The Heimlich maneuver is one of those life-saving techniques that everyone should know and that is not even hard to perform. The Heinrich Maneuver is a song by Interpol that plays with the name of our life-saving technique. The HeimlichManøver is a new music act from Northern Germany who released their first EP, Fragments 01, a few ago and who follow the paths of Synthwave sounds and danceable electronica to the t!
Why this long unrelated intro? Because the music is also somewhat unrelated – to the music its creators normally are known for: Bernd Frikke and Jan Reno Haneborger are two of the members of MMTH, a post-rock band that is still flying somewhat under the radar, that needs to change! However, during the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns both needed a musical outlet and thus they developed some different tracks this time which really are quite off from their usual roaming fields.
The seven tracks span just over twenty minutes and yet, the repetitive beats, the somewhat droney pluckering of the sounds and the soundscapes spanning sometimes between minimalist Elbow references (the drums in ”Your Sad Soul”). There is also midtempo stuff like Röyksopp or múm (as in ”Sprokkelhout”) and even some reminiscences to the post-rock the guys are known for (the spacious guitar lines in ”Your Sad Soul”). Nevertheless, one should imagine the EP being nothing but a collection of singular fragments. No, with some mastering and mixing magic the tracks all seem to have one specific tonal register, which makes them flow nicely along and as if these are fragments of one big opus that might still follow.
The fact that the whole thing is instrumental, apart from already mentioned ”Your Sad Soul” which features the voice of Tåran Reindal (Leonov), is one of the few things connecting this thing to MMTH but it doesn’t really matter, as the EP is a fine example of what two mighty capable artists can do if they are locked away because of an epidemic, with time and an inner feeling at hand. A feeling as if they need something to save their mental well-being. Just like a Heimlich maneuver can save lives.
