NNHMN are “self-transforming creatures speaking in a colored language” who encapsulate the mood of these unsettling times, as exemplified by their 2023 album ‘Circle of Doom’. But their own real life darkness “created a desperate craving for light.”
The resultant creativity led to the release of the EP ‘Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow I’ last year. And now “non-humans” Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg present the second instalment of their neon-lit meisterwerk.
Described by the Berlin-resident couple as “an intoxicating opera of longing and loss, where baroque shadows dance with modern electronic melancholy”, the first part was a haunting cinematic journey into more club-friendly territory with ‘Maybe Late’, ‘Your Demon’, ‘Black Palms’ and ‘The Secret’ among the highlights of a six track compendium. Blending darkwave and gothic electronic elements for a symphony of desire and despair, hypnotic rhythms and ethereal vocals, a number of these tracks came about following an invitation to play at the famed techno club Berghain. Continuing in that stronger rhythmic vein, the second part offers eight numbers which if anything are even more accessible and immediate than NHHMN have ever been before.
Giving BOY HARSHER a run for their money, the opener ‘Say My Name’ is superb, a delicious slice of synthetic pop sitting on top of a driving rhythm structure complimented by a sensual vocal presence. The following ‘Touch Me’ is not a Samantha Fox cover but sees Lee Margot begging on this enjoyable Donna Summer-inspired romp while Michal Laudarg hooks the listener in with an array of melodic lines and house-laden clusters.
A skippy arpeggio provides the heart and the groove of ‘Gangster’ with its narrative given a charmingly nonchalant disposition but the trancey chill of ‘Cold Like Steel’ provides another delight with the spacey widescreen cacophony doing battle with an incessant synthbass squelch. Deeper and darker, ‘Strange Love’ drives the deviant dance in a revisiting of the electroclash tradition with Lee Margot suitably alluring in her consensual submission.
Maintaining the momentum into the home straight, ‘Mannequin’ surprises by being less intense and even brighter than NNHMN have ever been while ‘Turn Me On’ follows life’s rollercoaster ride with Laudarg providing a cutting high end riff to contrast Lee Margot’s deep expressions of frustration to take a holiday for some infectious dark disco. Described as their “post-trauma child” in a thematic legacy from ‘Circle Of Doom’, ‘Fck All Wars’ provides a propulsive protest as the album’s closing statement!
With its spicy dark disco, ‘Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow II’ has the potential to woo new listeners. Immensely catchy and danceable in its deviant romance, this might well be NNHMN’s best body of work yet.
‘Opera of Lust & the Art of Sorrow II’ is available as a vinyl LP and download from https://nnhmn.bandcamp.com/album/opera-of-lust-the-art-of-sorrow-ii
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Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th August 2026
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