It’s a rare thing for a musical group that has been around as long as Germany’s Pink Turns Blue to continue after a decades-long career, create anthemic melodies that stir the soul with their composition, and also maintain their social relevance.
Through compassion, ethics, and environmental consciousness, the band of late have accurately noted that we are both living the only lives we have, on the only world we have—so why not save it and ourselves?
And the frustration over this looming threat of annihilation due to our own human complacency is explored on the long-running post-punk act’s fourth and final single from their forthcoming new album Tainted.
On the song, aptly titled “Not Even Trying”, frontman Mic Jogwer muses on its theme of accountability, or lack thereof, for the world we live in:
“When I travel the world I encounter two types of people. Many are sad and void of hope that mankind is able to change. Others just don’t care or are sarcastic about just everything. I guess this makes me angry. I see all those toddlers with their lives before them, playing and laughing and inheriting a world in disarray just because of the greediness and irresponsibility of their parents.
A call to try so much harder! Instead of using excuses for missing or inadequate action, mankind really has to get its shit together – now. Obviously, young people seem to realize the cost of our shortcomings much better: all the carelessness about using resources, polluting the environment, the threatening effects of global warming, a poisoned environment, and extinct species. They are at the beginning of their lives and the world is in crisis already.
Most of us are using excuses or alibi “actions” to cover up our indifference or complacency. We pursue our own advantage at the expense of others even if the calculation does not add up in the end”
On the video for “Not Even Trying”, Mic adds:
“Many of us interpret the increase of weather phenomenons as signs and forerunners of climate change. For some of us, it feels like a bad dream – instead of taking action, deforestation, carbon dioxide emissions, and environmental ignorance seems to be all around us. As so often, we leave to the coming generations to cope with it.”
Watch the video for “Not Even Trying” below:
Pink Turns Blue formed in 1985, becoming part of the first generation of gothic rock in Germany. Originally a duo consisting of Thomas Elbern (vox, guitars), Mic Jogwer (vox, bass, and keyboards). and a drum machine, the band named themselves after a Hüsker Dü song and initially oriented themselves after The Chameleons, Clan of Xymox, and The Cure, taking the sound into a new direction entirely.
Their first LP, If Two Worlds Kiss, gave the new wave sound dark undertones, developing the sub-genre of darkwave, becoming a seminal album in the post-punk genre. Contemplating the fear and uncertainty during the Cold War under a divided Germany, the band longed for a more romantic side. The band went on to produce eleven full-length releases in total, most recently with 2016’s The AERDT – Untold Stories (Orden Records).
Their songs remain a fixture in clubs, and they are still going strong, headlining genre festivals worldwide, topping genre charts, and appearing on radio. Since their world tour between 2018-2020, the three-piece has grown a global fan base with strongholds in the US, Mexico, Germany, UK, and Brazil. Last year, their single Something Deep Inside was used in Matthew Berkowitz’s thriller The Madness Inside Me.
Pink Turns Blue’s new album Tainted is out on October 29, 2021.
For more information on new music and live shows, visit PinkTurnsBlue.com
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