Sebastian Krumbiegel: Kompass – Live

As a young boy, he sang in the St Thomas Choir, performing songs for people in church. His teacher was Johann Sebastian Bach. Most of the songs were about Jesus (Hallelujah)

Once again, ‘KOMPASS’, the new album by Prinzen frontman Sebastian Krumbiegel, is not about Jesus. Instead, it’s about Elon Musk’s tax return, *The Little Prince*, the fact that 2+2=5, why one shouldn’t be afraid despite everything and should instead dream of a better world – and it’s about music. More music.

Speaking of which: Sebastian Krumbiegel has played nearly 70 gigs in the last 12 months and written nearly 70 songs in the same period.

He put the songs through their paces, rearranged them, discarded them, and created new ones. The result: his new album, KOMPASS. As you can see, Sebastian Krumbiegel loves writing songs and playing them live. And he loves not only entertaining his audience before, during and after his gigs, but also engaging with them. Gradually, it became clear from his conversations that, in these difficult times, it was precisely this audience that was craving positive songs.

Seen in this light, it was the highly esteemed KOMPASS audience that shaped the song selection for this album.

KOMPASS features 14 songs in which the glass is generally half full, the grass is generally green, and the light at the end of the tunnel is generally not that of an oncoming train. Krumbiegel himself, as he says, wasn’t in the mood for sad songs either. However, anyone who now thinks the artist is drifting into shallow territory is mistaken: Krumbiegel, like few others, manages to strike a balance between entertainment and reflection, between criticism and optimism.

Sebastian Krumbiegel is a man of faith.

He believes in the power of art, in the possibility of change for the better, and his songs are precisely about this belief. He reminds us not to forget the dream of a different, more harmonious world. And he manages this without resorting to kitsch. Instead, with humour – plenty of humour.

Musically, too, KOMPASS is an optimistic album – an optimistic album, but without any pretence.