philosophical and captivating tunes about his path ending up in more "LVOE" and "JYO" (love & joy, naturally, Axel loves to misspell words to provide them more attention...) in his life as a man, a father, a partner, a friend, a passionate motorcyclist, a silence-teacher-in-training, a Buddhist and a songs and music creating artist.

Axel's songwriting stands for simple, catchy, Beatles/Lennon-influenced (see quote from an interview for NOW! magazine a couple of years ago: "My mother couldn't nurse me, so my father played me some Beatles tracks to come down as a little baby boy...") harmonies and melodies, paired with sometimes intimate, sometimes cinematic sound. His lyrics are immediate, direct and very honest reflections on life, existence and about his experiences as a human being at his prime-age.

SONG BY SONG NOTES

The opening song "You Have Come So Far" is a Buddhist's mantra-like, musical arrival. An ode to existence and continuity - a sounding moment of gratitude and pride, of JYO, LVOE and confidence: the fact that you are here now is a result of your path, so far. "You are here, because you were there, you can be there,'cause you are here, now.", says Axel. We do need these moments of conscious being - especially in a world that is based on thought, emotion and lots of noise.

In "Sneakers", track two, an anthem-like, confident and motivating song about standing up after falling down - about light after the dark - Axel plays with the metaphor "When you're trying to run with your worn out sneakers on...". "So, move on!"

"Getting Closer" is another "arrival" song. "Even blind men find the peak." sings Axel. Performed on an almost broken, dusty, vintage classical guitar which he found in the 1814 built barn of his remodelled countryhouse, the place where his new studio is now set up. "I simply had to use this old guitar - the fact that I found it was like a release to her - it reminded me of my own path. We are soulmates, in a way...", the long-white-haired multi-instumentalist reports. "So, go for what you want and forget about what you don't, today!"

"Honesty" is propably the best example for Axel's Beatles infuences on this new longplayer. Very intimate until it rises into a melodic and cinamatic, almost Radiohead-like instrumental part...music for listeners - people who are ready to follow the artist on his mission. "Music can be a trip - without the influence of illegal substances..." Axel admits.

"Riding a motorcycle along the River Danube in the sun and finally having a bonfire romance with my wife - the most beautiful woman on this planet - at least to me." Axel tells about "Moon Watching" a dreamy, mellow and very romantic song about his LVOE for his life partner and mother of his three sons, Athena. Just like a movie in the head of the passionate motorcyclist - colored in typical California sunset lights...

"Battle Alone", track number seven on "MA'AN", will be the third single to be released this summer (exact release date t.b.a.). "No battle lasts forever, one day you'll defeat, no struggle lasts forever, as long as you know, you battle alone." The song deals with the words of a wise Buddhist, Axel heard a couple of years ago in a Buddhist monastery which he visits almost every year: "Everyone you meet in your life is fighting his/her own battle - so you better be kind."

The slow waltz alternative pop song "Hasty Battles" is an audible piece of gratitude for Axel's wife Athena and their partnership, her LVOE, patience, surrender, comfort, confidence and endurance. The lyrics of the song are self-explanatory: "How could we know, so long ago, now, almost forgotten, planted seed means a lot to raise in the garden. Finally you and me. peacefully unfolded, sitting here under trees with our hands folded and still, we breathe, silent and released from so many hasty battles, wrangles and fuming rattles..."

During the final process of the album production Axel's wife got to know that her father had died - after about thirty years without communication between daughter and father. It was his choice to live like that - not caring for his four children, but that's a different story. Anyways, Axel immediately sat down to write a song for her - focussing on her strength and LVOE. "In her own world, healed from her father`s scars...in her own world, brighter than a shooting star, she's come so far..." Another song that stands for surviving life's battles and challanges and finding your own personal peaks.

The second to last tune "This & That" was written in about 20 minutes. "Who packs the horses we don't ride? Who stacks the junk on the other side?" Well, nobody knows. "I still can't really say what this liitle tune is all about? It just happened. And I liked it.", Axel says.

