Rue Oberkampf and GEISTHA Team Up for New Single “Moths”
Their latest release is a captivating exploration of nocturnal melancholy and 80s ecstasy.
On Rue Oberkampf’s latest release “Moths” the German trio collaborates with up-and-coming artist GEISTHA, bringing us a stand-out dark electronic track that seems equally perfect for starting or ending a night. It is intense, emotional, and ebbs and flows between being a dance banger and a noir, cinematic soundtrack for a late-night city backdrop.
“Moths” starts with a rising, hypnotic synth line that shimmers like the sonic version of a perfect sci-fi cityscape. Rising and falling, neither major nor minor, the intro synth is already pretty tantalizing, even without Rue Oberkampf vocalist Julia de Jouy’s sultry voice that comes in right afterward. The track builds up and leads into something that would be perfect for an underground rave. To that comes GEISTHA’s wonderful hook: “like moths into the flame, we burn ourselves again, we hurt ourselves again”.
Founded by three Munich-based DJs in 2016, Rue Oberkampf have already proven that they are masters at creating intricate dance tracks. Their discography explores everything from the excitement and possibility of when the night is young to the gloomy feelings of early-hour dancefloor mornings. Behind the project are Julia de Jouy, Michael Mair, and Damien De-Vir. While the trio has been compared to acts like Deux and Kirlian Camera, their distinct combination of melody mixed with arrangements that fluctuate between grimy and smooth is what really makes them unique and instantly recognizable.
“Moths” is definitely no exception to this. The choice of teaming up with GEISTHA practically puts the cherry on top of the track’s emotional scene setting. It’s this neither happy nor sad, heartfelt descriptiveness that makes “Moths” such a great backdrop for every possible mood while still keeping it a dark synth masterpiece with the choice of sound. The secret probably lies in the collaboration and creative exchange of ideas behind both artists. With Rue Oberkampf’s urban sensibilities, GEISTHA in turn provides a more low-key, emotional interpretation of the overall concept. There’s definitely a real wistfulness in it, especially in the vocals – one that perfectly captures the cycles of love and heartbreak and the dark places it can take you to.
In the case of Rue Oberkampf, tracks like “Hope and Fear” from their 2022 album Liebe show how they’ve pinned down a way of crafting tracks that provide many moods in one. Meanwhile, GEISTHA rejects any genre altogether. Either way, the contrast between the two artists on “Moths” shows in language, production, and emotion. It’s through this that it is equally transferable to the privacy of earphones as it is to the dancefloor. And because it’s neither too heavy nor too light, it easily slips in between worlds, moods, and emotions, meaning something different each time you listen to it and ensuring it remains fresh.
Ultimately, “Moths” plays with energy, building and withdrawing it at just the right moments. However, the collaboration is also uniquely gentle and restrained in places. Julia de Jouy is more held-back in this track than some of the group’s others, but what she takes with her from their previous work is an uncanny ability to convey mood in only a few lines, letting the listener create a backstory of their choosing.
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Rue Oberkampf (DE)
Featured Image by Rue Oberkampf
