There’s a quiet confidence to Jessica Weiss stepping out alone. As the voice and songwriter behind Fear of Men, she’s long dealt in emotional precision, but under the moniker New German Cinema, that instinct sharpens into something colder, stranger and more cinematic.
Her debut album Pain Will Polish Me arrives Friday 27th March via Felte, preceded by the newly unveiled “Eyes”, which is a glacial, synth-led track that drifts with intent. Her earlier singles “My Mistake” (featuring Carson Cox) and “Swirling Pain” both exhibited sonic and lyrical tension and with “Eyes” this feels even more fully present. Despite the sparkling upbeat tempo the songs atmosphere and emotional distance pull in different directions but somehow the centre holds to retain a bout any tone, even as the lyrics despair. .
Its accompanying video, filmed across Japan, mirrors that dislocation. Neon-lit streets and quiet in-between spaces blur into a kind of travelogue, capturing the push-pull of being both immersed and removed. Weiss frames it as a study of distance — emotional and physical — with recurring images of landline phones suggesting connections just out of reach. It’s a striking visual extension of the track’s inner world.
This is the final drop of a project five years in the making and shaped between London, LA and Berlin, Pain Will Polish Me carries a deliberate, almost forensic patience. Produced with Alex DeGroot, its dark-pop textures unfold slowly, favouring mood over immediacy. Weiss cites Rainer Werner Fassbinder as a key influence, and that art-house sensibility runs deep as her songs examine intimacy as something fragile, obsessive and occasionally destructive. Pre-Order the album here
Pain Will Polish Me track list:
01. Sub Rosa
02. Swirling Pain
03. Being Dead
04. I Become Heavy
05. Hera’s Theme I
06. Eyes
07. Water Drops
08. Hera’s Theme II
09. My Mistake
10. All That Heaven Allows
11. Pain Will Polish Me
12. Perfect Secret
Connect with New German Cinema: Instagram | Youtube | Bandcamp