Purwien & Kowa have released Italo-disco in San Francisco, a four-track digital single out today, 9 October 2026, on Town & Towers Records. It is the third preview of the German synthpop duo’s sixth studio album Sechs, due on 23 October, following Concorde in May and Hinter Glas in August.
The duo didn’t choose between languages, so the single carries both. The English version is, in the band’s own words, “a pop-cultural ‘Where’s Wally?’ of the 80s”, with Lady Di and Gorbachev, Blue Monday and Tainted Love, Blondie, Phil Collins and his gated snare, and Falco and the Kommissar all passing through the lyric. The German version leans on Neue Deutsche Welle instead, which the band says only makes sense if you grew up with it.
Side-Line describes the track as a mix of Italo disco, synthpop, New Wave and EBM. The single rounds out with Irgendwas ist immer (12″ Mix) and a German English Mashup 12″ mix of the title track. All songs were written by Purwien & Kowa and produced by Olaf Wollschläger.
Sechs runs to eleven tracks on Town & Towers Records. Both language versions of Italo-disco in San Francisco sit alongside Concorde, Hinter Glas, Bandit 2000, Gravity, System, We’re Wrong, Eyes Of Aragon, Irgendwas ist immer and Me and My Synthex.
Christian Purwien co-founded the electronic and darkwave act Second Decay in 1987, and Thomas Kowa joined the German synthpop band No Comment in 1989. Kowa has lived in Switzerland since 2007 and has published crime novels and thrillers since 2012. Together the two also host the Disko 80 podcast about 1980s music, whose guests have included Joachim Witt, Bernhard Lloyd of Alphaville and Marcus Meyn of Camouflage.
Italo-disco in San Francisco on Bandcamp – https://purwienkowa.bandcamp.com/album/italo-disco-in-san-francisco
Italo-disco in San Francisco on Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/de/album/italo-disco-in-san-francisco-ep/6813436012
Sechs on Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/de/album/sechs/6817742595
Purwien & Kowa official website – https://purwienkowa.com/
Side-Line – https://www.side-line.com/purwien-kowa-italo-disco-in-san-francisco/
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