{"id":44289,"date":"2026-08-01T07:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T05:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orkus1.com\/an-interview-with-escape-with-romeo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:51:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T05:51:23","slug":"an-interview-with-escape-with-romeo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orkus1.com\/en\/an-interview-with-escape-with-romeo\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with ESCAPE WITH ROMEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We talk with Escape with Romeo mastermind<\/strong> Thomas Elbern about the new album \u201cNight After Night,\u201d which will be released on August 7, 2026. The song of the same name is \u201calso about restlessness, the eternal journey, and a time that seems to never end,\u201d making it the perfect title track. On the importance of truth, the Zen rebel, fear as a constant state of being, and demons in a bottle. <\/p>\n\n

Orkus:<\/strong> \u201cNight After Night\u201d is your 13th studio album. Would you describe yourself as superstitious? What does the number 13 symbolize to you? Thomas Elbern:<\/strong> 13 is just a number to me. Now that you mention it, I find it interesting, too. But none of that played a role in the making of the album. \u201cNight After Night\u201d came together pretty spontaneously. No one had asked for a new album; our fans were still enjoying the previous one, \u201cSuspicious Bliss,\u201d and normally it takes us much longer. But this time it went faster, even though the whole process\u2014from the first songs to the final product\u2014still took a year and a half. <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> The album begins with \u201cEdit Me Out.\u201d When did you decide that this would be the opener, and how did the song come about? TE:<\/strong> The idea came to us in Munich after we\u2019d finished mixing the song. Precisely because it\u2019s so different, we put it right at the top of the tracklist. The song started with a vocal sample and only gradually took on this dark trip-hop vibe. I spend a lot of time on pre-production and let myself drift in all directions until I slowly get goosebumps. That\u2019s when I know I\u2019m on the right track. <\/p>\n\n

And as far as the lyrics go, I’d had that in mind for a long time: Leave me out of this\u2014I don’t want anything to do with your reality! <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> In *Sound and the Fury*, it says, \u201cTruth is a journey, and it\u2019s hard to find.\u201d What significance does \u201ctruth\u201d have today, especially in the context of fake news, social media, and the like? TE:<\/strong> The so-called truth is a highly contested commodity these days, since everyone lays claim to it.<\/p>\n\n

Especially in connection with the World Wide Web and AI tools, it has become a very malleable concept. \u201cSound and the Fury\u201d is about the truth you\u2019ve personally experienced\u2014about parameters that keep recurring in your life and that you must confront. And, to quote \u201cSound and the Fury\u201d further, the \u201cone-eyed king in the valley of the blind\u201d is the one who sees! He is the Zen rebel who seeks silence as a refuge and remains sane even when panic breaks out around him. <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> Is there a story behind the song?TE:<\/strong> \u201cSound and the Fury\u201d was one of the first songs to be finished for \u201cNight After Night.\u201d For me, it also marked a return to that jangly guitar sound\u2014one that\u2019s sent racing through deep, reverberant spaces and ends up taking center stage with such a shoegaze-like quality. <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> \u201cFear\u2019s a Ghost\u201d has a particularly atmospheric feel to it. Is there a story behind its creation? TE:<\/strong> I wanted to write a song about fear. But about the kind of fear that isn\u2019t so obvious and is always lingering in the background somehow. I wanted to expose what, for many people, is a constant state of mind. The constant fear of losing something\u2014and, little by little, control over one\u2019s own life. That fear leaves you feeling like a zombie. It\u2019s only through symbolism\u2014describing fear as a ghost\u2014that you can make it visible. Musically, I had this piano theme at the beginning; that was the starting point. <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> I’m sure a lot of people can relate to “I’m My Own Worst Enemy.” To what extent does that apply to you? TE:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m My Own Worst Enemy\u201d was one of those first-take things. I usually spend a long time working on my vocals, but here I wanted to keep exactly that feeling\u2014those inconsistencies\u2014in the track. Very often, you put yourself in situations that then feel hopeless. It could be anything\u2014the important thing is that you\u2019re often to blame yourself and can\u2019t hold anyone else responsible, even if you want to so badly. That\u2019s what the song is about, and I deliberately arranged it with a heavy trip-hop influence again.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> With \u201cYou Need the Drugs,\u201d you\u2019ve created a cover of the song by Westbam featuring Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs). How did this idea come about, and how did you bring it to life? TE:<\/strong> Actually, the idea to cover \u201cYou Need the Drugs\u201d came about on New Year\u2019s Eve, when our hosts played the original and I immediately knew I wanted to do an EWR version of it. Back then, there wasn\u2019t even any talk of a new album yet. <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> The album’s themes are in tune with the times and have a strong dystopian feel. How did that “happen”? TE:<\/strong> That was actually the mood. There\u2019s a line in the song \u201cLittle Did I Know\u201d: \u201cYou just need the pain, just to know it\u2019s real.\u201d The lyrics are close to what I was feeling and were written (once again) during a very difficult time. It started with a kind of paralysis. Once those feelings turned into songs, I felt much better. The demon was trapped in the bottle! The bottle says \u201cNight After Night.\u201d And be careful: Make sure to put the spirit back in the bottle at the end!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> Were there any particular challenges during the making of the album? How did you overcome them? TE:<\/strong> We had two long mixing and production sessions in Munich that were really exhausting. At some point, you just have to stop, otherwise you\u2019ll never finish. \u201cNight After Night\u201d is conceived as a journey\u2014an album that celebrates the art form of the album itself. You start with the first track, and the journey begins. We spent a lot of time figuring out the right order. Personally, I hear trip-hop\u2014and even metalcore\u2014moments on the album again; it\u2019s more New Wave than post-punk that\u2019s being celebrated here. Still, I don\u2019t see any nostalgic aspect to it, because we\u2019re not evoking anything familiar here\u2014instead, we\u2019re using individual timbres to express ourselves musically and lyrically. <\/p>\n\n

O:<\/strong> You’ll be back on tour soon. What are you most looking forward to? TE:<\/strong> I\u2019m especially looking forward to playing some of the new songs live, but also to performing songs from our catalog on this tour that we\u2019ve either never played before or haven\u2019t played in a long time. Being in EWR is a musical journey that I have to rediscover for myself time and again\u2014otherwise, it\u2019s no fun! From the very beginning, our top priority has been to create an atmosphere that captivates the listener and sweeps them away. <\/p>\n\n

Claudia Zinn-Zinnenburg<\/p>\n\n

Lineup (live):<\/strong>Thomas Elbern \u2013 vocals, guitarTobias Schwartz \u2013 vocals, bassFrenzy Erl \u2013 drums<\/p>\n\n

Escape with Romeo \u2013 Tour Dates:<\/strong>September 19, 2026, Munich, Germany, Live EvilOctober 2, 2026, Cologne, Germany, Yard ClubOctober 3, 2026, Essen, Germany, GrendOctober 4, 2026, Essen, Germany, GrendOctober 10, 2026, Karlsruhe, Germany, StadtmitteOctober 11, 2026, Bielefeld, Germany, MovieOctober 23, 2026 DE-Nuremberg, Club StereoOctober 24, 2026 DE-R\u00fcsselsheim, Das RindOctober 29, 2026 DE-Hamburg, HafenklangOctober 30, 2026 DE-Berlin, Urban SpreeOctober 31, 2026 PL-Poznan, Pod Minoga, Shadow Dance PartyDecember 27, 2026 DE-Rhede, Rheder Ei<\/p>\n\n

Do you already have your tickets?<\/p>\n\n

Watch the video for \u201cSound and the Fury\u201d:<\/p>\n\n

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