Biography
Anja Huwe, a singer who also works extensively as a visual artist and carries the status of a goth icon, first reached music listeners as the lead voice of the post-punk band Xmal Deutschland. Early observers placed the group inside the Neue Deutsche Welle category and repeatedly likened Huwe to Siouxsie Sioux, yet both labels missed the mark; the ensemble maintained its own singular aesthetic and onstage authority. The quartet issued its opening full-length, Fetisch, through 4AD in 1983 and kept recording through the rest of the decade, adopting a stronger pop orientation on its last release, Devils, the sole album recorded entirely in English. After Xmal Deutschland ended, Huwe took a position producing television programs before shifting her focus to painting, photography, and additional visual disciplines. In 2024 she returned to recorded music with the solo album Codes, which refreshed the brooding, weighty dance-rock approach once associated with her former band.
Huwe assembled Xmal Deutschland in Hamburg during 1980 alongside bassist Rita Simonsen, guitarist Manuela Rickers, keyboardist Fiona Sangster, and drummer Caro May. The group’s early singles, including the 1982 track “Incubus Succubus,” featured Huwe’s wails set against martial drumming, abrasive guitar textures, and recorded human screams. A tour of England supporting Cocteau Twins brought the band to the attention of 4AD. Huwe, in the manner of that group’s Elizabeth Fraser, treats her voice as another instrument; listeners unfamiliar with German still encounter vocals that move in tandem with the surrounding turbulence.
The three 1980s albums Fetisch, Tocsin, and Viva earned lasting regard among goth enthusiasts, yet Devils marked a turn away from horror-inspired imagery toward straightforward pop. Huwe appeared almost unrecognizable on the buoyant love song “I’ll Be Near You.” Issued solely in Germany and Canada, the record attracted scant notice, and Xmal Deutschland dissolved shortly afterward.
Throughout the 1990s Huwe developed an interest in techno and trance, serving as producer and editor at VIVA TV where she presented the dance-music program HouseFrau and another show titled Trance. She simultaneously established herself as a working visual artist, producing paintings and installations built from vivid patterns and dense clusters of color.
Persuaded by longtime friend Mona Mur, Huwe decided to make music again; the pair spent a year and a half in Mur’s Berlin studio, with former bandmate Manuela Rickers also taking part. Huwe’s first solo effort, Codes, appeared on Sacred Bones in 2024, the same year the label reissued a compilation of Xmal Deutschland’s earliest singles.
Huwe assembled Xmal Deutschland in Hamburg during 1980 alongside bassist Rita Simonsen, guitarist Manuela Rickers, keyboardist Fiona Sangster, and drummer Caro May. The group’s early singles, including the 1982 track “Incubus Succubus,” featured Huwe’s wails set against martial drumming, abrasive guitar textures, and recorded human screams. A tour of England supporting Cocteau Twins brought the band to the attention of 4AD. Huwe, in the manner of that group’s Elizabeth Fraser, treats her voice as another instrument; listeners unfamiliar with German still encounter vocals that move in tandem with the surrounding turbulence.
The three 1980s albums Fetisch, Tocsin, and Viva earned lasting regard among goth enthusiasts, yet Devils marked a turn away from horror-inspired imagery toward straightforward pop. Huwe appeared almost unrecognizable on the buoyant love song “I’ll Be Near You.” Issued solely in Germany and Canada, the record attracted scant notice, and Xmal Deutschland dissolved shortly afterward.
Throughout the 1990s Huwe developed an interest in techno and trance, serving as producer and editor at VIVA TV where she presented the dance-music program HouseFrau and another show titled Trance. She simultaneously established herself as a working visual artist, producing paintings and installations built from vivid patterns and dense clusters of color.
Persuaded by longtime friend Mona Mur, Huwe decided to make music again; the pair spent a year and a half in Mur’s Berlin studio, with former bandmate Manuela Rickers also taking part. Huwe’s first solo effort, Codes, appeared on Sacred Bones in 2024, the same year the label reissued a compilation of Xmal Deutschland’s earliest singles.
Albums
Singles
