Maxim Ludwig

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In experience and attitude, Maxim Ludwig is a man of extremes. He has lived life with violent immoderation, recklessly drunk too much or praised the virtues of his own sobriety, eaten to excess or not at all, slept days away or skipped nights of sleeping, worked obsessively for glory or laid about with unbridled laziness. Out of joy, adventure and abandon, fiercely unafraid of consequences, he is the honest instigator in the tradition of R.P. McMurphy, Serge Gainsbourg and Norman Mailer, a true romantic artist irreverent to all but his craft.

On Ludwig's debut album Libra-Scorpio Cusp, we find our hero at ease by night, brimming with eccentric charisma that's half beatnik, half Rat Pack, showing an uncanny knack for rock and roll with desperate vocals and funky grooves. Through thoughtful arrangements lifted by gritty riffs, expansive keyboards and fearlessly soulful saxophones, Ludwig's first full-length effort stands out as a liberating play. As a songwriter, his lyrics are self-reflective and direct, inspired by the Black Mountain Poets, Henry Miller-esque sexual obsessions, broken promises ("W8 4 U"), creative persistence ("Big White Wall") and some more naughty forms of self-expression ("No One Has to Know"). The melodies are naturally captivating, asking to be sung along to, hair down, ass shaking. On stage, his mad-man performances breed infectious enthusiasm.

Maxim Ludwig's Libra-Scorpio Cusp will be available everywhere June 2.