- Now that we've established that the famous photographer Wolfgang Tillmans is a recording artist, we're seeing the work pile up. That's Desire / Here We Are is his third EP of the year, although it's the first under the name of Fragile, with Tillmans at the helm of a rotating cast of musicians. Most of the EP comes courtesy of his New York crew. One of the tracks, "Fast Lane," was essentially recorded in 1986, when he was 18 in his German hometown of Remscheid. Another, "Warm Star," was recorded in Porto, although we get the edit made in Bogotá, Colombia.
Tillmans' most obvious contribution to Fragile is the vocals, which are monotone and often flatly off-key. But his lyrics are intriguing enough, and even the songs about love have a poignant sensitivity to them. Tonally, if not in proficiency, he's not so far away from Jim Morrison, a comparison highlighted by spoken-word performativity over the slow, hypnotic build of Brexit reaction track "Naive Me." That and "Fast Lane" are the two most convincing songs—the latter has an infectious punk energy matched in the vocals and rhythm boxes that's missing elsewhere.
There's a retro quality running through Fragile, which may have something to do with the era Tillmans initially became engaged with music. It feels like a lot of these ideas have been worn well, even if he's seeing them from a new angle. But judging by the rate and evolution of releases, Fragile is a music practice that's still very much in motion.
TracklistA1 That's Desire feat. Ash B
A2 Fast Lane (1986 Recording)
A3 Anderes Osterlied
B1 Here We Are
B2 Naive Me
B3 Warm Star (Porto / Bogotá Edit)