The final song of "MA'AN" will be the fourth single of the album. "It's a hymn", Axel claims. An ode to his wife, their life together and as individuals in a mad world. "And I love to hug you under our bed, while the world outside keeps going mad" is one of the key lines of this beautiful adult alternative pop song's lyrics.

Please enjoy and if you like it, please share it with your world!

LVOE & JYO
Axel & his team

CREDITS

Produced and recorded by Alex Beitzke & Axel Wolph at The Green Meadow Road Studio, Aschach at the River Danube.
Written & performed by Axel Wolph. Cello performed by Florian Eggner. Drums ("Heat Retreat") performed by Mario Lackner. Trombone ("Heat Retreat") performed by Martin Ptak. Mixed by Alex Beitzke at Dean Street Studios, London. Tracks 7,9 & 10 published by Earmotion Audio Creation GmbH, Munich/New York City. Mastered by Martin Scheer at Scheer Audio Mastering Lab, Willhemsburg. Cover photo by Mischa Nawrata, www.nawrata.com

AXEL WOLPH feat. SOULITAIRE "BRIGHT LIGHTS", Single (United Indies 2017)

Second single for Axel Wolph's sixth studio longplayer "MA'AN.

CREDITS

Produced and recorded by Axel Wolph at The Green Meadow Road Studio, Aschach at the River Danube.
Written & performed by Axel Wolph. Mixed by Alex Beitzke at Dean Street Studios, London. Tracks 7,9 & 10 published by Earmotion Audio Creation GmbH, Munich/New York City. Mastered by Martin Scheer at Scheer Audio Mastering Lab, Willhemsburg. Cover photo by Mischa Nawrata, www.nawrata.com

AXEL WOLPH "BATTLE ALONE", Single (United Indies 2017)

Second single for Axel Wolph's sixth studio longplayer "MA'AN.

CREDITS

Produced and recorded by Axel Wolph at The Green Meadow Road Studio, Aschach at the River Danube.
Written & performed by Axel Wolph. Mixed by Alex Beitzke at Dean Street Studios, London. Tracks 7,9 & 10 published by Earmotion Audio Creation GmbH, Munich/New York City. Mastered by Martin Scheer at Scheer Audio Mastering Lab, Willhemsburg. Cover photo by Mischa Nawrata, www.nawrata.com

AXEL WOLPH "BLUE DESERT", EP (United Indies 2017)

For the third time the publishing company EARMOTION AUDIO CREATION in Munich and New York invited me to to write and produce some special genre tracks. This time: Indie Blues Rock. So I did. And it was great fun again at my The Green Meadow Road Studio. Again produced, mixed, written and performed by myself. Great fun! So, please keep your fingers crossed that as many as possible TV stations around the globe will play those tracks. Thank you! So, pump up the volume and enjoy!

AXEL WOLPH "GETTING CLOSER", Single (United Indies 2017)

Ten years after his 2007 solo debut ”Weddings Songs” (United Indies/UMPG), singer/songwriter, composer, music produ- cer and multi-instrumentalist Axel Wolph is back with the first single for his upcoming sixth longplayer called ”MA‘AN”. After sixteen years of living and working in big cities such as Los Angeles and Vienna, the 1979 born father of three sons settled in a 1757 bulit, remodelled countryhouse in Aschach at the River Danube, Austria, in 2014.

”I‘m getting closer to the angels, got my demons caught in traps” is the opening line of ”Getting Closer”, a smooth and captivating uptempo adult alternative popsong on which Axel performs all instruments by himself - recorded and produced at his brand new The Green Meadow Road Studio together with co-producer Alex Beitzke (Florence & The Machine, James Arthur,...) from London between June 2015 and October 2016.

