STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS take the world as it is

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS nehmen die Welt, wie sie ist

For a whole five years there was nothing more to be heard from Stephen Malkmus and his Jicks. Now the former Pavement frontman opens a new chapter in the history of his band with "Sparkle Hard". At first glance the album doesn't seem to follow any inner logic, the songs seem as spontaneous and jumpy as an early novel by Paul Auster. And yet there is a red thread hidden in all this.

eclipsed: "Sparkle Hard" is stylistically very diverse, every song sounds different. Were these songs planned for an album from the beginning, or did you collect what you wrote in the last years?

Stephen Malkmus: I recorded a lot more than for my last albums. For a television show I had written many one-minute songs that matched the mood, without lyrics, just piano and guitar. And since I didn't know exactly how to write for a series like this, I did too much. That's how a lot of songs came together. I also wrote songs apart from the series. When I finished the show, I picked out the best songs.

eclipsed: You left these in very different stages. Some sound unfinished in a natural way, others are perfect studio productions. Was that on purpose?

Malkmus: I just wanted to leave some space in the songs. We didn't go to the limit in mastering. In the song "Kite", for example, I left out all the rhythm guitars in the middle and used only wah-wah guitars. It's easy to overload songs to infinity, and it takes a lot more effort to make room in them again.

eclipsed: It's a fallacy that more is always more. Often the opposite is the case.

Malkmus: I'm not Frank Zappa and I can't play classical music, but in my world and with my possibilities I tried to just let it flow.

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