The Informal Thief, support :thebigempty

Someone compared the voice of Lukas Klestil, aka The Informal Thief, with that of a cowboy suffering from a cirrhosis. A somewhat idiosyncratic comparison! But everyone can agree on the fact that the young Tyrolean's voice settles somewhere between Bob Dylan and The Tallest Man on Earth. On the solo debut album released in 2015, this voice met with dry fingerpicking on acoustic guitars and, together with the lyrics soaked in melancholy, brought out an archaic touch of nature. And a deep longing, embedded between classical folk, country and bluegrass.
Melancholy and longing can be found more than ever in the songs of the current EP "Despair Of Desire", but also electric guitars, bass and drums. In places, a horn and a pedal steel can be heard. The barren sound of the debut has given way to a rounder, much warmer sound. The genre-ingredients folk, some country and bluegrass were tasted with a pinch of pop, which gives the songs the best.

With: thebigempty the songwriter Philipp Pankraz reflects on the upheavals, the changes and the sensations that accompany them. Katharsis, yes, but not exclusively: He is more concerned with a critical examination of his own feelings in the partly autobiographical songs. For when does music, no matter what, arrive at the other person? Then, when the feeling conveyed is also sincere, and awakens understanding. Whether you can find your own story in the songs, or feel empathic - the great strength of: thebigempty is the mediation of these emotions. The lyrics are close to poetry, yet so raw and straightforward that the sung feelings are not washed away with pathetic metaphors. The folk song as a starting point, specifically not settled in pop, he tells his stories with gentle baritone without ever getting cheesy, and still manages to playfully reflect the big gestures, or themes like love, loss, hope, authentically packaged in songs.