Tobias Poetzelsberger & Band: "Prudence"

Twelve years is quite a long time, but then again it's not, considering that children are born, adults have to leave, pandemics and wars break out, careers are pursued - and making songs can be complicated. In any case, it took Tobias Poetzelsberger twelve years to release a new album. Long in terms of calendar, short in terms of feeling. Hello, life!

It is this life that is dealt with on “Prudence”, the new work by the native Upper Austrian. It is a collection of songs that were written over these twelve years. And they mark a change: on the one hand, away from the former band name “The More Or The Less”, and on the other, towards a broader musical color palette. Of course, we're still basically talking about folk pop here, which can be just as reminiscent of Glen Hansard as it is of Fleetwood Mac, Death Cab for Cutie or Gregory Alan Isakov. But compared to the previous albums “We, the people” (2009) and “Keep Calm” (2012), we hear more drums, more drive, more shades in the arrangement, much sounds more open and bigger. The campfire guitarist of old has grown up. More is more, at least sometimes.

Because, it's fair to say, this is a collection of some of the strongest songs we know from Poetzelsberger: The single “Carry you”, which bangs and drives and at the same time is a loving examination of being a father. Or “Play it cool”, this pearl with the fine bossa nova feeling, which in its lightness discusses a serious topic, namely dealing with one's own failure. Thematically based on this, with a chorus that spans the globe: “Old man's heart”. Then there is “Fool on the hill”, the song that is a confrontation with self-proclaimed experts and develops from a tender duet into a piece full of drive and feeling. And yes, it won't be entirely unintentional that Beatles fan Tobias Poetzelsberger borrows both the song and album title from the Fab Four. That's where it all comes from in the end.

But “Prudence” also means more. Poetzelsberger wants it to be translated as “prudence”, because: “That's what the world is essentially missing right now. Looking out for one another, being more open or lenient with others. And also a prudent approach to one's own soul and constitution. Because when you get older, you carry more with you.” Possibly an attitude that feeds to some extent on Poetzelsberger's bread-and-butter job as a television producer, because delivering bad news is not always nice either. 

But let's listen to Good News instead: this album is superbly produced, mastermind Niklas Apfel (also known from OEHL) has once again done a great job.

Ticket prices
Advance booking: € 30,- regular | € 28,- reduced
Box office: € 32,- regular | € 30,- reduced

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