Words by Nick Linzasoro, Photos by Sara-Louise Bowrey
It’s been quite some time since I’ve visited the compact gem that is The Folklore Rooms, which is centrally located a stone’s throw from Brighton’s Main Clocktower. I find myself here in order to check out a live rendition of tracks from the debut long player by New German Cinema, which is the moniker of Jessica Weiss who is known as the voice and songwriter from Fear of Men, who dropped a couple of albums: ‘Loom’ (2014) and ‘Fall Forever’ (2016). While Fear of Men continue to work on their next record, this solo project opens up Jessica’s own private language- a collection that feels at once personal and archival, haunted and alive. Between finishing a Masters in Early Modern Literature at Oxford, starting a PhD, moving countries and jobs many times, she’s been piecing together a body of work that sits somewhere between diary, research and séance.
Accompanying Jessica on her new project is Jag Bahia on keys, laptop, cymbal, and backing vocals. Jessica takes care of lead vocals and Fender Mustang bass guitar duties. This evening’s set has been put together by Love Thy Neighbour promoters, who were responsible for bringing New German Cinema to Brighton for the first time back on 20th January 2023 as part of the ‘Triptych’ series of concerts. Read our account of that evening HERE.
The New German Cinema album came out on 27th March via Felte and is titled ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ and was preceded in February by two singles from the record, these being ‘I Become Heavy’ and ‘Being Dead’. Days prior to these, a video for ‘My Mistake’, featuring guest vocals from Merchandise’s Carson Cox was uploaded to YouTube. The dozen stormy dark-pop gems contained on the album were 5 years in the making, stretched between London and Los Angeles, and the record was produced with Alex DeGroot (Zola Jesus, Cate Le Bon). Jessica calls the album a meditation on pop and European art-house auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder. What began as an Italo disco experiment evolved into a goth club anthem, charged and restless. It captures the push and pull of Weiss’s themes – devotion as both destruction and release. Jessica has a knack for making pain feel both exquisite and familiar. The songs are about the parts of yourself that dissolve in love, and the small acts of violence that come with being known. They move through claustrophobic relationships, obsession, surrender, cycles of suffering that start to feel like devotion. The language is pop but the feeling is something stranger, colder, more interior.
This evening’s performance at The Folklore Rooms is quite possibly the shortest non punk headline set that I can recall seeing. It comes in at exactly 30 minutes, which is the same as a vast majority of the taster sets at The Great Escape, but I guess it’s a case of quality not quantity, but only two-thirds of the new record is played for us this evening. The duo commence at 9:30pm with ‘All That Heaven Allows’ which begins with almost wailing style vocals and then the electronics kick in. All eyes are fixed on Jessica as her body animates its way through every note and word of the tune. It’s synth sounds, but not with a cold feel but with a warm heart.
After the crowd applause Jessica says “Hello, thank you for coming out tonight. We have just released our debut album and we are going to play some songs from that for the first time”. The duo then lead into ‘My Mistake’ which features alternate vocals and then they are delivered jointly. It’s an electronic pop number with a solid beat. The punters keep a respectful distance from the musicians, who are performing on the same level as us, as there is no stage as such. The plastic foliage and tiny lights add to the intimacy of the evening and some folk even choose to perch on stools and even on the floor. Jessica, who somehow reminds me of Aurora, then big up’s the support act “Thank you Nierra Creek we very much enjoyed that”, and they set about playing ‘Swirling Pain’ which sees Jessica strap on her Fender Mustang bass guitar for the first time. There’s several layers of sound going on here and Jag’s additional use of the cymbal adds to the enjoyment.
Song four is ‘Being Dead’ is counted in by Jag “1-2-3-4” and they are off again. The bass guitar remains in play for this joyous toe-tapping tune, and the vocals are crisp clear, you can hear every single word throughout the set. Offering five is ‘Eyes’ with its initial backbeat starting things off, prior to the echoey vocals coming in. “Take me down” sings Jessica, whilst Jag delivers a “ha-ha-ha” backing vocal which reminds me of Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’. Jessica’s repeated “I feel down, will you come around” lyrics are the earworm section of the cut. The setlist on the floor shows the next number as ‘37’, which, if that is its correct title, makes this the only song not from the LP and is, I believe, currently unreleased. There’s a goth darkwave beat coming to the party for this tune, and the beat becomes more intense akin to the likes of Clan of Xymox.
