Fear of Men’s Enchanting Voice Jessica Weiss Invites Us into the Dim Corridors and Emotional Labyrinths of European Art Cinema with Her New Solo Project New German Cinema
Jessica Weiss, the captivating voice behind Fear of Men, is inviting listeners into the shadowy corridors and emotional labyrinths of European art cinema through her new solo project, New German Cinema. Her debut album Pain Will Polish Me, set for release on 27 March 2026 via Felte Records, lives up to its title as a cinematic meditation on how pain polishes and illuminates the human soul.
A Bridge from Fassbinder to Pop
The project’s name draws from Weiss’s deep admiration for legendary director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and mid-20th-century European art-house cinema. Recorded between London and Los Angeles with longtime collaborator and producer Alex DeGroot (known for his work with Zola Jesus and Cate Le Bon), the album explores fragile spaces where sincerity, identity, and love dissolve and reshape themselves.
“My Mistake”
The album’s lead single, “My Mistake,” is a collaboration with Carson Cox of Merchandise. Originally conceived as an Italo-disco experiment, the track gradually evolved into an unsettling, goth-tinged club anthem. Built on drum-machine rhythms and layered vocals, its sonic architecture delivers a dark yet propulsive energy centered on regrets and actions we can never take back.
Psychological Tension and Desire
The song’s aesthetic — and its accompanying video — weaves themes of desire, alienation, and psychological tension through visual motifs that echo the spirit of the art cinema that inspires it. New German Cinema isn’t just making music; with every note, it constructs a visual narrative.
Apartment No:26 Note:
Jessica Weiss has taken the dream-pop roots of Fear of Men into a much darker, rhythmic, and distinctly “post-punk” territory with this project.
Carson Cox’s vocals lend the song a hazy, gothic club atmosphere that intensifies its character.
If you love the atmospheric power of Zola Jesus or the dark dance rhythms of Boy Harsher, New German Cinema will take you on one of 2026’s most cinematic journeys.
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