Tok Tok Tok's latest album marks a new direction for the duo from Freiburg. A warm sound winds its way through songs about separation, pain, jealousy and everyday adversities. Since the 1980s, Tok Tok Tok has been putting out laid-back tunes with a touch of swing. But since frontwoman Tokunbo Akinro started singing in German, one thing's become clear: they've got a lot more to say than fans may have thought.

But compared with the rest of the album, the first song seems tame: "Chocolate" is a declaration of love for the people's drug of choice, in a flowing funk rhythm.

Soft sounds, hard criticism

The tracks that delve into Tokunbo Akinro and Morten Klein's unease about the state of society are the high point of the album. Writing lyrics in German was a difficult process for singer Akinro, who has written both poetry and lyrics in English for decades.

It was a major challenge, but worth it, said the singer.

"I'm half-German and half-Nigerian, and it was really good for me to work so intensively in German. It was also good for exploring my identity," Akinro explained.

Deportation

Anger also surfaces in the songs, like in "Safiya," which describes the fate of a child refugee deported to Zimbabwe. For the singer, the story is emblematic of many cases of deportation in Germany.

"When asylum seekers, who are living here with a 'tolerated' status, are then deported after all, it's often done in a very inhumane way," she said, adding, "Most people don't realize that because very little reporting is done on the topic."

That's why the true story described in the song is close to her heart. Safiya, who was born and grew up in Germany, was separated from her parents and shipped off to Zimbabwe. Once deported, children like Safiya suddenly find themselves in a completely foreign environment where they have no chance at receiving education, the singers said.

"That's not only sad, it's also no way of treating people," she stressed.

Speech bubbles and questions

While the duo's message comes across rather quietly in many of the songs, the title track "Was heißt das denn?" ("What's that mean?"), gets cracking, propelled by drums.

In "Was heißt das denn?," an empty-talking politician first tries to expIain the complex state of the world to people in glowing terms. But his stories are met with a host of questions.

Inspired by civic protests in recent years surrounding a major construction project in southern Germany, saxophonist Morten Klein hopes the title track will encourage people to think critically.

"We're living during a period in time in which one cannot ask questions enough: what does that mean - what this person, this politician, this company or the railway company is saying?" Klein said.

Considering the euro, debt and bank crises, the list of questions at the moment seems endless. But Klein also admits that, "I bob away for a while and lose track of things sometimes, and then I get back on board and realize: 'Oh, man, I wasn't paying attention; what's happened now?'"

And those who are similarly overwhelmed or out of the loop can enjoy Tok Tok Tok's warm and easy-going music just as well without the message.

Author: Sebastian Bargon / als