FARIN URLAUB – Am Ende Der Sonne

Endlich Urlaub, the solo debut album of FARIN URLAUB, was definitely a masterpiece. It was like a fresh breeze, not only among the fans of Die Ärzte, the main band of Farin, but also among people who wrote off the trio from Berlin as a trivial Pop Punk theatre. The multitalented musician and songwriter created a fresh sounding album by using the right mixture between much nonsense, some serious songs and a great variety of musical styles.
On his current album Am Ende Der Sonne some things changed, so that the character of the album is quite serious and thoughtful. This means, that funny lyrics and happy music were reduced to a minimum of exactly three songs (Wie ich den Marilyn-Manson-Ähnlichkeitswettbewerb verlor, Dusche, Alle Dasselbe).
Already the unusual heavy sounding opener Mehr shows the yet unknown darker side of Farin. Songs like Kein Zurück, Immer Noch or Sonne are about serious topics, for example suicide, unfulfilled expectations or – surprise! – love problems. Not one single case of superficiality or childish stupidity. Reading the lyrics is a very intense experience for sure.
But the typical variety is still there, so that the 52 minutes of the album pass away quite fast. Unter Wasser offers atmospheric, eastern influences and a great chorus, Apocalypse Wann Anders is one of the darkest songs and Unsichtbar rocks like hell: not one single song is like another. The only bad one is the single Dusche, which is simply boring, compared to the other songs.
The question if there was an improvement from Endlich Urlaub to Am Ende der Sonne I can answer with a definite yes, because of the well-composed songs and the timeless character of the album.