Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Postindustrial Poets

Postindustrial Poets - Still A Stranger Here

On October 30th, 2025, Postindustrial Poets unveiled their original album, "Still A Stranger Here," a collection of tracks that encapsulate the feeling of being out of place in a foreign land. The lead single, "Still A Stranger Here," is making waves on Amazon Music, resonating with listeners through its deep soul and blues influences combined with a modern twist. Featuring a mix of gloomy and upbeat tracks, the album showcases the band's versatile guitar work, thought-provoking lyrics, and innovative fusion of pop and rock elements. The recording process for the title track resulted in a distinctive sound, born out of an accidental routing through a guitar amp, creating a unique sonic texture that sets them apart from the mainstream.

Postindustrial Poets, hailing from Luxembourg, Luxembourg, have been crafting their unique sound since 2019, keeping a dynamic lineup as members come and go. Led by Pete, the mastermind behind all the songs, the project has persisted through various life changes. Despite a brief relocation, Pete's dedication to the project has remained unwavering. Residing in Luxembourg exposes them to a myriad of musical styles, shaping their eclectic sound. Their music draws inspiration from a diverse range of artists such as Tom Waits, Solomon Burke, Nick Cave, and more, as well as influences from French and German indie bands.

...

• AGREE
• DISAGREE

Interview with Postindustrial Poets

(º)> How does Still A Stranger Here capture the feeling of being out of place in a foreign land?

The lyrics are all about having lived in a place for a long time, and still being reminded constantly that you are an outsider. And the sound has some deep soul and modern blues influences that bring it all together. The guitar solos are short and sharp and accentuate that sense. We made some unusual choices along the way on Still A Stranger Here - and we still got where we wanted to be. Living abroad is something we know all about. But part of this song comes from people Pete knew in London when he was young.

(º)> How did the accidental guitar amp routing influence the sound of the title track?

This was quite weird. Two identical cable - one lead to the bass amp, the other to the guitar pedal board - which was set up with a lot of reverb and delay and some eq. The first reflex was just to yank out the cable and use the right one, but we carried on experimenting, and got the sound that you hear on the track. It's quite unique, we think! It meant that the bass could do a lot of the work on the track, and so the guitar work is quite sparse - which have more space for the vocal - and the backing vocals too. And obviously we know not everyone is going to like it - but there are a lot of people who really get the sound of this track.

(º)> How do you balance soul, blues, pop, and rock influences across the album?

Good question. Pete spent a long time virtually only listening to old blues records. Our original bassist was a massive Motown fan. We have a traditional guitar rock line-up. So they are all in there somewhere. Our last album (Twenty Twenty Four) was much more of a garage rock sound and was a lot of fun to do. This collection is bit more chilled, and probably more lyrical too.

(º)> How does your Luxembourg environment shape your eclectic musical style?

Probably the key thing is that we just get to hear French and German bands that you never get to hear in the UK or USA. And they approach things from a different angle. And there is a lot music made in Luxembourg from different musical cultures so we are regularly hearing music from Portugal, Cape Verde and Nigeria. So sometimes we take a song and mess around with different rhythms until we have something that incorporates some of those influences.

(º)> How do you approach creating music that resonates emotionally while remaining innovative?

Aren't these the two things that matter? We don't want to make music that is clever but doesn't move people. We want to pull people into the words - so we try to make songs that are stories and that are not fantasy. They begin with something we have experienced. And we are not really genre specific: we are happy to take things from different genres and to break the rules. We want to make tracks that don't really sound like anything anyone else has done. So there are a lot of influences from Blues, but we don't write traditional 12 bar blues.

(º)> How has the shifting lineup affected the evolution of Postindustrial Poets’ sound?

Quite a lot. We would have been much more productive if we had kept the same lineup throughout. But changes keep you fresh!

(º)> How do you ensure cohesion across tracks that range from gloomy to upbeat?

Another good question! I'm not sure that we do well enough on this, to be honest. I think the way we use guitar is quite distinctive, and across this album at least we have a consistent vocal style. But a teacher would probably write "could try harder" on our school report!

(º)> How do influences from artists like Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and European indie bands manifest in your music?

Tom Waits and Nick Cave both combine some great lyrics and some massive musical experimentation. Some French artists - Miossec for example - someone we caught live a couple of years ago - have a similar approach. We listen to them taking risks, and think we should do the same thing.

(º)> How does Pete’s songwriting process drive the band’s identity and vision?

Well some of the songs I write don't end up as Postindustrial Poets' tracks. I have a solo project that probably more EDM and pop. The songs that go to Postindustrial Poets tend to be a bit gritty - both in how they sound, and what they mean. And I can be either focussed on getting the sound in my head, or pretty open to messing around with the sound until something comes out that really works. But let's think about that some more with your next question...

(º)> Looking forward, how do you see Postindustrial Poets evolving in sound and thematic focus?

There is quite a dub reggae influence in some of the recent tracks that aren't on this album, and some of things I have been doing in my solo project are opening up new ways of doing things. So in the future we are going to be cooler, more of a groove, and still those gritty real life lyrics. We already have a good amount of material ready and after people have learned to love this release, there will be a new sound for them to love more!

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out Postindustrial Poets   on the Pigeon Spins Playlist