More than three intensive years of labouring are over. The work is done -"Precious", Vargo's new album, is finished. The duo from Hamburg, Germany, consisting of producer and multi-instrumentalist Ansgar Ueffink and the versatile, beguiling singer Stephanie Hundertmark, was the first German band to be featured in the internationally celebrated CD series "Cafe del Mar", and subsequently established itself as a permanent resident there. By now, Vargo tracks appear on far more than 150 compilations, which together have sold more than two
million copies. Their debut album "Beauty" has become an international classic and managed to sell more than 50,000 copies all over the world without backing by a major label, building a worldwide fanbase and making Vargo one of the most successful bands of its genre.

However, all of these figures, events and success stories appear less significant, once you immerse yourself deeper in Vargo's world. It turns out to be about much more than album sales or contributions to compilations., about more than intelligent, multifaceted music that is produced with a passion for detail and that fluctuates between Ambient, Trip Hop, Electronica and pop grooves. Ansgar and Stephanie have an objective, a strong
wish. Both of them are extraordinarily perceptive, artistically as well as philosophically. Their aim is to communicate, to inspire and to stimulate.

They want to take us on the most exciting of musical and philosophical journeys: the journey to our inner selves.
One only needs to listen to "Dear Friends", one of the central tracks on the new album "Precious", a moving and honest ode to friendship, including the one to yourself. From immensely tasteful arrangements and Vargo's wonderfully subtle rhythm motor arises Stephanie's voice to seduce the listener with unadorned honesty, that tells of great care to every acoustic and lyrical detail. This attitude is shared by the speaker in the track's reprise at the end of the album: it belongs to Madonna's long-standing yoga guru Duncan Wong, whom Ansgar asked to describe what he considers precious. Here's where he gives his answer.

Another good example is the brilliant track "Warriors", a hypnotically pulsating grooving pearl of the highest Tribal Ambient class, which strongly emphasizes the profundity of Vargo's ambitions. The song is about the warriors for the good, for the lasting, for human warmth. It is another song that is remarkable for an unusual collaboration: Dan Millman, author of the global bestseller "Way of the Peaceful Warrior", which inspired the track's basic idea, can be heard reciting statements that drive Vargo's motivation and message home in an infectious and enthusiastic way.

And so this great album communicates a central message, which Ansgar describes as follows: "You are precious. You have a huge potential and you can learn how to use it. There is only one true account and that's humanity. If you deposit something there - without expecting a reimbursement - you'll be paid back much more than you've invested. That's a universal law. I've experienced it." And you can share theexperience by abandoning yourself to Vargo's music - a music that equals a wonderful journey to your own self. There can be hardly greater proof of the power that can arise from creative authenticity, a quality that has become so rare these days. Vargo have achieved their aim. They have reached out and touched. And whoever's been touched won't be quite the same again.