So here it is at last: that much-needed fresh perspective for the German indie sound, which is and always has been so obvious. ENGIN conjure up a kaleidoscope of timeless cultural music with light-footed coolness, fusing psychedelic pop with Anatolian rock and establishing an impromptu style that is unrivalled in this country. If Barış Manço were to collaborate with The War On Drugs today or if Altın Gün had made their debut on Audiolith, the end result would probably sound very similar to the three wonderfully open residents of Mannheim. And although they only released their second album, “Mesafeler” (2024), at the beginning of the year, word quickly spread in the local feature pages up and down the country about what a stroke of luck this reinvention of German–Turkish pop music really is. As eclectic as the musical influences are, as varied and honest are the lyrics, in which singer Engin Devekiran addresses alienation and reconciliation, beauty and ugliness, and the whole tragicomic life that exists between cultures. This is a band that – despite being at the beginning of their career – have great things ahead of them.