A well-behaved reflection of feelings

Michael von der Heide's tenth album is the first reminder of what a formidable singer the 43-year-old from Amden in the canton of Zurich is. On Bellevue he once again masters not only every melody but also many styles with ease and suppleness. Like a bird of paradise, which he likes to portray credibly on stage, he hops from French chanson to Swiss-German folk song to German song, with the pop format serving as a unifying element. The fact that he has no fear of contact with pop songs is more evident on the new album than ever before. What is new, however, is the electronic arrangement of some tracks with house patterns, in which acoustic instruments often only provide flourishes or accents.

The music of Bellevue is clearly characterized by Maurizio Pozzi alias Maury, who has already worked for Swiss greats such as DJ Antoine and Remady and created the anthem for the Street Parade in 2013. The Zurich native not only composed or arranged all the songs, but also produced them and played many instruments. The cool tone of the music reinforces the warm intensity of the vocals, von der Heide's unconditional devotion. The compositions, however, support the emotional state of the lyrics in a well-behaved manner. Since everything is predictable, most of the songs lack tension and character.

One of the exceptions is the dialect song by Christine Lauterburg Hinterem Bergwhich is connected to the Guggisberg song is reminiscent. Plucked string instruments bring a dry refraction to the piece with their ornamental playing, as is familiar from Leonard Cohen's late work. Charming duet Rien que des amis is that you can hardly distinguish the voices of Sina and von der Heide in places. But the piece composed by Markus Schönholzer is outstanding White sharks. It creates an atmospheric complexity that most other songs lack and that reflects von der Heide's reflective lyrics.

However, many of the lyrics are teeming with words such as heart, sun, summer and sea. The piece is hard to bear, for example I would do it again and again with you, because it is dripping with clichés and pathos and, with just such music, escalates into a tearjerker in the style of Helene Fischer. Dagobert from Aargau, for example, shows that things can be done differently in pop music and has also received a lot of recognition in Germany. - It will be particularly interesting to see how Michael von der Heide performs this piece live. He is not only a confident singer, but also a brilliant entertainer, whose mischievous presentation has already lent some of his songs a pleasant irony.

Michael von der Heide: Bellevue. MvdH.