The second album from this power pop/punk outfit from Freiburg was released at the end of 2026 through a collaboration between Contra Records and Punkrock Boys Records. It contains twelve songs, which is a pretty decent load. We recently did an interview with Nonchalant, so you can check that out to get a better idea of their motivations, musical approach and personal stories. The record comes in three different vinyl colour variants, with a total pressing of 850 copies, so if you want one for your collection, waiting a few years probably isn’t the best strategy.
Nonchalant mainly play power pop, although there are also a few slightly punkier songs on the record. The band’s sound is defined above all by keyboards, a more melancholic tone and a very deliberate teenage aesthetic. For me, this album feels a bit like a time machine, taking me back to my teenage years. To a period when so many things are new, smelling of adventure and promising new experiences, while at the same time being accompanied by uncertainty and vague expectations. I don’t suffer from any particular nostalgia for my teenage years, but Nonchalant have nailed this aesthetic and managed to balance that fragile line between a melancholic sound and good taste.
This record tells stories from a time when you could tell yourself several times a year, “That’s the most beautiful girl in this city,” when you were discovering bands for the first time that you now know by heart, and when your approach to life hadn’t yet been crushed under the weight of cynicism and everyday misanthropy caused by far too many early mornings at work and all those small disappointments brought to you by the human race – and especially the opposite sex. That’s exactly the feeling Nonchalant manage to capture here without the album ever slipping into cheap nostalgia.
Nonchalant have made a record that is loud, melodic and, at its best, genuinely catchy. The members of the band also have heavier projects, and here they have allowed themselves to play around with the sound, the atmosphere and, most importantly, the feeling this kind of music creates. For some reason, I keep seeing The Style Council’s A Solid Bond In Your Heart video in my head, and it would fit perfectly alongside several songs on this album. Different era, slightly different style, but a similar effect. That’s what this record does for me.
It makes me want to head out to a late-night party at some local club, where you’re planning to finally approach that girl you’ve already spotted a few times at previous shows. Songs like Prettiest Girl In Town, Teenage Heart, Don’t Wanna Dance and Sound Of The 80’s are exactly about that. About nights when practically anything can still happen, and when a simple night out at a show might end very differently from how you originally expected. There are also songs dealing with more serious subjects, such as Too Late To Call (For Marco), Who Are You To Judge Me and Absurdity Of Life, which bring a different shade to the colourful atmosphere of the record.
There is a real sense of lightness to Nonchalant’s songwriting here, and when songs like Prettiest Girl In Town or Ball And Chain, featuring a great guest female vocal, kick in, I’m happy because I’m getting exactly the kind of songs that belong in the atmosphere of a late-night dance club. Listening to this album actually gave me a serious urge to pack up my records and go play a DJ set at a club again, because that’s exactly where this record is pushing me right now. And when a record gives you such a specific urge to actually go out and do something, I’d say that’s a pretty good sign that it’s working. The whole thing is also backed up by artwork that fits the atmosphere perfectly.
Nonchalant have created a record with its own atmosphere, one that can transport you somewhere else for half an hour. Not back to your actual teenage years – personally, I have no desire to go there – but back to the feelings of that period. And that’s a much more enjoyable trip.
TOP TRACKY: Prettiest Girl In Town, Ball And Chain, Dreaming
