My new album Ich Heiße Herr Richtig was released today as my first German language instrumental album. I am currently working on lyrics for all of these songs! Watch for releases of these songs with lyrics in the coming year. Ich Heiße Herr Richtig is now available on all major streaming services.
I began working on this album when I was listening to Alice Merton. I wondered why she, as a German Canadian, did not sing any songs in German. In Canada, there has been a forceable retraction of all German history in the country since World War I. For reference, see the name change of Berlin, ON to Kitchener, ON in 1916.
I was a teenager when Sara Craig released her album Sweet Exhaust in 1994. This was the first album I ever heard from a Canadian artist that incorporated German into their songwriting. I was starting my own journey of self-discovery into my own German roots, and listening to my family’s language helped bring me into this world. The use of German in Craig’s songs faded with her second and last album. I have always wondered if it was her use of German that made her first album as popular as it was.
Flash forward some 25 years later and Ich Heiße Herr Richtig was born. This album took a similar direction as my album Boy Smells, wherein I took a less structured approach to my song writing. This album was less about recording a specific time and place that I may find myself, and more into a fun reflection on where I have been.
Categories: Kyle Richtig Journal, Music Reviews, Richtig Haus