After his 2013 song collection release ”LVOE - 13 Months, 13 Songs”, airplay on hundreds of US radio stations, music for films and TV/media, publishing companies and producing other artist such as e.g. Conchita Wurst (ORF-E/SONY) and Sarah & Julian (PIAS) Axel has written dozens of new songs in his own studio with oak wood floors, vintage recording equipment/instruments and a hand-chopped spruce ceiling built in 1814. This historic house in the middle of nowhere close to the mysterious and breathtaking beauty of the River Danube, surrounded by nature, his family and his motorcycles - all these life-changing circumstances helped Axel to finally ease and calm down after years of struggling and suffering from severe depressions - mainly as a twen. After eight years of working hard to handle his disease together with his spiritual teacher he is now, again, back with 11 new songs all dealing with ”MA‘AN”, as Axel calls his own state of inner peace, confidence, love, joy, passion, patience and order. ”Everyone has his own MA’AN state of mind inside. Some find it, some don‘t even care.“ says Axel.

So, now, let the music speak: ”Go for what you want and forget about what you don‘t!“

AXEL WOLPH "RACY GEMS", EP (United Indies 2016)

All songs written, performed, recorded and mixed by Axel Wolph at The Green Meadow Road Studio, Aschach at the River Danube. Mastered by Martin Scheer at the Scheer Audio Mastering Lab, Wilhemsburg.
Axel Wolph uses Feurich upright pianos.

This it how it sounds like when singer/songwriter, composer and music producer Axel Wolph goes Jazz.

AXEL WOLPH "GRAND SLAM", EP (United Indies 2016)

All songs written, performed, recorded and mixed by Axel Wolph at The Green Meadow Road Studio, Aschach at the River Danube. Mastered by Martin Scheer at Scheer Audio Mastering Lab, Wilhemsburg. Published by Earmotion Audio Creation GmbH.

As a kid, singer/songwriter, composer and music producer Axel Wolph, actually wanted to become a professional tennis player. But, at the age of twelve he accidentially found his dad's old Stratocaster in its dusty case and heard Nirvana's "Nevermind" album for the first time - two circumstances that would have a great effect on his life as a teenager and young adult.

Captivated by the energy and vibes of Grunge music, performed by renowned bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, etc., he started writing songs at the age of 14, while already playing tennis thirty hours per week and traveling the world for junior world ranking tournaments.

He recorded his first Grunge EP with a local teenagers band called "Mindcure" and as a big surprise to all involved, their first single "Kill Me Slowly" went on airplay on MTV Europe. So, at the age of seventeen he decided to quit tennis and follow his heart as a writing, performing and recording artist.

Now, quite exactly twenty years later his music publishing company located in Munich and New York City asked him to produce some Grunge tracks in his beautiful country-house recording studio called "The Green Meadow Road Studio" in Aschach at the River Danube, Austria.

After years of living in big cities such as Vienna and Los Angeles he settled down in this small and quiet village, together with his wife and three sons. He is working as a composer and songwriter and is also producing other artists (such as Conchita, Sarah & Julian, Heinrich von Handzahm to name only a few).

One of his five solo albums is called "Poet With A Punk's Heart" - the "Grand Slam EP1" is now focusing on the punk's heart again…

So, get your torn jeans, funny t-shirts, woolen cardigans and chucks out of the closet and pump up the volume!

AXEL WOLPH "LVOE - 13 MONTHS, 13 SONGS", Longplayer (United Indies/Rough Trade 2013)

"LVOE - 13 Months, 13 Songs" is Axel Wolph's fifth song-collection since 2007. The 34 years old singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, media artist, father of three boys and silence-teacher-in-training ;-) collected 13 songs for a new "album" he wrote, produced and collected between March 2011 and March 2012. On board this time Butch Norton (Eels, Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, Lucinda Williams,...) and Alex Pohn (Hubert von Goisern, Julian le Play, Avec,...) on drums and producers Danny Kalb (Ben Harper, Beck,...) and Bernie Penzias. A musical and vivid mirror of the probably most turbulent period of time in his life so far.

