Berghain

First of all: it’s the best pop track I’ve heard in a long time. Years. By “best” I mean I caught a snippet, paused what I was doing, then listened to it three times on repeat. It’s—wow. It’s good in a way that makes me bitter for the current state of pop music. It’s a glimpse into another world, a better world: a world where one of the most popular Spanish-speaking singers (one of the biggest music markets) is a creative artist with impeccable taste. She’s—cool, I don’t know how else to say it—she’s Freddie Mercury-cool. She’s Prince-cool. I’ve listened to her before, loved her silly tracks — Chicken Teriyaki is a personal favourite — but Berghain is a masterpiece. It’s also a track best experienced with the visuals. The chaotic, intrusive instrumental hits so much harder when the orchestra is squished into her room, on the bus, in her life. The Christian symbolism is done sincerely, doesn’t feel trite — maybe a little under-baked, but the rest of it is done so well that I don’t know, maybe it’s me who’s ignorant, maybe I’m not picking up on what she’s saying. She establishes her authority so well in the first 45 seconds that I’m in it now, I’m riveted and I want to understand. The symbolism is effective precisely because it doesn’t beat you over the head with it. Why is it called Berghain? Is it because of the typical adage — the “temple of techno” — tying into those religious themes? Does it tap into the melancholy of nights spent in revelry and excess that feel insubstantial in retrospect? Am I projecting my own experience of Berghain, of Berlin’s tendency to swallow you whole? Is it a nod to the recent controversy — a pro-Palestinian artist being turned away from performing there? Who knows. I certainly don’t. And isn’t that so much more satisfying than the clumsy pop “Easter eggs” that feel less creatively meaningful than anything ChatGPT could’ve churned out? The end hits like a hammer to the teeth. I don’t know anything about Yves Tumor but I’m certainly going to find out pronto. She’s such a boss, honestly. Such a comprehensive alpha bitch.