Letters Sent Home are a German alt-rock band with a broad, melodic sound. After last year’s debut Forever Undone, the group returns on October 10 with an Extended edition of the debut, a guest-driven expansion built during a heavy touring cycle and a period of recalibration. In interview singer Emily Paschke tells more.
Their story starts simply, friends making music. “We started out as friends in 2015,” vocalist Emily says, first playing covers at weddings and birthdays before turning to original songs and more serious attitude towards music in 2018. A drummer joined, the live plan was set, but then the pandemic came and stalled everything. By 2022 they were back on the road “all over Europe” picking up momentum the band had intended for 2020.
Defining their sound is less linear. Letters Sent Home move between pop rock and pop punk to electronics and metalcore. The common thread is emotional, melodic writing and personal lyrics. “We freed ourselves from that mindset of fitting a single scene,” Emily says. The result is variety by design, still informed by heavier music but not confined to it.
That shift also touches the band’s message. Early work centered on mental health, depression, anxiety, and coping. Emily realized she wanted a wider range. “I was kind of done talking about it… it hasn’t really changed anything,” she says. “Let’s move away from ‘everything sucks’ and focus on different stories.”
This year’s singles show how collaboration fits that approach. “Bloom” with Finnish band LUNA KILLS began as an instrumental demo that needed weight. “I can’t scream,” Emily notes, “so we bring that in with different artists when the song needs it.” LUNA KILLS wrote the breakdown. The files moved back and forth while both bands toured or released new material, and the track found the heft the demo suggested. “A WIFE. A WHORE.” leans into “female rage,” with Pentastone’s vocalist Luisa Knauß contributing her own verse and recording together in the studio. September 29 is the most intimate cut of the run, written for Emily’s grandmother, who lived with dementia and passed two years ago. “She was like, ‘I’m excited to go home,’” Emily says. “I don’t share that faith, but I find peace in knowing that’s what she wanted.”
The extended edition grew from an EP idea of four to five collaborations, the label suggested expanding the album instead to give the debut more attention. Most instrumentals were finished by last July, but finding the right guests took time, and one planned feature for September 29 fell through, ultimately sharpening the decision to keep that track solo. A new collaborative single arrives in September with close friends of the band.
Letters Sent Home interview 25.08.2025
Emily Paschke
Producer: Janne Vuorela
https://www.letterssenthome.com/
Picture: Jana Boese / Letters Sent Home
