Belia Winnewisser is returning to Präsens Editionen with her debut album as a solo artist. Radikale Akzeptanz is her second release on the “the curious label arm of Lucerne’s zweikommasieben magazine” (as Boomkat put it) after PE-010, an esoteric split tape with Berlin’s L.Zylberberg that sold out pretty much the instant it hit the street.

Radikale Akzeptanz, a furious amalgamation of (synth-)pop references and more abstract sounds, combines long running traits from Winnewisser’s practice in various band projects (including Evje and α=f/m) with rather new interests from her studies in sound art at Hochschule der Künste Bern. A bittersweet off-pop-hymn like “The View” with its bubble-y melodies can be found next to an austere piece like “WAHDWTH,” that is examining a dry motif, transforming it into a squawking kick eventually. The record is not about those two poles however, but rather the in-between. Radikale Akzeptanz is coined by an overall quality equally relaying on pop-sensibilities and brutal sound design, as perfectly exemplified in tracks like “III” or “Ataraxie.” Add a good amount of time spent in clubs and you get the Skull Disco-esque banger “Albasty”—the closing track on this gutsy album.

The title Radikale Akzeptanz (or radical acceptance, as the term would translate from German) stems from a concept in evidence-based psychotherapy. Its basis is the notion that only an uncompromising acceptance of your situation can lead to a reduction of your suffering. Thus, radical acceptance doesn’t mean satisfaction—rather it’s supposed to be a taking on, an acknowledgement. Even more than the concept as such though, it’s the expression’s mere sound that is of interest to Winnewisser: [ʀadiˈkaːlə akʦɛpˈtanʦ]. Homey and adventurous, gentle and challenging, at ease with itself and full of tension(s)—as if coming to terms with the materiality of our life as such.