The Freising-based art rockers had recently put great emphasis on concept works, with the multimedia rock opera "A New Dawn" as the highlight. Now RPWL are back, a little more down-to-earth. But they are not down to earth yet, because their "Tales From Outer Space" refer to classic science fiction. And like any good sci-fi, these stories also offer an exciting twist: Visitors from outer space turn away with horror at our actions.
UFOs, threatening tentacles and the RPWL crew in space suits: The cover of the new record is a tribute to spectacular, often creepy stories about the fate of mankind, as known from EC comics series like "Tales From The Crypt" or "Horror", or "Amazing Stories", early science fiction, published in a pulp magazine. RPWL on "Tales From Outer Space" pose the fundamental question of the existence of extraterrestrial life and possible visits to Earth. At the same time the Artrockers find new breath for fresh sound adventures.
eclipsed: How hard was it to continue after the big project "A New Dawn"?
Yogi Lang: We consciously wanted to move away from the big concept and back to a normal album.
eclipsed: Don't the "Tales From Outer Space", these science fiction stories, still form a concept?
Lang: The idea was: Let's do seven short stories in seven songs to emphasize that this time there is no big storyline like on the last two studio albums. Here we didn't have to tell any coherent chapters. But yes, of course, there is an overriding theme as a bracket, such as "I Robot" from the Alan Parsons Project.
eclipsed: What science fiction are you referring to? Judging by the record cover and the lyrics, it's going in the direction of pulps and B-Sci-Fi horror movies. But authors such as Stanislav Lem and Philip K. Dick also shine through.
Lang: Just look at our world. It's a horror story, of course. The good thing about the science fiction angle is that you can take yourself out and look at society from above. You can think of a new future. But I was also always a fan of Gene Roddenberry and "Star Trek", because in the end everything went well. Mankind could have blown itself up several times already.
