CD review LONG DISTANCE CALLING ‘How Do We Want to Live?’

This album is special, not only because it’s the carrier of excellent music. It also addresses a topic that couldn’t be summarized better than what the title says: “How Do We Want to Live?’. This question was certainly raised more than ones in these days of pandemic, a time that puts a bold question mark behind everything we took for granted so far.

‘How Do We Want to Live?’ unveils its beauty step by steps with single releases and the first tracks that has been unlocked was ‘Hazard’. Releasing the song as a single was a good choice. ‘Hazard’ is like the link between the previous Long Distance Calling and their new album. Well, it’s not that the four-piece band from Münster fundamentally changed their music. It is rather electronic sound collages that enrich the pleasure of listening to their newest musical offer. Spoken words, being part of the song, reflect the aspect of AI, everything harmonious, optimistic and yet thoughtful.

‘Voices’ followed as the second single, which in my opinion, is the best song on an album that sparkles with highlights. Again it is the skillfully used electro sounds that make ‘Voices’ to a fantastic track. Long Distance Calling manage to give every song a certain human warmth without missing out the cold and rational aspect of a digital world. I was partly reminded of bands like Eloy in the ’80s when they released albums like ‘Time to Turn’.

Impressive also the two parts of ‘Curiosity’, which open the album. You can’t avoid getting the impression that it was this curiosity that inspired Long Distance Calling to record the album. Going to new worlds without denying the heritage, this is how the album can be summarized.

As third appetizer for the new album, ‘Immunity’ saw the light of day a few dys ago. The song is more quiet, provided with a video, which was shot during the lockdown and it looks like Long Distance Calling wrote a soundtrack for present times without knowing. For ‘Beyond Your Limits’ the four guys from Münster have invited with Eric A. Pulverich a guest into the studio. The song is the only one with vocals and gives the record another dimension.

After 53 minutes, the journey through worlds of humanity, AI, AR, innovation and development comes to an end with ‘Ashes’. Ashes should not be seen as the rest of something you lost. It’s the soil for something new, fueled by curiosity. It also means for the listener of ‘How Do We Want to Live?’ that you can easily return to ‘Curiosity’ with the push of one single button to relive the sonic beauty of this album for discovering more details.

Talking about details, the album is full of it. Long Distance Calling passionately acted as sound architects with every tone and note having a meaning. Nothing on this album ‘just happened’ and still it feels like an ease when listening to the ten tunes.

‘How Do We Want to Live?’ is both, conceptually and musically, a masterpiece that fits perfectly into the current times. Long Distance Calling extend their own sound with electronic elements, making the album even tighter and more intense without sacrificing the typical Long Distance Calling trademarks. The four guys build on ‘How We You Want to Live?’ a world of sound that fascinates and inspires you to ask yourself the basic question of this album – how do you want to live? One thing is certain. The way I want to live is for sure with this album.