AXEL WOLPH "...FEELTANK", Longplayer (United Indies/Hoanzl 2010)

Psychedelia of Pain

The artist as a torn object: wrangling with the outer world; wrestling with inner demons and depression. He grabs the guitar and out pours the fear and frustration carried on the strains of his voice – for days, nights, weeks, months. The whole thing recorded somewhere in a sound studio in a cellar in Vienna’s seventh district - too many modern clichés and too little post-modern superficiality? Who the fuck cares as long as the results sound like Axel Wolph’s long player “…FEELTANK”, where the multi-instrumentalist acts as an interpreter for the most inner of emotions, moods and states of mind, which have haunted and preoccupied him over the last few years.

Following “Wedding Songs” and “The Weekend Starts On Wednesday”, Wolph has concentrated the aesthetic of genteel West Coast Pop while slipping in the occasional outburst of noisy rock. The strummed guitar of the “Johnny And Mary” performer as well as “Poet With A Punk’s Heart” has not wavered, but the central pieces of “…FEELTANK” seem as if one has tuned Neil Young down an octave and locked him in a room with Radiohead, Arcade Fire and Pink Floyd, and didn’t let him out again until 14 pieces of coal had been polished into song-diamonds.

Which means: the self-produced and mixed tracks have been adorned with a massive portion of psychedelia. Wolph dissolves the classical song structure and lets the guitars mutate into singing voices, meandering leitmotifs and warm sounds that encircle the listener – the experimental “Out Of My Head”, the salvation seeking “The Revelation” and the majestic, epic “Morning Call”. However, the songwriter - who travels between Vienna and California regularly - presents himself at the same time as traditional on “…FEELTANK”. His fondness of catchy melodies, 70s vintage drums, cello phrases, mellotron-planes and jazz bass are reflected in “Gravity” (which is not only melancholic, but also has real hit-potential), the pop number “No One In This World” or the solemn “Thorn In My Eyes”. Successively, the tension builds between lovingly arranged harmonies and subliminally bubbling static that seems to be creeping into the tracks on “…FEELTANK” from somewhere off the edge. The banishment and expulsion of this white noise is the main theme of “…FEELTANK”: the raucous noise from one’s own head displaced into music, where it is turned into an aesthetic product.

Travel guide intuition

Even if it isn’t a concept album, the bottom line of “…FEELTANK” is an album which has become a concept. Descartes’s “I think, therefore, I am” and various other “think tanks” are challenged by Wolph’s “Feeltank”.

“I tried to let the outside world onto my studio doorstep;” says the songwriter, “tried to let my thoughts be and set my intuition free, and this set me out on a journey. Maybe that is the revelation of this album: we are all travelers whose domicile is death, and the way we experience this journey is solely in our own hands.” Especially now in the face of metaphysical homelessness, “…FEELTANK” turns out to pay homage to love. “All I’ve got is more than a piece of gold / All I’ve got is you” sings Wolph, “I wrote seven letters for a four letter word / And it’s not hate”, he sums up in “Seven Letters”. Through all the doubts, someone is trying to articulate what one is not allowed to say anymore – according to Umberto Eco – because it has already been said so often and in better ways. Instead of finding ways to paraphrase “I love you” and quoting poets, one could simply play this record. Pack up your think tanks: it’s time to breathe!


© Christoph Weinberger 2010

AXEL WOLPH "THE WEEKEND STARTS ON WEDNESDAY", Longplayer (United Indies 2009)

When Axel Wolph started for his musical career about a decade ago, he naturally didn‘t know where his journey might take him one day. Now, with his brand-new album „The Weekend Starts On Wednesday“, the 30-year-old singer, songwriter and music producer is getting an essential step closer to his musical vision. He even calls it an arrival.

