It has been two years since, Tobias Gruenzweil, Gabriel Woeginer, Florian Palmsteiner and David Fuehrer, better known the THE BETH EDGES moved from Linz to the metropolitan city of Vienna, to release their debut album, What’s in it for me. During the last two years since, the four lads have grown as individuals, friends, musicians and as a band and the 14 songs on their latest album, Black Coins, Round Dice reflect the experiences of these two exciting and defining years. Toby, the lead singer however did not write the lyrics to be understood as autobiographical.
The title of the album Black Coins, Round Dice alludes to both motion and things undecided and to reflect and capture this reality and sentiment the band and producer, Paul Kinski decided to produce accordingly. They recorded the album live and without any new technical gimmicks – ‘old school’ as it were: one moment, one song, one take, the way it was and how the boys think it should be.
This sensitivity is audible in Blank Coins, Round Dice: the opening song ‚Black Clouds’ starts out with rain clouds and the feeling of being alone but ends with the surprising and beautiful realization of: ‘never have I felt so good’ and the heart-warming discovery of not being alone. Also in ‘Once’ in which the pouring rain outside the big studio window creates a wonderful atmosphere which is complimented by the sound of a faraway country church bell which is immortalized at the end of the song.
The solid base of this record is the interplay between the musicians, who are diverse in personality, and very experienced musicians, despite their young age. With Strings, keys and horns as additional well-chosen timbres, THE BETH EDGES produced a confident, harmonious and breath-taking album which is brought to a close by the astonishing song ‘Paris’. ‘Seems like I missed the change’ says one line in the ballad, a line that is definitely not the case with THE BETH EDGES!