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Maximilian Hecker

Germany's Maximilian Hecker is an emotive singer/songwriter whose ethereal brand of melancholy alt-pop has crossed boundaries from Europe to Asia. He initially garnered attention in the early '00s with his intimately rendered debut Infinite Love Songs and Rose. Collaborating with producers like Gareth Jones, Guy Sternberg, Youth and Johannes Feige, he continued to develop his sound with albums such as 2006's I'll Be a Virgin, I'll Be a Mountain, 2010's I Am Nothing But Emotion..., and 2015's Spellbound Scenes of My Cure, all the while building a fanbase in countries like Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The very personal Wretched Love Songs arrived in 2019, followed in 2023 by Neverheart. Born in 1977 in Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany, Hecker grew up in Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia where he learned to play piano, guitar and drums at a young age. As a teenager, he played drums in several bands and began busking on his own in Berlin's Hackesche Markt. After high school, he completed his alternative civilian service at a hospital in Munich, before training as a nurse in Berlin. All the while, he continued to busk, playing covers and his own lyrical pop songs. In October 2001, Hecker released his debut album Infinite Love Songs, produced with Tommi Eckart. Tours followed, including a headline run and as an opening act with Bill Callahan, Lloyd Cole, and others. Hecker returned in May 2003 with his second full-length, Rose, produced by Britain's Gareth Jones. That same year, he joined Cat Power for a show in France. His third album, the Guy Sternberg-produced Lady Sleep, arrived in January 2005. Along with getting released in Europe, the album was released in South Korea where Hecker had a growing fanbase; a pattern he would repeat on his albums moving forward. Once again working with producer Sternberg, he delivered 2006's I'll Be a Virgin, I'll Be a Mountain, an album that found him collaborating with a larger group of musicians, some in his touring ensemble. An EP, Once I Was, arrived the following year, along his first ever best of compilation, I Am Falling Now. Both were specially designed for his fans in Taiwan, South Korea, and China and found Hecker embarking on a tour of East-Asia. His fifth album, One Day, also recorded with Sternberg was released in May 2008 and found him expanding his reach into Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. He further broadened his reach during this period, penning songs for other artists, including "Miss Underwater" for Taiwanese singer Faith Yang. After launching his own Blue Soldier Records, he delivered his sixth album, 2010's I Am Nothing But Emotion..., which found him returning to a self-produced and recorded format for the first time since his debut. That same year he paired with Sodagreen singer Wu Qingfeng to co-pen the song "Kun Zai" for Taiwanese singer Wei Ruxuan. Also in 2010, he delivered Favourite Demos and Rare and Unreleased, two anthologies of rarities, previously unreleased tracks and B-Sides. Hecker's seventh album, Mirage of Bliss, arrived in 2012 on his own Blue Soldier Records. Produced by Martin Glover a.k.a. Youth, it again found him playing most of the instruments himself. On the heels of the album's release, he published his autobiography, The Rise and Fall of Maximilian Hecker, which detailed his life and career in music. His eight studio-album, Spellbound Scenes of My Cure, was released in 2015. Co-produced with Johannes Feige and featuring mixing by Tommi Eckart, it worked as a loose concept album inspired by his global travels. It was accompanied by a set of films produced by Hecker. Feige also joined him on tour in a duo setting. A second compilation, the 30-track The Best of Maximilian Hecker, appeared the following year. Another Feige and Eckart production, Wretched Love Songs, arrived in 2018 and found Hecker digging into memories from his childhood. Two duets arrived the following year, including "Headstone" with singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata and "The Flower" with Leo from Vixx. In 2023, Hecker released Neverheart, his third with producer/collaborator Feige with Peter Seifert taking over mixing duties. An ambitious production, it featured the two part "Two-Tone Love."
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Discography

27 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

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