Munich’s Rue Oberkampf, a restless, underground creation by Julia de Jouy and Oliver Maier, pulses with the raw energy of the electronic underground, a world brimming with grit and shadow. Their sound is no polite cocktail of styles, but a fierce fusion of the rough edges of early industrial, the pounding persistence of techno, and the brooding heart of darkwave. It cuts deep, strikes fast, and lingers. What sets them spinning above the rest is how they twist these jagged threads into something immersive, electric, alive. De Jouy’s voice—aching, unpolished, dripping with intensity—floats atop ominous synths and thundering beats, unfolding stories of longing and unrest. Their music commands, it grips, and spirals, pushing the boundaries of sound and stirring a slow-burning fire in the underground, sparking across a sea of souls seeking something sharp, bold, and unforgiving.
The video for the forlorn darkwave song Allein unfolds in the worn, weathered streets of Berlin’s east, shot within the close confines of an old East German bungalow—a place still thick with the ghosts of another era. Along the cracked railway tracks, they drift, their eyes locked on an old television flickering with faded images. They swing on the swings of a half-remembered childhood. The stark, Brutalist architecture looms, casting long shadows of a world caught between past and present. There’s a strange pull, a weight in the air, an echo of a time when good things came with a price, and nothing was given without consequence.
The band shares: “Since we’ve been influenced very much by Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act in the production of the EP, it feels like a sign that he’s posted this quote today ‘Sometimes it’s the friction that allows the fire to come – as long as it’s a skillful friction.'”
Tamas Mesmer, the visionary behind the lens, known for his work with Lebanon Hanover and Qual, captures the cold hum of nostalgia, an ache for something lost yet lingering. The video moves like a memory—half-forgotten but unmistakable—revealing a world where longing and loss dance in the gray light of Berlin’s fractured soul.
Watch the video for “Allein” below:
You can listen to Allein below, and order here.
Rue Oberkampf has an ambitious tour schedule ahead throughout Europe. Dates are below:
- Nov 15 Cold Hearted Festival (Bochum) Bochum, Germany
- Nov 16 Alter Schlachthof Dresden, Germany
- Dec 6 Setmana Santa Toulouse Toulouse, France
- Mar 22 Turbinenhalle Oberhausen, Germany
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