But, let‘s start with a brief retrospective. At the early age of 16 his music (then as the leadsinger and head of his teenage-grunge-rockband „Mindcure“) was gaining airplay not only on radio but also on music television such as MTV and VIVA. In the year 2000 his solo-debut „Audible.Portrait.One“ (Solarplexx Music) was released, six years later „Simplicity Of Mankind“ (monkey./pine 550/UMPG), the first and only album of his adult pop band-project „Ordinary World“ was brought to the market, for the first time not only in his home country of Austria and Germany, but also in the USA. In 2008 he came back as a solo-artist with his critically acclaimed „Wedding Songs“ (United Indies/UMPG) which gained rotation on more than 90 (!) radio stations on the US Westcoast.

Here today, in the year of 2009, it seems that he has got the ball rolling. On March 24th his all acoustic „bonfire music“ album „Poet With A Punk‘s Heart“ (United Indies/UMPG) was released and again gained great reviews and rotation on US radio stations. His acoustic version of Robert Palmer‘s 80s synthie-pop classic „Johnny & Mary“ turned out as a secret hit for numerous people around the globe.

Since 2005 the born Austrian is swinging back and forth between his family home Vienna and his musical home Los Angeles. „I am taken with California“, he admits and „the longest, most interesting and beautiful journey leads to yourself. Sometimes it even takes long distances“, he adds with a typical ironic smile in his face.

The brand-new songs on „The Weekend Starts On Wednesday“ are dealing with love, desire, hope, lust for life, wanderlust and homesickness and were all written in California. They were recorded in his own studio back home in Vienna together with his longtime musical companion Mario Lackner who is sharing his passion for music and California and has been living in the City Of Angels since 2005. All instruments (except drums) were as usual played by Axel. In October 2008 the songs were mixed by Mike Harrison and Axel Wolph at Rhythmmik Studio, Los Angeles, in an old school all analog way on Herb Alpert‘s `72 made API console.

The result and new „baby“ stands for a home coming mixture of the passionate musician‘s basic influences: Singer/Songwriter meets Grunge meets Blues. The listener will be taken away by a catchy and inviting opener called „Deeply Mad (About You)“, further stops on this „rollercoaster ride“ („Deeply Mad (About You)“) are the wondering about the nighttime sleeping places of birds and sharks („Where Do The Birds Go At Night?“), a „Traffic Jam On Hoover Dam“, a crystal clear lovesong („Three More Words“), a touching father‘s day song („Moments Like These“), a desire-drenched blues („T(w)onight“), a homesickness song straight out of San Francisco („Someone I Know (Lonesome In Frisco)“), a grungy love-anthem („This One Is For You“), a biting power pop song about Hollywood („Life Ain‘t Like Hollywood“) and finally a touching „Lullaby For Insomniacs“.

„I always wanted to move to New York City, but I finally landed in Vienna and Los Angeles“, „the visionary with lots of sentience“, „this time better Kravitz“ and „fresh Dylan“ (all media quotes), the fan of aged instruments and large plastic shades honestly realizes. „Why? I don‘t know, maybe to make a record like this one one day. Every single record so far has been a snap-shot of my life, but this one is an arrival and a useful fundament for my future babies“.

In times of global crisis, panic and systematic fear-making, an album with the title „The Weekend Starts On Wednesday“ appears like a blindly optimistic antithesis. Axel Wolph‘s music is a melodic and heart-driven release from our daily lives, it‘s a sensitive look over the ocean through an open car window, a pale blue and bright orange emergency exit that leads us to the well-known weekend feeling which in future starts on Wednesday.

AXEL WOLPH "POET WITH A PUNK'S HEART", Longplayer (United Indies 2008)

A bonfire romance of the "Poet With A Punk's Heart"

"Oh, what a day, I will set it all on fire..." heralds Axel Wolph in the first line of "Poet With A Punk's Heart", the titletrack of his brand-new solo-album. This time the ironically self-described "romantic anarchist" passed on almost every unnecessary musical element except himself and a bunch of acoustic guitars. The result is an album as traditional and raw as a singer-songwriter record can be.

