The most musical and versatile German rap boundary pusher, Casper, announces his new album "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh" for February 25, 2021. The first single, bearing the same name, has just been released along with a video. Four years after his last solo sign of life, "Lang lebe der Tod" (2017), an album is now coming out with which Casper has found his artistic and personal peace.
It is perhaps the most striking line in "Slaughterhouse-Five," the novel in which American author Kurt Vonnegut processed his experiences as a prisoner of war during the air raids on Dresden in 1969: "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." This line has found its way into pop culture in various forms, and Casper has not been able to get it out of his head since he read the novel during the lockdown.
Thus, the ideal title for a song and an album was found. Musically, "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh" employs a similar overwhelming tactic, with a bombastic intro song that always introduces the themes and styles that will be addressed on the respective album. Following this tradition, "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh" refers back to "Der Druck steigt," "Im Ascheregen," and "Lang lebe der Tod."
Musically, this post-rock-gospel-rap monster can easily hold its own against the mentioned giants of the Casper catalog. After reverent strings, powerful piano chords follow, then the painfully missed voice: "I thought again today that I think too much," Casper introduces a song that continuously builds up and ultimately erupts in a cathartic chorus: "I explode, run to you (...) Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt."
The video for "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh" can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZFFm2O-4DM
After breaking through with "XOXO," Casper had become a huge star seemingly out of nowhere, with young fans camping in front of his apartment. This was followed by perhaps the most interesting, certainly the most versatile German rap career of the past 20 years. With three multi-platinum albums to date, Casper reached number one on the German charts, along with "1982," the equally successful collaborative album with Marteria.
In these years, Casper has revolutionized German rap, played countless tours and festivals, and established a boundary-pushing style that is usually only known from international rap free spirits like Kendrick Lamar. Now he has swept together all these experiences from the years – both the positive and the negative – and sings, raps, and laments on "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh" as openly and reflectively as never before about mental health, public expectations, and the massive pressure he was sometimes under.
"'I explode' also means that I free myself from all these things," says Casper. "It was about peeling myself out of the shell; this song is like a catharsis for me – and looks back as much as it looks forward."
Vocally, we experience the most versatile Casper of all time in "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh." He sings, raps, and screams in every imaginable variation. By using the attack, his well-known iron nails-for-breakfast trademark, more moderately, it comes across more than ever before.
Already a day before the release of "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh," Casper had released the artwork for the new album. In this photo, the rapper is covered all over with bees, with only his mouth, eyes, nose, and forehead left uncovered. By the way, these are the same bees that buzz into the calm of the final chord at the end of "Alles war schön und nichts tat weh."
The end is also here primarily: the beginning of something new, exciting.
CASPER
"Alles war schön und nichts tat weh" Tour 2022
17.03.22 Hannover, Capitol (sold out)
18.03.22 Tübingen, Sudhaus (sold out)
19.03.22 CH-Bern, Bierhübeli
21.03.22 Leipzig, Felsenkeller (sold out)
22.03.22 Munich, Muffathalle (sold out)
23.03.22 AT-Vienna, Arena (sold out)
25.03.22 Dortmund, FZW (sold out)
26.03.22 LU-Luxembourg, Den Atelier
28.03.22 Cologne, Carlswerk Victoria (sold out)
29.03.22 Mannheim, Alte Feuerwache (sold out)
31.03.22 Berlin, Metropol (sold out)
01.04.22 Münster, Skaters Palace
02.04.22 Bremen, Schlachthof (sold out)
04.04.22 Hamburg, Uebel & Gefährlich (sold out)
27.11.2022 Leipzig, Haus Auensee
29.11.2022 Stuttgart, Porsche-Arena
30.11.2022 CH-Zurich, Halle 622
01.12.2022 Frankfurt am Main, Jahrhunderthalle
03.12.2022 Hamburg, Sporthalle
05.12.2022 Munich, Zenith
06.12.2022 AT-Vienna, Gasometer
09.12.2022 Bochum, RuhrCongress
10.12.2022 Münster, Halle Münsterland
13.12.2022 Cologne, Palladium
14.12.2022 Hannover, Swiss Life Hall
16.12.2022 Berlin, Max-Schmeling-Halle
