Live: 6/Jun/2025 Leipzig, Schwarze Schille Festival
Two Words in Japanese is an electronica music project by Nico Steckelberg, the keyboardist and producer of the fantasy folk band Elane. The project combines various electronic music styles with dark electro, dark wave, LoFi and post-rock elements and partly organic instruments and samples. Analog and digital synthesizers are mixed with electric guitars and orchestral string instruments.
Two Words in Japanese was founded by Nico Steckelberg to release electronic compositions that were not suitable for his band Elane. Originally started as an instrumental project, several singles were released. With “Save the Light” (2020), which features Joran Elane as a guest vocalist, the project opened up to vocal contributions.
The collaboration with Bianca Stücker began in 2022. The joint single “Mindset Gap” led to the idea of a full album. “Ghost Kitchen” was released on CD in 2023. Guest musicians included Simon Spillner (Elane), Anna Stuart (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) and Dreaming Cloud (Oberon).
The album has been widely praised and praised for its compositional diversity. Songs with catchy melodies and hit potential characterized the work.
In January 2024, Two Words in Japanese released the album “The Wasteland Years (Demos 1996)”, which contains early original recordings and was made available free of charge. In the same year, an official remix was created for the band Stimmgewalt: “This Time it's Personal (Two Words in Japanese Club Mix)”, which transformed an a cappella song into an electro song.
This was followed by “Snow”, another track featuring the fictional singer Kiteee. Her vocals are based on Steckelberg's own voice, which was altered using AI.
Remixes of Two Words in Japanese were created by Form Follows Function, Bishop and Ježibaba, among others.
