Jupiter Jones – didn’t they break up? Is correct! But the indie rockers have dared to make a new start with a slimmed-down line-up and are now presenting their first album in an old but also new form. Because the hard core of this new formation are Nicholas Müller, who left the band in 2014 because of his anxiety disorder, and Sascha Eigner, who played the guitar until the band broke up in 2018.
With “The Sun is a Dwarf Star” they are now releasing twelve songs about life, about heaviness and lightness, about darkness, fear and hope. In short: A typical Jupiter Jones album with depth, lyrics that make you think and melodies that are equally fed by electro-pop and rock.
Dominant theme fear
The theme of fear runs through the album as a common thread. For example, the track “Everywhere were shadows” says: “The whole world hurt. I know, there were shadows everywhere”. And: “The sun is a dwarf star. Maybe that’s meant as a consolation. When everything that’s missing in the dark seems so important and so big.” In the song “Atmen” Nicholas Müller sings: “I didn’t try so many things out of fear and then almost missed the other half out of anger. I cursed luck in the wrong place.”
The 41-year-old singer, who describes himself as the “lyric guy”, explains it like this: “For me it’s one of the most obvious topics – especially these days, especially when looking at the world and the people who are important to us . I’m always scared that something is going to shatter my life plan and once or twice it’s even happened.” Because in 2014 the singer had to give up everything because he could no longer perform with his anxiety disorder – and went into therapy.
Why is he now back on stage? “Very pragmatically: I can’t do anything else. I haven’t really learned anything. I find almost nothing in my life that is greater than the opportunity to make a living with music, and I would do a devil to throw this opportunity to the wind,” says Mueller. “I got rid of my fear as part of a number of therapies – from inpatient stays to outpatient therapies with a psychotherapist. Fear is a nasty opponent, but it is predictable and simple and therefore easy to chase away. Nobody should be ashamed of fear, nobody should believe that this is a matter to be dealt with all alone.”
And so this album is also to be understood as an approach, not to create a peace-joy-pancake world, but to consciously pull the nasty, dark themes out of the shadows and present them to the listeners: “We see that pop music in our part of the world likes to have a perseverance party mentality – and somehow that can’t be the case,” says Nicholas Müller.
“There are so many people out there who are struggling with themselves and the circumstances. I find it cynical to tell them that everything is or will be great. At the moment it is more important to let them know that it is ok is to be scared and that they are not alone.” So it’s worth listening to the album as closely as you can, as Jupiter Jones’ lyrics are packed with food for thought.
Beyond the shadows
But there are also a few rays of hope. In the propelling “Melatonin” it says: “You all don’t have to worry. I find lightness in difficult things.” A difficult thing in which one finds lightness, this can also refer to being a father. Because both musicians are now dads. Of course it changes the way you see the world.
Sascha Eigner says he has become “much more relaxed and calm”. “In contrast to the past, my priorities in life are no longer to work more and more, but to enjoy life more and spend time with loved ones,” says the native of Hamburg.
Jupiter Jones formed in 2002. Their biggest hit was the 2011 song “Still” – the band also received the Echo music award for it.
