Jens Friebe is back! And, dear Berlin audience, we’re not sure if we even need to introduce «the only German pop star», a term put in quotation marks within his latest press release? Therefore, instead of the usual adulations we decide on facts and critical updates: A new album is out. It is fantastic! Oops, first adulation right here. It is beautifully titled Nackte Angst zieh Dich an wir gehen aus («Naked fear, dress up, we’re going out»). This interest in nudity is reflected in both the artist’s portraits and the lyrics, the former showing Mr Friebe wearing a golden anchor on his blond-haired chest and the latter addressing daily troublemakers such as sex, love, death and capitalism (here sorted by gravity). Let us translate an example: «With those you’re not allowed to sleep with, you sleep with in your sleep.» Then: A new label is involved. Coinciding with Friebe’s second decade of art production the Berlin-based enterprise Staatsakt (Ja Panik, Jeans Team, Lambert) takes over business. For his show Friebe will team up with «much-more-than-a-drummer» Chris Imler, who performed twice at last year’s TSF and will thus go for a hat trick. Fun fact: On the new album Friebe interprets and translates a song called «What Will Death Be Like» by post-modern troubadour Momus, who was also a guest at last year’s Torstraßen Festival. So much about facts and family affairs. Jazz up your German with Jens Friebe, Berlin’s best chansonnier. No quotation marks needed. 

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