Lebanon Hanover
Swiss Larisa Georgiou, known as Larissa Iceglass, and Briton William Maybelline founded the group "Lebanon Hanover" in 2010 after meeting in William's hometown, Sunderland. Initially, Iceglass spent her holidays there. During the week, the musicians wrote several songs for their debut album "The World Is Getting Colder". Soon after, Maybelline followed Iceglass to Berlin to continue making music. Since then, the duo has moved between Germany and England. Among other things, they both temporarily moved to Sunderland to live in William's parents' house for free.
In addition, both musicians dropped out: Iceglass originally studied art, while Maybelline studied design. The connection with the audience is more congruent and at the same time more emotional through the music. Both retained the artistic aspect in their music video artwork and in the overall look of the band as a project.
The debut album "La Fete Triste" was released in 2011. Lebanon Hanover wrote four songs. Including "Totally Tot" contained on a later debut album for which its own music video was released. The duo first gained attention with their album "The World Is Getting Colder", released in 2012 by Fabrika Records. British music magazine Terrorizer called Lebanon Hanover "the best British band you didn't know existed". Meanwhile, the duo began with international performances that led to tours of Spain in 2013, the United States in 2014, Italy in 2015, and Russia and Europe in 2016.
Meanwhile, the duo released their second studio album Why Not Just Be Solo in 2012. In 2013, the band released their third studio album "Tomb for Two", which, like the second, was well received by the public. The Peek-A-Boo-Magazine compared the album to The Danse Society, The Chameleons and Joy Division and called it "one of the highlights of the year, if not the highlight". The single Gallowdance followed the same year and was also greeted with enthusiasm. For their fourth album, Iceglass and Maybelline used a professional recording studio for the first time. Recordings were previously made in our home studio. Apart from The Abyss, which was recorded in Greece by veteran post-punk and new wave producer Chris Manolitsis. Despite the changed recording conditions, the duo's sound remained the same.
The music of Lebanon Hanover is usually referred to as darkwave. It is considered minimalist and inspired by post-punk music from the 1980s. The music is characterized by a "cool aesthetic with a slight lean towards vocals and guitar playing". The production's sound is deliberately kept simple and "combined with Larisa Iceglass's gentle voice backed by light synth sounds, deep bass and elegant guitar parts make the music so charming."