Buntspecht

The confusion begins with the title: "Konstrukt 5" is the current album by the Viennese group Buntspecht, and one naturally associates this directly with the number of their previous albums, until one realizes: "Konstrukt 5" is actually the sixth Buntspecht album, not the fifth. This immediately makes it clear that Buntspecht cannot be approached with a pedantic sense of order or any classical category at all.

Much more important for understanding the group Buntspecht is the word before the number: A construct, according to the Duden dictionary – and now it gets a bit convoluted – is a "working hypothesis or conceptual aid for the description of phenomena that have been explored." In this sense, it is always and forever everything that Buntspecht does, because this music inherently possesses something temporary, unstable, and fragile, which is where its allure lies. It’s about the power and magic of the moment, about what is happening right now and what can be made of it. Spoiler: A lot!

In the waning winter of 2024, singer and guitarist Lukas Klein first met with Florentin Scheicher (piano, vocals, trumpet) for a first session in an old house belonging to Klein's family at the foot of the Rax Mountains, which was to lay the foundation for "Konstrukt 5." The vibe for this session was: At the slightest feeling of resistance or reluctance, the idea is set aside and another one is pursued.

Layers and samples from these sessions made their way unchanged onto the final album, thus creating small constructs, if you will. These miniature artifacts formed the basis of an album that was ultimately – as always with Buntspecht – developed collaboratively in the original lineup of Antonia Luksch (cello, vocals), Roman Geßler (saxophone), Florian Röthel (drums), and Jakob Lang (bass), supplemented with additional songs, and recorded in the studio.

Mood and composition were almost more important than the lyrics; melodies took center stage: "The lyrics often emerged from the composition this time," says Lukas, "otherwise it was usually the other way around. The work on songs in this band still happens predominantly intuitively, almost unconsciously. And perhaps this approach is what lends the album its bittersweetness.

Buntspecht's indie chamber pop is characterized by a dystopian romanticism, a radically wild beauty, an insane intensity, and a sincerity and artistic freedom that is hard to find these days. Because it is aware of our powerlessness. In this way, Buntspecht provides warmth and hope in dark times.

Current album:
"Konstrukt 5" (2025), Penguin Records