The debut album Eros Anikate of Greek-German duo Local Suicide, released Friday, May 13th via their own imprint Iptamenos Discos (which means flying saucer or flying record in Greek). It includes collabs and vocal features by Greek new wave legend Lena Platonos, Canadian indie queer idol The Hidden Cameras, Greek harpist and singer Sissi Rada, who just released an album with collabs with Brian Eno and Mouse on Mars, NYC post-punk baron Curses, Mexican dark disco don Theus Mago, upcoming Argentinian artist Skelesys, Italian queer duo Hard Ton, Kalipo of the famous electropunk band Frittenbude & Lee Stevens of the Austrian label LuvShack.
How to listen: There are a couple of ways to proceed. First, you can listen to the whole album, which you will find below, and then read the notes. Or, read the notes as you listen to each track. This will completely change your perspective on the whole release itself and bring you closer to the artist and their work.
High Buildings w/ Lee Stevens
‘High Buildings’ is a modern interpretation of ’80s new wave.
That track started when we were in Vienna for a gig and visited our friend Lee Stevens the following day in his studio. We had just returned from a tour in Asia, full of new impressions and post-trip nostalgia. While in China, we absolutely loved it but were struck by the contrasts; ultramodern skyscrapers right next to people living in the dumps and the environmental pollution. There were days when it was advised to stay indoors because of the heavy smog. This is how the lyrics of the song were born: “High buildings, low morals. Full wallets, empty hearts”.
The sample in the track is a recording of the announcement on a train in China saying, “Take good care of your children”. We like the contrast with the rest of the lyrics and the food for thought. Is extreme capitalism good for children?
The song remained unfinished, and we even lost the files for it at some point, but we were very fond of it and played it every now and then at gigs. Each time someone would come up to ask the name of the song. Thus we decided it would be the perfect opener for our album and was worth reconstructing.
The video is made by young French artist Jade Prevost.
Whispering w/ Curses
Curses is one of our closest friends in Berlin. We love him and his music and wanted to include him in the album. We have collaborated in the past, and magic was born every time we met.
We started ‘Whispering’ with Curses at our studio in Berlin some time ago. When planning the album, we decided to take up from when we left off, adding new elements and vocals, and ‘Whispering’ was born. It is a spaghetti western romance story; the protagonist hears the wind whispering, “Come rain or come shine, you’re always on my mind”.
It’s disco, it’s post-punk, it’s blues!
The video was created by the talented Italian artist Fabio Cassano. When we had the first call with Fabio, we already had a western setting for the video in mind but wanted to hear his ideas. We were astonished when he said he was thinking about a western video as well! We filmed some scenes in front of a green screen, and Fabio did the rest!
Moustache w/ Skelesys
Skelesys is another very close friend of ours. We have collaborated with him on a series of releases, and there’s more to come. Making music with Skelesys is just perfect; we like the same music, share the same vision and totally get each other.
‘Moustache’ started as an ode to Dali’s moustache and ended up as a love letter to a guy with a moustache, maybe Dali, maybe someone else. Sound-wise it is an EBM dancefloor bomb. We’ve been playing at every gig, and it makes the crowds go crazy!
The Dali-themed surrealistic video was created by the Lebanese-born upcoming artist Zaher JR.
Jam Bounce Release
‘Jam Bounce Release’ was created at our Berlin studio with Theus Mago. He is an artist we absolutely admire, a very close friend, and he mixed the album, so we had to have him on it. We had long decided to include some of our favourite artists and close friends on the album – not only rappers are allowed to do that, OK? :).
‘Jam Bounce Release’ is about how easy it is to make and release a track nowadays. It is an oriental EBM track made for the dancefloor that never fails to get the crowd moving!
The video was created by Ezekiel Monjes and Rafa Arroyo and includes breathtaking performances by Ezekiel himself.
Hercules Adonis
We are both fascinated by ancient Greek mythology. Hercules and Adonis are Brax’s favourites, so we decided to dedicate this track to them.
‘Hercules Adonis’ is about the myth of Adonis. Aphrodite, Apollo, Hercules, Dionysus, and Persephone were all in love with the androgynous beauty of Adonis. The fact that even in Ancient Greece, genres were fluid shows how urgent it is that humanity becomes more open-minded to the LGBTQ+ community.
We tried to create an Ancient Greece flavour with flutes that would still work on the dancefloor! The track also features bass guitar by our close friend Joshuy Murphy, an up-and-coming Australian artist based in Berlin.
