Nah Dran is
Hannes Wader's first album of new material in six years, released shortly after his 70th birthday. The German Liedermacher delivers a set of laconic, black-humored tunes, some of which are rearrangements of existing songs with new lyrics ("Ich Werd' Es Überstehn" used to be
Tom Paxton's "Last Thing on My Mind"; "Die Welken Blätter" is a new version of
Joseph Kosma and
Jacques Prévert's "Les Feuilles Mortes," also known as "Autumn Leaves"). The track "Alter Freund" is an homage to
Wader's friend and fellow singer/songwriter
Franz Josef Degenhardt, who died in November 2011.
Nah Dran, which takes a few stylistic detours from
Wader's Liedermacher sound (the reggae-inspired ten-minute title track, the country-flavored "Lied Vom Tod"), entered the German charts at number 18 and is also available as a deluxe edition with a 44-page booklet and five bonus tracks (including a new version of
Elvis' "Wooden Heart"). ~ Christian Genzel