Tag: Trentemøller

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Trentemøller’s Atmospheric Take on “Silent Night”

Copenhagen-based producer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, electronic music artist and Trentemøller creative mastermind Anders Trentemøller has a long-held reputation for creating extraordinarily memorable melodies paired with brooding and dark soundscapes. Throughout his career, the Danish artist’s work has frequently explored contrasts, paradoxes, reminiscence and remembrance — but while eschewing overt nostalgia.

Trentemøller’s sixth album, last year’s 10-song Dreamweaver saw the acclaimed Dane meshing elements of shoegaze, darkwave, komische musik and noise rock with somber, introspective takes on dream pop — but in a decidedly immersive and psychedelic fashion that’s perfect for repeated listens on headphones. Icelandic vocalist DiSA contributes vocals on nine of the album’s 10 tracks.

His first single since the release of Dreamweaver sees the Copenhagen-based tackling the classic and beloved Christmas carol, “Silent Night.” The Trentemøller rendition of “Silent Night” features his girlfriend Lisbet Fritze, whose ethereal delivery sings the song’s beloved melody paired with a wintry arrangement of churning guitar, twinkling bells, drum machine-driven beats and atmospheric synths. The song evokes both Christmas time generally and what Christmastime would look like and feel in his native Denmark — cold winters, fireplaces, ice skating, carolers, Christmas markets and the like, but with mix of gentle, sepia-toned nostalgia and a modern sensibility.

The cover is extremely fitting. The acclaimed Danish artist has always loved Christmas. Since childhood. the season has held a special place for him, and for years he wanted to record his own version of one of the great Christmas songs. He chose Silent Night for his timeless melody, which for him captures the essence of Christmas.

Originally written as a lullaby, the song took on new meaning after Trentemøller became a father. Lisbet Fritze’s vocals and the single’s cover art, a Christmastime photo of a young Anders Trentemøller with his mother give the single a deeply personal yet universal touch. After all, with the coming of a new year, many of us look simultaneously back into the past remembering moments with loved ones no longer with us and into the future, hoping for long-lasting peace, love and understanding for all.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tan Cologne Team Up With Trentemøller on a Minimalist and Dreamy Rework of “In Resin”

Enigmatic Taos, NM-based duo Tan Cologne — Lauren Green and Marissa Macias — released their third album Unknown Beyond last month through Labrador Records. Unlike their previously released material, Unknown Beyond sees Green and Macias reaching for the heavens and an intangible greater existence; the infinite and unexplainable while embracing the beauty of timeless uncertainty. 

Written, performed and recorded entirely by the duo at their Taos, New Mexico-based home, the album found the pair seeking solitude and retreat as they attempted to come to terms with the personal loss of family, friends and childhood homes — within a relatively short period of time. The album’s creative process quickly became a therapeutic outlet for grieving, dealing, changing and understanding new life transitions and ways of being, with each track being a part of the story of the entire album. 

The album’s material is centered around a more spiritual process. “We looked for signs and signals during the recording process” the duo says in press notes. “If we saw a shooting star, imagined a fire burning on a hill, or remembered an old satellite dish in someone’s yard, we explored that lyrically. Those visual guides became our pathways to the album. They were the signs to move forward.”

Interweaving and layering hypnotic beats, hazy shoegazer textures, abstract live drum patterns and sounds of searching for signals — of comfort and communication — from the invisible web, Unknown Beyond may arguably be their most immersive and emotive work to date. 

In the lead up to the album’s I written about three of the album’s previously release singles, “Cloud of Mirrors,” “Infinity“ and “Cool Star.”

The duo recently teamed up with Trentemøller on a reworking of Unknown Beyond closing track “In Resin.” The album track is a slow-burning and hazy tune featuring swirling, almost painterly, reverb-drenched, shoegazer guitar textures. While recalling A Storm In Heaven, the arrangement serves as a lush bed for Green’s and Macias’ dreamily ethereal harmonies.

The Trentemøller reworking retains the duo’s dreamily ethereal harmonies but replaces most of the shoegazer guitar textures with a looping, twinkling and eerily beautiful piano figure, which emphasizes the mysterious vibe of the song while giving it an old-timey feel and sound.

