Fenster

Crafting spare but evocative experimental pop that bears traces of the xx and Mazzy Star, Berlin's Fenster is the project of JJ Weihl and Jonathan Jarzyna, a pair of friends who began recording together in 2010. New York City native Weihl had spent time playing music in Berlin with Jarzyna before moving back to her hometown for love, but ultimately returned to Berlin in mid-2010. When she reconnected with Jarzyna, the pair began working on songs together in his studio. After a stint busking all over town to raise funds, Fenster — who took their name as a tribute to the way a window frames open spaces — began recording in earnest with their friend and producer Tad Klimp in January 2011. The results piqued the interest of Morr Music, which released a 7" single that October and the full-length Bones in early 2012. To help fill out Fenster's sound for live events, Weihl and Jarzyna added Rémi Letournelle to the fold. In 2013, Fenster headed to a cabin in East Germany to work on their follow-up album. They wired the entire property with microphones and recording equipment and began recording both music and found sounds they encountered throughout the cabin. The resulting album, 2014's Pink Caves, revealed an even more experimental and ambient approach.