Human (2019)

”HUMAN“ - Isgaard chose a simple name for her 8th album that she recorded together with her partner in music and life, Jens Lueck. This title indicates the multivarious theme for a great concept-album.

„The album is marked by the turbulent times we are living in, especially when you're aware of the fragility of man and our planet“ says Isgaard. All 10 songs face human nature with all its ambivalence. „BLACK SWAN“ is about the exclusion of differences, „FROZEN HEARTS“ talks about an entire generation that's traumatized by the war in Syria and „YOUR WORLD IS BROKEN“ tells the story of the scars of a “broken” childhood. “We often sit together and discuss different aspects of humankind. On the one hand, all the creativity, humanity, empathy and helpfulness, and on the other, all of the destructiveness, egoism, ignorance and narrow-mindedness! There was a need to express this, just like the dealing with transience in the songs “SEE THE LEAVES FALLING” and “I COULDN’T SAY GOODBYE” which is dedicated to a deceased friend.

In regards to the music the album is multi-facetted and exciting, always consistent and characterized by a wide range of vocal timbres which Isgaard enhances from album to album. Electronic meets strings (complete orchestras with real strings were recorded by overdubbing), unusual samples face striking guitars and special piano passages. The dynamic song structures take the listener on an emotional journey.

The three part track “BORDERS”, that is influenced by Art- and Progressive Rock, has a special place in the album as it is the most different to Isgaard’s previous styles. It is about the consequences of inner and outer isolation. In the modern “high-tech” world where all things are connected problems can only be solved and progression can only be made, when we break down boundaries. The first part of BORDERS (AWAKENING) describes the spreading of humanity from Africa across the whole globe. Part two (FRACTIONING) describes the block formation and isolation initiated by fear and excessive competitive thinking, leading to the last part (IN THE CAGE) which predicts a world that is characterized by surveillance and defensive walls, which almost resembles a cage. Especially in part two and three, the guitar part of Jan Petersen, a long-standing musical companion (ex-Sylvan) is excellently used to advantage.

Line Up:
Isgaard – Vocals
Jens Lueck – Drums, Keyboards, Programming, Percussion, Vocals, additional Guitars
Jan Petersen – Electric Guitars
Klaus Volland – Acoustic Guitars
Katja Flintsch – Violin, Viola
Annika Stolze _ Violoncello
Volker Kuinke – Recorder (Flute)
Ekiss Giloc – Bass

The word HUMAN is designed to look like an ambigram (to be readable starting from any direction). It symbolises the two faces of human nature. No matter from where we approach, true balance is only found at the center. Furthermore, the whole HUMAN lettering is arranged as a fractal. This means that the information/the core/ the determinant substance of all of humanity is already existing in every single person.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The word HUMAN is designed to look like an ambigram (to be readable starting from any direction). It symbolizes the two faces of human nature. No matter from which direction we approach, true balance is only found at the center. Furthermore, the whole HUMAN lettering is arranged as a fractal. This means that the information/the core/the determinant substance of all of humanity already exists in every single person.

ABOUT THE LYRICS
SEE THE LEAVES FALLING is a song about transience (also one's own) and wrench - feelings which are hard to prepare for. When we are confronted with such an incident and something has irretrievably ended or even a loved person has gone from us, it still holds an inconceivability that shakes us to the core.

I COULDN’T SAY GOODBYE is dedicated to our friend Dieter Koch (he played the acoustic guitar on the WHITEOUT album) who died of cancer in december 2018.

THE SUN COMES UP TOMORROW describes the feelings of a person who is living on the streets and has left all bonds behind. Settled in a situation in which everything is reduced to the minimum, he still develops a certain confidence.

The topic of BLACK SWAN is otherness, presented from an affected person’s point of view who isn’t aware that he’s different at first and goes out into the world with an open mind. Painful experiences like being misunderstood or even unwanted lead him to only having one last demand to the society: Just leave me alone!

YOUR WORLD IS BROKEN describes the isolation of people who have had to endure terrible things in their childhood and carry these mental scars through their whole lives, often unable to open up and talk about it.

A BILLION SOULS AND STILL ALONE picks up the thought of the inseparableness of the boundaries between two individuals. No matter how close we get to each other, everything stays indirect and we never see through the other’s eyes, or hear with their ears and never feel like them.

FROZEN HEARTS is dedicated to children and adolescents living in war regions (especially Syria), who have lost everything and suffer from horrible incidents. A completely traumatized generation is growing up there.

BORDERS questions if borders and isolation really help humanity or are rather an expression of fear and differentiation. Considering the fact that the Homo sapiens emerged as a sole species in Africa and spread across the entire globe from there, we need to state at least that we all have the same origin. Today many of us live like slaves of our smartphones in small, sealed off systems and know, in spite of the mass of accessible information, less and less about the world. But in the modern “high-tech” world in which everything is connected, problems can only be solved and steps forward can only be made when we break down boundaries. The best example is the fight against global warming which can only be successful through international cooperation. The first part of BORDERS (AWAKENING) describes the spreading of humanity from Africa across the whole globe. Part two (FRACTIONING) describes the block formation and isolation initiated by fear and excessive competitive thinking, leading to the last part (IN THE CAGE) which predicts a world characterized by surveillance and defensive walls, almost resembling a cage.