PHD in Apology
‘PHD in Apology’ is a fun track exploring relationships and patterns where one partner constantly hurts the other and then asks for forgiveness, to the point that they could get a PHD in Apology.
Sound-wise, it is a clear case of Dark Disco.
Like Follow Subscribe feat. Hard Ton
‘Like Follow Subscribe’ is a rave track turned disco, with the extravagant vocals of Italian Hard Ton. It is about social media and how artists get trapped in the social media game, despite preferring to spend their time on more meaningful things. Last September, while visiting Bologna, we met Hard Ton and spontaneously asked them if they’d like to do a vocal feature on our album. They selected ‘Like Follow Subscribe’ and wanted to keep our title but wrote fun lyrics about digital love.
It also features our beloved friend Begum Karahan saying “like, follow, subscribe” in Turkish and English recorded over the phone during a late-night virtual hangout while in lockdown.
Homme Fatale feat. The Hidden Cameras
‘Homme Fatale’ is the male Femme Fatale of the underground Berlin parties. The idea was to recreate the atmosphere in Berlin’s gay clubs, complete with metaphors and secret meanings. The EBM techno sound contrasts Joel’s fantastic voice and evokes a special feeling.
We have both been fans of the Hidden Cameras since the early 2000s when we mainly played indie and electroclash. We met him at a mutual friend’s wedding in Spain and became very close, so we thought we should ask him to be a part of our debut album and were very happy when he agreed!
The video was directed by Lebanese Zaher JR and showcases Berlin nightlife’s madness.
Cobra Wave w/ Kalipo
Kalipo is a very good friend of ours. We admire his production skills and talent and have also started our band project, Dina Summer, with him in late 2021, so we really wanted him to be a part of the album. The track originated as the test of a new VST plugin that allows making music together in real time. We really liked the outcome and decided to work on it more, and the oriental hypnotic ‘Cobra Wave’ was born.
We often call the music we play cobra wave. It’s a term we invented, and we wanted to name a track after it.
The video was made by Jade Prevost and features special effects with Vamparela riding a magic carpet, charming a snake, and dancing with her friends Tara and Tammy from Jordan, and the director herself in front of temples, the Sahara, and so on.
Agapi feat. Sissi Rada
‘Agapi’ means love in Greek. It is a spacey trippy track featuring surreal and mysterious Greek lyrics and vocals by our dear friend Sissi Rada. Sissi is an extremely talented musician, harpist and singer whose voice sounds like what a siren would have, had they existed beyond the Odyssey. She just released her excellent album, including a collaboration with Brian Eno.
The video was directed and edited by upcoming Paris-based Turkish artist Ceyda Yagiz and shot by brilliant Turkish artist Mehmet Gökdel.
Eros Anikate feat. Lena Platonos
‘Eros Anikate’ is the title track and outro for the album. The title comes from the ancient dramatist Sophocles’ play, ‘Antigone’, and means ‘Invincible Love’. It is the album’s main message; nothing is more important than love, so love one another, do everything with love and be optimistic that love will win.
Lena Platonos is a one-of-a-kind pianist, composer, singer, and visionary. Vamparela has been a fan of Lena since childhood as Lena was part of a radio program for children on national radio. Later, she discovered the rest of her stunning discography. When Dark Entries re-released her albums and Red Axes remixed her tracks, Brax got acquainted with her work as well. After that, we spent countless hours listening to her music, bought records, and dreamt of collaborating with her.
When we started planning the album, we wanted to include a legendary figure, and the first name that came to our mind was Lena. Initially, we were hesitant to contact her, but we gathered the courage and reached out to her on social media. After that, Vamparela had long talks with her on the phone. Lena is lovely, enchanting, and extremely friendly, and it felt like talking to a longtime friend. We sent her the available tracks, and she picked the title track that we also thought would suit her best. Her manager was also very helpful and quickly sent Lena’s vocals reciting the Eros Anikate section of ‘Antigone’. We still get goosebumps when we hear her voice, which is so familiar and has accompanied us for many years on our debut album. What a huge honour and joy!
The video was created by upcoming Greek video artist Cocaya.
The last of the 4 Remixes EPs each named after an Ancient Greek God (Adonis, Artemis, Apollo, and Aphrodite) including remixes by the likes of Adana Twins, Andre VII, AFFKT, Biesmans, Die Selektion, Franz Scala, Rodion, You Man to name a few are out now.
Grab your copy here.
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