Odd Beholder – Honest Work
Swiss electro-wave artist Odd Beholder (Daniela Weinmann) releases her fourth album Honest Work, via cult Berlin label Sinnbus/Believe.
The ten-track concept album is dedicated to the stories of working people—condensing the impositions of modern working life and reflecting on a society in which closeness, privacy, and authenticity are commodified.
‘Honest Work’ tells of frustration with unfair working conditions, ecological crises, and emotional loneliness. It tells of a society that internalizes pressure to perform while only vaguely defining what performance actually means. It tells of exhaustion, anger and pressure, and of the lives of those who try to find their way in it and not lose their dignity—and who are likely to fail.
“My songs ask about the agreements we make with our jobs,” Weinmann explains. “And about the possibility of an ‘honest profession’ in a world characterized by overconsumption, competition and market logic, where ecological balance, human rights and peace between countries are currently at stake.”
The album was created over two years during a phase in which Weinmann was intensively grappling with her personal and professional situation. In addition to her music, she was working at the university to make ends meet, ethnographically observing neoliberal start-ups while spending her nights writing music and playing concerts.
“With a workload like that, no matter how resilient you are, you eventually become angry,” she recalls. Inevitably, she had to confront her own overwork and doubts about her life plan.
The pressures of everyday life are reflected in the music, creating a sense of intensity. Odd Beholder’s tracks are becoming clearer and more concise. This fits well with the approach of Berlin-based techno producer Douglas Greed, with whom Weinmann collaborated on the album’s development and production. The tracks draw on electronic music from the nineties, including trip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, 2-step garage, and industrial. Complemented by the introspective power of singer-songwriter role models such as Aldous Harding and PJ Harvey, beat and bass are at the heart of Honest Work, lending the music a new directness.
The album’s focus track “Lean Dreams” exemplifies Honest Work’s approach—pairing the clarity and conciseness of Odd Beholder’s evolving sound with sharp examination of modern professional life.
Drawing on electronic music from the nineties, including trip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, 2-step garage, and industrial, the track showcases the new directness that defines the album, where beat and bass are at the heart of the music.
EUROPEAN TOUR 2026
Presented by ByteFM, Kulturnews, Rausgegangen
May
22.05.26 – Royal Baden, Baden, CH
28.05.26 – Bad Bonn, Düdingen, CH
29.05.26 – Bruderbar, Frauenfeld, CH
September
08.09.26 – Schon schön, Mainz, DE
09.09.26 – Ostpol, Dresden, DE
10.09.26 – Neues Schauspiel, Leipzig, DE
11.09.26 – Engelsburg, Erfurt, DE
12.09.26 – Kantine am Berghain, Berlin, DE
18.09.26 – Milla, München, DE
21.09.26 – Haldern Pop Bar, Haldern, DE
22.09.26 – Café Glocksee, Hannover, DE
23.09.26 – Hebebühne, Hamburg, DE
25.09.26 – Werkstatthaus, Stuttgart, DE
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