Portraits of Invisible Places is a riveting audio/visual album from Danish duo Linebug, who are based in Zeitz, East Germany. An array of delicate folk compositions, twinkling pop, and orchestral-laden flourishes make for an enjoyably approachable sound. Alongside comes a personal thematic hold, which uses music and animation to tell stories of East Germany’s “often overlooked towns and fates.” Each of the ten songs represents a different place, some bearing tragedy and others emphasizing the area’s rich cultural perseverance.
Specifically, Portraits of Invisible Places explores an impactful moment in German history, following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many areas of East Germany experienced economic decline and evolving cultural outlooks. These tracks capture a variety of locales and persons, from former mining towns forced to discover new identities to depictions of violent riots and Germany’s largest mass suicide. A dark past, and the journey of inhabitants and cities/towns to move beyond it, proves consistently resonating throughout this successful concept album from Linebug.
A collection of music videos accompany numerous album tracks, infusing apt visuals within these meaningful narratives and beautiful instrumentation. That’s quickly evident with opening track “Temporary Home (Zeitz),” where Line Bøgh’s vocals beckon to “find me a temporary home,” amidst lush piano and twinkling keys. The vintage videos of vibrant fairs and busy streets invoke a town’s more flourishing past, now encumbered in a relative state of decay of search for new identity. “How long will it take to wash off the past?” Bøgh asks on the ensuing track, referencing the Hoyerswerda riots of 1991. The accompanying video’s slideshow of silhouettes, illustrating both colorful jubilation and industry-state greyness, proves poignantly moving.
In tackling both the admirable endurance of these locations, in addition to their darker memories, the duo tactfully explore the past in a way that’s inspired personally by interaction. “We have met people with powerful stories that deserve to be heard – not as part of an outdated narrative of ‘losers’ and ‘victims,’ but as part of a living culture that continues to evolve,” they explain. “On our journeys, we’ve encountered people who share stories rarely given attention. These are not just stories of loss and decay, but also of strength and transformation.”
Another stirring track, “When We Find It (Eythra)” soothes with harmonious vocals and bird-chirping amidst calming acoustics. Retrospective lyricism conveys blissful nature, arising into a title-touting refrain and an acknowledgement of a “beautiful place,” as sounds of a creek trickling enter. Bleaker progressions of a waning town, where its beauty is sacrificed for the coal industry’s dominance. “It was easy to forget how beautiful it used to be here,” Bøgh sings, sending chills in capturing a previous glow.
“Someone Else’s Tragedy (Demmin)” envelops listeners in a meditation on collective grief and the struggle to reckon with history. “Who is this madness for? It’s not for me,” the vocals lament over plucky guitars and graceful piano, evoking the weight of remembrance. The song reflects on the tragic mass suicides in Demmin at the end of World War II—an event long buried in silence, only resurfacing in the 1990s. Today, the town’s grief is overshadowed by political turmoil, as the far-right NPD co-opts the tragedy for propaganda while counter-protests erupt in response.
The lyrics within “Someone Else’s Tragedy (Demmin)” channel a sense of displacement amid this distortion of memory. “I try to erase the pictures from my mind,” the song pleads, mirroring the town’s unresolved mourning—a past that refuses to be forgotten yet finds no peace in the present. With original field recordings from Demmin on May 8, 2024, the track stands as a deeply poignant reflection on remembrance, manipulation, and the absence of space for true grief. “The Creek (Altenburg)” continues depictions of those “who lost everything,” as gorgeous strings enter. Portraits of Invisible Places is an enthralling success from Linebug, whose insightful thematic concept and consistently melodic songwriting result in a thoroughly immersive listening experience.
