2024-09-19 23:32:30
On the new album Fén X, which he released on Friday, September 13, singer and composer Ondřej Ládek, known as Xindl X, surrounded himself with several authors and producers, unlike in the past. After seven albums where he was almost the sole author, he doesn’t think he has to write everything himself.
Nevertheless, Xindl X remains the author of most of the texts, in which he tries to find humor even in sad things. The recording, which Universal Music describes as his most experimental, will be christened with three concerts. The first will take place on November 11 in Son in Brno.
The news is accompanied by nine continuously released video clips. The last piece to the composition Transformation, inspired by Franz Kafka’s novella of the same name, was released together with the album. “Even after a hundred years, it’s still relevant. After all, who among us doesn’t sometimes feel like he’s turned into a hideous bug that no one understands?” asks the musician. This year marks 100 years since Kafka’s death.
“There are an awful lot of clips for that record, most of them people already know because they play it on Spotify, where they don’t put whole records, so the publishers have a strategy of putting a lot of things in front,” explains Xindl X. “Fén X is then released almost like a compilation singles in the last two years. I had to add four more songs so that there are not only things that people know. I still think that people should have something that they haven’t heard yet,” he adds.
On the album, with the help of composer and producer Jenda Vávra, he teamed up with musicians Filip Vlček from the band John Wolfhooker, Jakub Lenz from the band Robin Mood, pianist Jan Steinsdörfer from Chinaski and Radek Tomášek from Support Lesbiens.
He named the group after the opening song Fénix, in which he sings about burnout.
“Not that I have burnout syndrome myself, but I was close to it. This record was such a fight against burnout for me. To try to do things differently, to get out of the rut, not to decide where it will lead, but above all to have fun with music again. They didn’t want to We want to compose hits at all costs, but something that will be fun for us and ideally will be different from the previous albums,” he points out.
The release of the album will be accompanied by concerts on November 11 in Brno’s Son, November 16 in Ostrava’s Garage Club and November 19 in Prague’s Lucerna Music Bar.
“We decided that we want to do exceptional concerts with guests and film screenings. And above all, that our three lovely guests could be at all of them: Katka Knechtová, who is a guest in Si zabil kamo, the inseparable Mirka Miškechová, and the singer Láska, who also acts as an opening act for us. He wanted I’m here for everyone to sing with us, and I’m planning some surprises,” announces the musician.
Years ago, Ondřej Ládek borrowed the pseudonym Xindl X from the Czech subtitles for the film Hollywood Ending by Woody Allen. In September 2008, he released his debut Guide to reading a manual, for which he was nominated for the Anděl award in the folk and country category. He is one of the most played composers on Czech radio. In addition to his own compositions, he is the author of many lyrics and music for other artists’ hits. He released his previous album Terapie three years ago.
Xindl X also made a name for himself as an actor. Most prominently in this year’s series Policie Hvar, for which he also wrote the song Si zabil, kamo. “As a child, I wanted to be an actor, I tried out in some clubs, so I thought that I owed it to my ten- or twelve-year-old self. I already had a small role, for example, in the film Pálava. I thought that I would also be in the Hvar Police to have a few lines, but it was quite a role. And it definitely didn’t hurt that it was filmed by the sea. It was nice with nice people,” he concludes.
Video: Single Transformation from Xindla X’s new album
The first single from Xindla X’s new album is the Kafka-like Transformation. | Video: Universal Music