Next up is ‘Water Drops’, the sound of which continues where they left off, with “Just give yourself to me” being the standout lyrics. After this Jessica says “It’s great to be back in Brighton, a lot of the songs were written here and it’s a special place to us”. Then she proceeds to tickle the top string on her bass guitar and offers angelic vocals for ‘Perfect Secret’, and before we know it, that’s the end of the track, which catches everyone unaware. They sign off with ‘I Become Heavy’ which sees the bass guitar relegated to its stand, and thus allows Jessica to move more freely and express herself. I can certainly see why this song was selected as a single, and it’s a good one to sign off on. There’s no encore and so at 10pm on the dot, the duo vacate the stage, accompanied by the punters’ applause, myself included!
New German Cinema:
Jess Weiss – vocals, bass guitar
Jag Bahia – keys, laptop, cymbal, backing vocals
New German Cinema setlist:
‘All That Heaven Allows’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘My Mistake’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘Swirling Pain’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘Being Dead’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘Eyes’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘37’ (unreleased)
‘Water Drops’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘Perfect Secret’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
‘I Become Heavy’ (from 2026 ‘Pain Will Polish Me’ album)
Support this evening comes from Nierra Creek
https://www.instagram.com/nierracreek/ who are another duo. They comprise Ryan Deag on vocals, guitar, Roland SP-404, and Sebastian Müller on vocals, guitar, modular synths, and drum machine. Thankfully these guys are locally based, and I rather like what they are up to. I had the pleasure of seeing them live in action before, and so has my colleague Christian Le Surf, who is a big fan of theirs. He made a bee-line to catch their set two weeks ago (11th April) at The Hope & Ruin as part of the Homegrown Festival, where he stated that “Not only are they one of my favourite acts in the Brighton scene, but are one of my favourite musical projects in general – their unique blend of electronica and indie folk made such a mark on me upon hearing them at The Folklore Rooms back in the June of 2024 and I’ve remained a devout follower ever since!”.
Thus far the lads have released one EP, which dropped in 2024 and is available in resplendent red vinyl, with its title being ‘You’ve Got This’. Last year saw them offloading their ‘Shotgun In The Clio’ / ‘Street Fighter’ single and now they have bolstered that with ‘CZ-3000’ which came out in January.
Tonight an array of synthesizers, both digital and analogue are assembled on the stage for Ryan and Sebastian to assimilate themselves around. Clearly the duo are at home here as their EP was actually released by the label side of The Folklore Rooms business. Their 29 minute performance kicks off at 8:30pm with ‘Shotgun In The Clio’ and followed by the more electronic and (for me) more immediate ‘Move Together Now’, which reminds me of Nation Of Language and sadly missed Mirrors. There’s the addition of a second guitar, a Gibson with tremolo, for their latest ‘CZ-3000’ single, which is a slow chugger with a heavier vibe than the preceding numbers.
There’s a floaty intro with distant birdsong for the first of a trio of yet to be released songs, this being ‘Burn Out The Fire’. Then the retro sounds of the electronic drum machine kick in and the vocals begin. Once again Nation Of Language spring to mind. This number increases in intensity and the singer jerks his neck, when required, to add the extra feeling. The Gibson guitar is back for the next number, ‘Born A Child’, which has a slow ethereal start with joint auto-tuned vocals in play in parts. There’s also a fractional whiff of New Order on the guitar work. There’s another ethereal beginning on ‘I Try’ as the guys push the buttons and tweak the knobs. Then the bossa nova beat kicks in and the “Take me back a year ago” vocals ring around the compact room. The sound is particularly extra crisp here, and this surely is a set highlight. The duo then segue straight into the next tune, ‘Street Fighter’, which is another slow chugger. It’s 8:59pm and that’s our lot! Once again, it’s been a pleasure catching up with Ryan and Sebastian, and I seriously hope to see them in action on Saturday 16th May as part of The Folklore Rooms Alternative Escape action – keep your eyes peeled over the coming days for the official full line-up action
Nierra Creek:
Ryan Deag – vocals, guitar, Roland SP-404
Sebastian Müller – vocals, guitar, modular synths, drum machine
Nierra Creek setlist:
‘Shotgun In The Clio’ (from 2025 ‘Shotgun In The Clio’ / ‘Street Fighter’ single)
‘Move Together Now’ (from 2024 ‘You’ve Got This’ EP)
‘CZ-3000’ (a 2026 single)
‘Burn Out The Fire’ (unreleased)
‘Born A Child’ (unreleased)
‘I Try’ (unreleased)
‘Street Fighter’ (from 2025 ‘Shotgun In The Clio’ / ‘Street Fighter’ single)
