Seoi Nage will release their debut album “No Retreat, No Surrender” on October 10 through This Charming Man Records. The four-piece from Münster—Jakob Hersch, Anton Zimmermann, Pascal Schaumburg, and Pogo McCartney—take their name from a judo throw, tying the project back to their shared martial arts background.
The record spans eleven tracks and aims to capture the mood of an imaginary crime film. The band describes the sound as a collision of Eastern martial arts cinema with Italian giallo, sleazy car chases, and psychedelic noir.
The result is positioned somewhere between groove-soaked funk and retro-futurist atmospheres. McCartney handled mixing, Alexander von Hörsten took on mastering, and Benny Demmer provided the cover art.
The track “Brotherhood of the Wolf” arrives with a visualizer that borrows directly from martial arts cinema aesthetics. “The video incorporates excerpts from the 1977 documentary The Warrior Within, lending it a distinctly retro and authentic atmosphere. Musically, the track forges a connection between driving funk rhythms and cinematic drama. It stands as both a visual and sonic homage to martial arts and to the hypnotic power of the cinema of that era.”
Seoi Nage frame their sound as “Fan Art Music,” aligning their work with the crate-digging spirit of MF Doom while drawing on the analog grit of 1970s detective films. Pressings of the album will be available in 100 orange, 200 yellow, and 200 black vinyl editions.
Catch Seoi Nage’s hypnotic live show—complete with projected visuals by filmmaker Simon Büchting— on tour:
10.10. Münster – Black Box
16.10. Aachen – Raststätte
17.10. Freiburg – Slow Club
18.10. Karlsruhe – Kohi
19.10. Köln – Hängende Gärten von Ehrenfeld
5.11. Leipzig – Ilses Erika
6.11. Dresden – Heartbreak
7.11. Chemnitz – Aaltra
8.11. Berlin – Schokoladen
