‘Everything already written, everything already said,” – the words Blixa Bargeld chose to open Rampen, the latest Einstürzende Neubauten record, released in 2024 to comparatively little fanfare, felt ominous. Would this mark the end of the band that has defined German music, at least to the outside world, for close to five decades?
“No!” Bargeld replies, his voice thundering across the small dressing room backstage at the National Theatre of the Netherlands in The Hague. “Take it for granted – we’ll make another record.” Later that night, Einstürzende Neubauten (“Collapsing New Buildings”) are at the Amare concert hall, the closing act of the Rewire festival’s 15th edition, an anniversary for the city’s celebration of experimental music and art. It is the third stop on a short festival run the band has embarked on this spring and summer, and true to form, they have lugged a shopping trolley all the way from Berlin, along with pipes, drills and metal sheets.
