“catharsis”
Sven Väth returns full of energy
DJ Sven Väth listens to the mysticism of dancing. Photo: Cocoon Recordings/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Hardly anyone has shaped techno in Germany like he has. Sven Väth is now releasing his first solo album in almost 20 years. He was inspired by the dance floor, mysticism – and ecstasy.
It’s his first solo album in almost 20 years – and a kind of musical biography. Because the Hessian DJ Sven Väth, who has been living in London for several years, has also had a lot of time in the last two Corona years.
“I’ve dealt intensively with the old records and the old stories, and that has done a lot to me,” he says in an interview with the German Press Agency. “It was also a kind of purification.” The record is appropriately called «Catharsis», which can mean something like self-purification.
Memories of the Frankfurt party scene
The 13 tracks are inspired by mysticism and ecstasy and the energy that can arise when dancing. Pounding drums and smooth synths are there as well as deep, dirty rhythms, but also soothing tones and exotic strings. Väth also undertakes a visual journey through time with the video for the single “Tanzen”, in which wild shots from very old times – for example from the Frankfurt party scene – can be seen.
It is clear that without Sven Väth, who has been DJing for more than 40 years, electronic music in Germany would have looked a little different. In the 1980s, his formation OFF landed a hit with “Electrica Salsa”. Later he shaped the party culture with his Frankfurt clubs “Omen” and “Cocoon” as well as the famous parties on Ibiza and is still one of the most famous DJs in the world. No wonder that the new Museum of Modern Electronic Music (Momem) in Frankfurt will open in April with an exhibition about Väth.
It will be celebrated again
“Catharsis” is a very personal album, says the 57-year-old. “There’s a lot inside of me, from the past, from my travels.” And: “I dedicated the album to the dance floor, because dancing is what we’ve been missing the most lately.”
At the same time, Väth, who is known for DJ sets that last for hours, is convinced that the celebration culture after Corona will be at least as excessive as before. “I think it might even get worse,” he says. People’s longing for the dance floor is enormous. “I recently played in Tulum, Mexico, in the jungle, six hours to sunrise. I’ve seen the faces, I’ve looked into the eyes. It flashed, it sparked. There was magic in the air again.”
Sven Väth’s album “Catharsis” will be released on February 25th. at Cocoon.