Enter the Frame: enns and their album “everyone’s trying so hard, it breaks my heart”. The world is a vampire and needs albums like this. Dark, cool and feeding off the intolerability of everyday life. FM4’s Soundpark recommends: enns.
Good taste is subjective; you only share it with people who are like you. If you like what enns does, play it for your friends and then decide whether you need new ones; because good taste is also a matter of course. Kenji Araki and YBsole make up: “enns” and are probably in possession of the best record collection/mix-tapes/playlists on your cell phone that you can imagine; at least if you like wearing black long-sleeves, silver chains and boots with heels.
“everyone’s trying so hard, it breaks my heart” (written in lowercase, of course) is an album from the category: you listen to the few first seconds of any of the songs and think to yourself, ‘this is it, this is already high level super.’ “Why is it all so good?” is a common question to ask a band when they want to be understated and humble (which enns is) and is, of course, first answered with a hesitant “um…”.
Music for music’s sake
“Because we did it for the right reason,” comes after a moment’s thought, and that’s a very good explanation. The right reasons are: Having fun with it, not overthinking and talking it up, not having words like product, release etc. in your head, not listening to other artists or sounds while writing songs. Make music for the sake of music. Two friends writing songs together is an often-heard narrative, but sometimes it really is that simple and, in the case of enns, a beautiful truth.
Something different at last
They both liked listening to music with guitars when they were teenagers, Kenji drifted towards club culture, Yuri aka YBsole was interested in catchy trap. Then they got together, talked and came up with a plan: how about a band, singing and guitars? Interestingly, Kenji calls it “content”. There’s no cleverer way to go about it, and it just so happens that they fulfill all the trend requirements.
What’s the cool table next to you at the coolest bar in your neighborhood talking about? About how they’re tired of going to clubs and listening to the same old elevator techno? Fed up with the word “beats”? Where is the next-gen project, the post-genre, the mix of the very best of a bit of cloud music and rock’n’roll, and if there’s a kick drum, then one that really booms? Welcome enns – your new favorite band!
Songs about the intolerability of everyday life
You need a lot of attitude to combine future music (how it sounds) and friendship music (how it’s made). enns is, remarkably, born to pose around nonchalantly with guitars and synths, in monochrome-painted venues with equally dressed people, fog machines and a bit of strobe. It’s a particularly nice moment to nod at each other at a concert with complete strangers, with an astonished look on your face, like: that’s very good, isn’t it? Thank you for that, enns.
If you write, make and play music so effortlessly, then of course you also use the “diary entry” songwriting formula, which works very well most of the time. Because what songs are more genuine than those scribbled in a notebook at two in the morning or typed into a cell phone on the bus home. Thumbs pressed to the screen and then singing into it: “You used to show up on my screen”, it says. “Now I check and I don’t feel anything.”
To be relatable, you just have to be honest, because we’re all done. So here are songs about the unbearability of the everyday. Tying your shoes together, winter outside again anyway, shiny floors in the supermarket, everything inside a swamp, yet somehow you manage to make friends, but for how long? Learning to trust, breaking trust, expectations and always self-doubt. Have you seen it all? Of course. Does the whole tangle of emotions have a suitable effects-pedal growl? Of course it does.
Friendship music
“everyone’s trying so hard, it breaks my heart”: the album title alone is a sign of confidence and one that makes you want to say ‘why?’. Everyone is trying so hard, wants to do, wants to be able to do, but it’s often best and most beautiful to just be. We know that the world is terrible anyway. But if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be such beautiful songs about it. And back to the term “friendship music”: Kenji and YBsole are friends. Talking, laughing, comforting, spending time together. So here’s your answer to why that’s so good. Because you don’t just do it for the music, but also for each other.
Translated from the German original by Arianna Alfreds.