Ingolf's "Exil" Will Significantly Improve Your 2023 Playlist

'Exil' is a stunning debut album, 9 songs deep by Berliner multi-hyphenate musician "Ingolf" who is not at all a newfangled amateur. Back in the late 80s, he got his first real taste of a musician's power with his band 'Concession', later in the  90s, he toured the Deutsche Demokratische Republik as a successful DJ and he even saw his music released in techno compilations while producing artists under his own label. In the early 2000s, he focused solely on writing and producing music for television while managing a company with his partner at the time that specialized in building studio equipment. For the past 25 years, Ingolf has been working as a producer and composer. 

One can only venture to guess what finally snapped inside of Ingolf that sparked him to create music for himself once again, but starting in 2020 he did just that, preparing the ground for what would be the release of his official debut album, 'Exil'.

'Exil' is a 9-song journey, which may seem to land on the short side of things, but all that's there is very thorough. Part of what makes the album work is the emotional depth that Ingolf sought to depict, as he was largely inspired by his breakup with his long-time partner. In retrospect, this album is the product of coming to terms with and overcoming the situation he found himself in after the breakup. 

The album is tailored to the sexiest Synth-pop you can imagine- and I do hope you get what I mean by 'sexy' within the first 40 seconds of "Wonderful Life", the mood-setting opening track of the album, which I found to be a truly "wonderful" nostalgic piece that makes me think of rainy skies and pretty smiles alike. 

The first track does a really great job of letting you know what's up, however, I think it could have just as easily been used as the final exit track. Get ready for groovy electro rhythms and poignant guitar riffs that evoke much of the German music scene of his younger days. 

Though "Wonderful Life" is a truly lovely song, I was fully on board with "Exil" by the second track "All Walls (Come Tumbling Down)", in which I could appreciate Ingolf's exotic and somewhat haunting baritone vocals which immediately reminded me of David Bowie (check out 'China Girl' to hear what I mean if you don't notice at first) as he likewise jaunts through the song with a smokey and somewhat unnatural elegance that's just instantly iconic.

Another huge stand-out is the third track, 'Crossroads' which starts as this cold and melancholic piano ballad before eventually unfolding into a sci-fi pop masterpiece with hints of prog/space rock with a very unique identity. Call it Space-pop if you will, synth-opera or what have you, it's important that you give this album your full attention: Headphones on and lights out, Exil is worth experiencing like a really good wine or a sunset.

Short of spoiling the rest of the album, I think another track that bears heavy mentioning and praise is Ingolf's closing statement, "My love (Il Mio Amore)", a song in which we get to experience the lower end of his vocal registry in all its crooning glory, in what's -in my opinion- the best performance he's delivered in the entire album. The track takes some ethereal new-age colors thanks to Christina Roterberg's contribution and then it explodes into a supremely powerful alt-rock ballad that will please any musical palate.

Closing thoughts.

Depending on how you look at it, this album's been 3 years in the making, 25 or even more. In any case, the result is something that I can only -and very sincerely- describe as a complete success, a masterpiece even; the result of a long and storied career of someone who by any qualitative metric (if any can be employed) should be filling up arenas right now. Ingolf just has that much-refined talent. There's no need for anyone to wonder "how" his career will progress or how his sound will "mature" from now on - that is not to say that he's "peaked" but he's certainly at his creative prime, and he can only release at his very best from this moment on.

meet the author

Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based.

I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant  ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.