After his succès d'estime with his critically acclaimed "Wedding Songs" (#2 CMJ charts in Seattle, rotation on almost 90 radio stations in the USA,...) he now focuses on the real thing of a songwriter's life - the song itself.

After compiling some private recordings of songs he had written during the last couple of months, he orginally wanted to produce them again by using old vinyl beats and his so-called "multi-instrumentalist's overdubbing method" (that's what he's usually doing on stage - reproducing his tunes by playing and recording every single take live on stage), just like he did on "Wedding Songs".

Listening to this very private song-compilation (even containing reinterpretations of some of his favorite coversongs) made him realize that this time this is all it takes.

The result is his very first and pure singer-songwriter album. But this is not the only premiere in his career - for the first time he releases two coversongs on an official Axel Wolph album: "Intervention" by The Arcade Fire and "Johnny & Mary" by Robert Palmer. "I love fooling around with other songwriters' babies, that's actually one of my favorite hobbies..." admits Axel.

In times of technical perfection and almost unlimited production facilities the 29-year-old singer-songwriter and producer gave his 60s and 70s influence a go and reanimated the tradition of the probably most important era of pop music.

"The spirit of the 60s and 70s is settled in my soul, even though I was born in 79. To me it's the real spirit of music", says Axel and invites all "romantic anarchists" out there to listen to and enjoy his brand new "baby".

According to this the time has come to light up a bonfire somewhere out in the woods or on the beach or wherever you feel comfortable and listen to the brand-new songs of the "Poet With A Punk's Heart" Axel Wolph.

AXEL WOLPH "WEDDING SONGS", Longplayer (United Indies 2007)

Catchy tunes in wedding dresses

Married? Engaged? In love? Pregnant? If you're planning a wedding or want to marry the love of your life soon, but haven't found the right music, yet, try this: Singer/songwriter/producer Axel Wolph's grand brand-new solo-album "Wedding Songs" - 12 alternative pop pearls between melancholic simplicity and a cool, modern-retro and even danceable attitude.

So, what's on the menu for you, the potential honeymooners out there? A serious but ironic masterpiece about marriage, relationships and all other kinds of personal affairs.

Anyway, Axel Wolph's new baby is a planned child. No "Oops!" here. It contains a ballad about the physics of love ("Gravity"), an anarchic statement about Hollywood's offspring ("Hollywood"), strange observations in nightclubs ("Mr Undercover"), the theory that "reading makes you lonesome" ("Literature Sucks"), workaday-dramas sold by DJs ("Man On The Mic") or tenderly performed emotions ("In Your Hands"), to name only a few wedding treats.

"I am reflecting my life in my music. It's as simple as that." says Axel, "My partner and I were talking a lot about marriage recently, maybe that's why i wrote some wedding songs." he admits. Born in Austria, he started to write songs on his dad's stratocaster at the early age of 14 and had his first MTV appearance as the mastermind and leadsinger of his teenage-punk-grunge-band "Mindcure" at the age of 17. Since then he was undergoing a permanent inspirational and musical development, always open-minded, free-spirited and on the search for the ultimate song and sound - lately as the mastermind of the adult pop band "Ordinary World".

Some might superficially categorize his "Wedding Songs" as a mixture of rock, pop and soul. Some might even describe it as a perfect example for alternative pop music. Musically regarded it's a talented singer/songwriter's version of mixing "traditional" lennon-, cobain- and young-influenced songwriting with 60s and 70s DJ-material. 12 ingenious wedding cakes for one feast: bittersweet californian or viennese melancholy combined with fat beats, vintage sounds, magnificant melodies and captivating vocals.

Once upon a time shotgun weddings were an indespensable consequence of unplanned pregnancy. Axel Wolph's baby is a two-in-one creation: a wedding and its soundtrack. In other words, the ambitious musician Wolph has redefined the old "baby-marriage-issue" and is now presenting an musical answer of high esthetics.

”There are three rings related to marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring and the suffering.“ (Woody Allen)