Novalis – Vielleicht Bist Du Ein Clown(1978)

Biography
Novalis was a 1970s Krautrock group formed in Germany. Their best-known albums include Sommerabend and Wer Schmetterlinge lachen hört.Vocalist Jürgen Wentzel and bassist Heino Schünzel placed a newspaper advertisement in search of bandmates in Hamburg in 1971. They were joined by organist Lutz Rahn and drummer Hartwig Biereichel. Together with guitarist Carlo Karges they formed Mosaik, soon changing the name of the band to Novalis. After the release of their first album in 1973, Wentzel left the group and Heino Schünzel took on vocal duties. Carlo Karges, who would go on to join Nena’s backing band, was replaced by Detlef Job. Austrian vocalist Fred Mühlböck joined the group in 1976. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novalis_(band)

Album & Cover
Romantic and dreamy as the poet they named themselves after, German prog-rockers Novalis mined the gentler side of the genre, which resulted in lovely, violin-laden song cycles like this, with poetic lyrics sung in German (a rarity in 1978, even for European bands). The title track (“Perhaps You Are a Clown?”) is a lively, complicated, and heady rumination that travels to a lot of places in just over six minutes, and the album-closing ballad, “Die Welt Wird Alt Und Wieder Jung” (“The World Is Old And Young Again”), employs a haunting minor-key piano motif that is as stark and memorable as anything of its era.  https://www.allmusic.com/album/vielleicht-bist-du-ein-clown-mw0000546192

Cover Location: Background cover shot in Kent, UK incorporating the windmill.
Who Did What: Photography: A. Powell
Label: Brain 0060.164(DEU)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Tracklist

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Heino Schünzel
Drums, Percussion, Timpani – Hartwig Biereichel
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar, Vocals – Detlef Job
Engineer [Toningenieur] – Thomas Kukuck
Organ [Hammond], Grand Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer [String Ensemble, Ppg], Mellotron, Clavinet [D 6] – Lutz Rahn
Producer – Achim Reichel
Vocals, Electric Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar [Acoustic], Acoustic Guitar, Flute – Fred Mühlböck