Too Many Distractions

The Ting Tings are moving to Berlin to write their new album. When asked about it, they’re pretty honest: Berlin’s incredible, but they don’t think they’ll actually get much work done there. Too many distractions.

That’s the trap with cities you love—they stop being inspiring once you’re trying to actually use them for something. You go for fuel and just end up wandering. Berlin especially has that quality. It’s a place where you can feel like you’re living something important just by walking down the right street.

I’ve liked their music for a while. Katie White and Jules de Martino make pop that feels like it’s not trying, which is the hardest thing to actually achieve. There’s no strain in it, no hunger. Just sharp and confident and often funny in a way that doesn’t announce itself.

Berlin might be exactly what they need, even if no real recording happens there. Sometimes the best work happens later, in some other studio in some other city, with Berlin still in your head. You remember a walk, a bar, the light at a certain time, and something clicks.

I wouldn’t mind running into Katie White there someday. It’s not a serious ambition, more like something to half-seriously wish for. Stranger things happen.