Blackbook – I Am Not A Robot

Synth pop with dystopian depth

Sometimes it takes just a single sample to get me in the right mood. In Blackbook's I Am Not A Robot, it's the female "Ich bin kein Roboter" in the intro that imme­di­ately reminds me of syn­thpop clas­sics like Kraftwerk's Die Roboter, DÖF's Codo (… duese im Sauseschritt) and Propaganda's Dr. Mabuse (Lyric line: Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?). Maybe these asso­ci­ations aren't obvi­ous to every­one, but they make sense to me. This sample is the pre­lude to a track that bears Blackbook's sig­na­ture: warm ana­logue synths, a har­mo­ni­ous, ener­get­ic melody and that unmis­tak­able blend of dance­ab­il­ity and dystopia.

The verses per­fectly cap­ture the feel­ing of digit­al exhaus­tion. "Another auto­mat­ic day, just an elec­tron­ic slave" – the lyr­ics paint a pic­ture of a life stuck in routines, remote-con­trolled by tech­no­logy and social con­straints. Despite the heavy sub­ject mat­ter, the song remains driv­ing and invit­ing through­out. The chor­us, with the strik­ing “I am not a robot”, is a lib­er­at­ing moment. It is dir­ect, catchy and abso­lutely club-compatible.

I find the bridge par­tic­u­larly excit­ing: glitch effects dis­rupt the har­mo­ni­ous sound, almost as if the sys­tem has a fault – an ingeni­ous trick as an ana­logy to human imperfection.

Blackbook's I Am Not A Robot is a synth pop track that sounds both famil­i­ar and fresh. It's a song that not only gets you mov­ing, but also makes you think. A soundtrack for those who want to break free from digit­al chains.

Listen to "Blackbook – I Am Not A Robot" on Spotify

Listen to "Blackbook – I Am Not A Robot" on Bandcamp

Lyrics of "Blackbook – I Am Not A Robot"

Another auto­mat­ic day
Just an elec­tron­ic slave
Roaming ‘til the red light’s on
Running ‘til the battery’s gone

I got one eye on the tick­ing time
The oth­er one is going blind
And one foot in the grave
Just an elec­tron­ic slave

I am not a robot
I am not a robot
I am not a robot
No I’m not
No I’m not
No I’m not

Another auto­mat­ic day
Slowly going down the drain
Wired to the big machine
Glued to that little screen

I got one hand on a pile of dope
The oth­er on a piece of rope
Head in the microwave
Just an elec­tron­ic slave

I am not a robot
I am not a robot
I am not a robot
No I’m not
No I’m not
No I’m not

I am not a robot
I am not a robot
I am not a robot
No I’m not
Never was
Never will be
Never will be