My Heart of Stone

With his main band Wolfsheim inactive since 2005 (and a continuation seeming unlikely due to bandmember Markus Reinhardt's -- albeit unsuccessful -- attempts to sue him out of the group), singer Peter Heppner continues to focus on his solo career. My Heart of Stone, his second solo album, was released four years after 2008's Solo and is definitely steeped in the sound of Heppner's darkwave past. The album's electronic pop offers a more positive vibe than his previous effort, even though there are only a few dance-oriented tracks ("Give Us What We Need," "God Smoked"), while many songs are informed by a brooding sense of introspection. The album, which was produced by Thommy Hein and entered the German charts at number six, is also available as a limited deluxe edition, which adds an 11-track CD titled Werkschau Teil 1 (Retrospective, Pt. 1) featuring tracks Heppner recorded with other artists (such as "Genau Entgegengesetzt," his 2010 duet with Marianne Rosenberg). ~ Christian Genzel