Claudia Brücken – Night Mirror interview

Claudia Brücken burst into the public consciousness with Propaganda, Düsseldorf’s greatest electronic export since Kraftwerk, and a key international signing to Trevor Horn’s ZTT Records. Their ambitious debut album, 1985’s A Secret Wish, is now considered a stone-cold classic. Despite modest sales on release, it stands the test of time. After parting ways with Propaganda, Claudia went on to immerse herself in various solo albums and collaborative projects, with artists including Thomas Leer, Martin Gore, Andy Bell, Peter Hook, and members of Tangerine Dream and the aforementioned Kraftwerk.

But Propaganda had unfinished business. Regrouping with original co-vocalist, Susanne Freytag, and producer, Stephen Lipson, they returned to the charts in 2022 as xPropaganda with the acclaimed The Heart Is Strange. Now, Claudia’s back again, this time with a new solo album, Night Mirror, working with producer and longtime writing partner, John Williams (The Housemartins, The Proclaimers). They’ve crafted a compelling record that blends Propaganda’s sleek electronica with an organic warmth.

How did the Night Mirror album come about?

John Williams and I have been a writing team for a long time. He lives in London, as I do, so we would meet weekly and just start writing together – little bits here and there. We initially began working on my album Where Else… in 2013. A few years later, when Susanne and I started work on the xPropaganda album, I asked John if he wanted to join the writing team, which he did. After The Heart Is Strange, we continued to collaborate. John is really good at driving a project and making sure things get done. He’s just a wonderful producer, friend and cutting partner, really.

What made you feel like this was going to be a solo venture as opposed to another xPropaganda record?

It’s quite intense writing an album and getting all the elements to work. Initially, we started working on xPropaganda, but it just became apparent that they sounded more like Claudia Brücken songs, because xPropaganda themes are very different from my solo projects. With xPropaganda, Susanne and I always call ourselves Voice One and Voice Two. So, there’s a different setup and obviously Stephen Lipson is integral for the Propaganda sound. It’s always a question of Stephen being available to meet up, because he’s a very busy man. The subject matter is also very different. It’s more like making statements about the outer world, whereas Night Mirror is very much reflections about myself in relation to what I’m experiencing.

Do you approach a new project with a specific theme in mind?

I never go in with a clear idea in my head. With John, we almost always start on a guitar, which is super different from working with Stephen, where the setup is much more electronic. It’s more about sitting down, working on chords and progressions, and gradually letting the song emerge – finding a phrase, finding the story.

Tell us more about this concept of Night Mirror, and songs emerging in the night…

You know how you just lie awake in bed at night, and thoughts go through your head? You think about past events, trying to make sense of them. All these kinds of disturbances. It’s the same for John, and there are a lot of songs about memory and not looking back in an overly sentimental way. John works late hours and often pings me when he’s got something that he wants me to listen to – that would sometimes be at three o’clock in the morning. So, it is very much about that nighttime experience and the things that go through your head.

This record has more natural instrumentation than your work with xPropaganda. Was that intentional?

It’s like, whatever comes your way. We are really open-minded. For example, on Sincerely, there’s an old friend of John’s who happens to play the flute, and we just asked him to come by. It was all very organic. Then there’s Jason Mayo, who played on The Only Ones, and has done a little remix album for us. He works with modular synthesizers, which is highly interesting. He lives three houses from John, so they’re neighbours, and that’s how Jason entered our world.

My Life Started Today is reminiscent of Lou Reed’s Satellite Of Love…

I’m glad you picked up on that, because Lou Reed has been a huge influence for me. I really like the way he just talks – talks and sings. With My Life Started Today, it’s self-talk, really. It’s an affirmation to oneself, like saying: ‘You need to change, get your act together! This is not working, try something different.’ I think a lot of the songs on this album are self-motivational or have these kinds of self-affirmations.

When it comes to taking Night Mirror out on the road, how do you plan to translate those songs into a live environment?

One can do this in a very stripped-down version if one wanted to. I could just do it with my friend, with John, two guitars and me, but I wouldn’t want that, necessarily. These songs invite themselves to be played with a proper band. I need to be asked to do a gig and then I kind of find ways around it. So, if that should happen, we can do it in any kind of format!

xPropaganda’s The Heart Is Strange LP reached No.11 in the UK charts, outperforming A Secret Wish, which peaked at No.16 in 1985. That’s an amazing feat. Did it feel like a vindication of sorts?

It was extremely thrilling for us, because we didn’t want to just be remembered for A Secret Wish, which we all adore. We all love that album and playing it live. But we also really felt that we wanted more material for an xPropaganda concert. It’s always so wonderful to work with the lovely Susanne and amazing Stephen. It’s just a great combination. It just seems very easy for us to create together. And we have a good time.

It must have brought a sense of closure, but was it also a new beginning?

It felt very much like opening a new chapter. It was really good to present something new, you know? People always go, ‘Oh, why doesn’t it sound like then?’ It’s this kind of sentimentality that makes me go, ‘Hang on a minute, let’s just stay here, let’s just be present and do something now!’

So, are there plans to return to xPropaganda?

Oh yeah, I hope so, sooner rather than later! We’re working on more material, which is fun. It wasn’t just a one-off. We’re all into it, we meet regularly, we record, but we really need Stephen to put it all together. I think it’s going to be quite energetic. I’m really excited.

You’ve collaborated many times over the years, with the likes of Martin Gore, Andy Bell and Peter Hook. Are there plans for any other projects?

Oh, it was unbelievably special to work with Martin. He’s just such a great person. All my collaborators have been amazing; it’s so insightful to see how they work and I learn so much from them. I loved it when [Kraftwerk’s] Wolfgang Flür asked me to do the singing on Birmingham. Then it just opens other doors for meeting other people. At the end of a project, another project will then suggest itself.

What are you hoping fans will get out of Night Mirror?

That it connects with them on a deeper level, like, for example, A Secret Wish did. I believe that we all have a film in our head – the way you interpret life and the things that happen to you – and I hope that this album fits into their own film. I can’t believe that a song like p:Machinery was so long ago, but people still have such a deep connection to it. That’s really important about music – it’s like an old painting that can evoke all of these emotions. Hearing a Nico album from the 70s can still grip me and fascinate me. It hasn’t lost any of its magic. Isn’t it brilliant when music does that?

Released by Demon Records, Night Mirror is available on single CD, single LP, and Blu Ray Audio and digitally. A double CD and double LP, which includes the  Nighttime Mixes EP, is also available as an exclusive to Lexer Music. Order here