Let us remember briefly: At the beginning of their career, Joel Gibb and his hidden Cameras stood for what was soon called “Gay Church Folk”: broad chamber pop with choir, strings and sharp joke. With songs such as “Ban Marriage”, a happy plea against the ban on gay marriage, they became the queer indie sensation in the early nineties. The last sign of life dates to 2016: Home on Native Land came as a country album with a gentle Americana flair, which thought new with an illustrious crowd from a queer perspective.
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Nine years later, the hiking boots are exchanged for the dancing shoes. For well-informed beats that refer the disco of the 1970s as well as Electroclash and Eighties pop, Gibb shakes hits out of the sleeve, which he put in the spotlight together with the Munich producer Nicolas Sierg (Joasihno). The best: the “Understow”, which is difficult to sound after Erasure, to which, surprise, there is a Vince Clarke remix, and “How do you love”, in which the Pet Shop Boys put on hand. He mixes this with small instrumental numbers reminiscent of western soundtracks. In the middle of the very rhythmized album, depending on the point of view, they are stumbling or breathing pauses or exactly at the right time.
The highlight finally comes at the end: “Don’t Tell me that you love me” sums up a lost love for the strings of Owen Pallett – and briefly gets the old chamber pop back on board with his clerical melody.
This review first appeared in the MusikExpress 10/2025.