It's a bittersweet juxtaposition that features heavily on the pair's new album 'Odeon'. It opens with the hazy string track "Zur Guten," which transitions into the oozing keys and pizzicato steel string guitars of "What If," which features the smoky vocals of Sarah Carlier. Lead single "Jayjay" is a haunting blend of eerie piano chords, rolling drums and JJ Jones' strange, otherworldly vocals. It's the centre track on the record that sees Tosca immerse themselves in a gothic atmosphere. It's darker than their previous five albums, more muted, ambient at times. It's unlike anything else coming out at the moment.
Is there a reason for this dark mood? Nothing definitive. "Obviously our music is influenced by our life experiences - you can't have it any other way - so in a way it's a kind of diary, but there weren't any particular instances that made the record get a bit darker," says Dorfmeister. If anything, it was just the opposite: life was good." "Over the last year, I think we've both learnt to be more generous and to understand our own and others' shortcomings," says Huber. A case of musical yin and personal yang, all in all.
The album's title, meanwhile, comes from a Viennese concert where Tosca presented new material in October. The gig went so well that they thought it would be an apt title - the music/place interface is back in action.
More than anything else, "Odeon" is the sound of a band at the pinnacle of their fame. It's about time they released a retrospective of their career.
Dorfmeister reflects on the band's history. "It sounds like a cliché, but we never thought about other people's music when we wrote our own," he says. "We're trying to create our own sound. We've really always been that way. And I think because of that, we have our own signature sound."