“In Resin” encapsulates the entire project thematically, as well as the duo’s experiences over the lat few years. “It talks about being everything once and then being it all again, and living several lives at the same time,” the band says. “‘In Resin’ is a special track that we spiritually found ourselves oscillating between leaving it as a rare gem to discover on the album or presenting as a focus,” they continue. “We opted for the mystery, but Trentemøller dove into it.”
 
The band expands, “A few years ago, Trentemøller connected with us and our sound. Now into the present and future, he offered to rework one of our tracks from our new album and selected ‘In Resin.’ He finished the new interpretation while we were on tour together in Europe. We feel our music is a communication and we are honored to continue ‘In Resin’’s sonic conversation with Trentemøller.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Trentemøller’s Hard-hitting Remix of A Place to Bury Strangers’ “Fear of Transformation”

Late last year, New York-based JOVM mainstays A Place to Bury Strangers — currently Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar), John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) — released their seventh album Synthesizer through Dedstrange. 

While Synthesizer is the album’s title, it’s also a physical entity, a synthesizer specifically made for the album — and a synthesizer that you too, can own (in part), if you buy the record on vinyl. The album’s cover art doubles as a circuit board and functional synth for curious and enterprising fans. “It’s pretty messed up, chaotic. But it feels really human,” the band’s Oliver Ackermann says. 

In an era of making music where so little is DIY and so much is left up to AI, never setting foot in a practice room or a home studio, making something that feels deliberately chaotic, messy, and human, is entirely the point. The album celebrates sounds that are spontaneous and natural, the kind of music that can only come from collaboration and community. 

The writing sessions for Synthesizer started in the band’s Queens studio, shortly after the release of 2022’s See Through You. The new lineup which featured Ackermann and his friends John and Sandra Fedowitz was especially inspiring for Ackermann. “It felt like a fresh new thing,” he says. “I wanted to write songs everyone was excited about playing.” 

The album captures the band at a place of reinvention, where they take a carefully honed sound and approach and crack it wide open to gut its then reimagine it. And of course, to ever so slightly reinvent one’s sound, one must also built a new instrument — the synthesizer at the core of the album’s overall sound. 

Synthesizer may arguably be one of the band’s most live-sounding albums to date, accurately capturing the rawness and explosiveness of the band in a live setting, which is a fitting for a band that is best in a live setting, where the material takes on a new energy in the presence of a crowd. “We’re artists,” Ackermann says, “Going to shows and bringing that imperfect and beautiful DIY ethos is important.” 

Album single “Fear Of Transformation” is a snarling and scuzzy New Wave/goth punk synth-driven ripper featuring layers of oscillating synths, a relentless motorik groove, explosive bursts of feedback paired with the band’s long-held penchant for rousingly anthemic, mosh pit friendly hooks and Ackermann’s punchy delivery. 

Thematically, the track focuses and delves into the struggle of overcoming internal barriers. As the band’s frontman Oliver Ackermann explains, “Sometimes fear builds up and pins you in a cage. A conversation occurs in my head where I have to convince myself to just fucking do something to break out of it.” The song embodies that internal dialogue, capturing the battle between the compulsion to avoid fear and the push to confront it. And as a result, the song is a raw, uneasy and intense conversation with the devil within.

Acclaimed Danish producer and multi-instrumentalist Trentemøller recently gave “Fear of Transformation,” the remix treatment. The Trentemøller remix adds harder, big beat era-like beats, which manages to add an even darker, industrial electronica-like feel to song. The thematic conversation with the devil at the core of the song has much higher stakes: Damnation and destruction or salvation, which will you choose?

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Psych Rock Supergroup MIEN Shares Brooding and Driving “Evil People”

MIEN is a psych rock super group that features some of the genre’s biggest and most accomplished artists:

Since the project’s inception, MIEN has been a confluence of diverse musical influences and shared histories: The band’s origins can be traced back to 2004 when Dihr crossed paths with Maas during a serendipitous encounter at SXSW. That meeting sparked a deep friendship and a series of critically applauded collaborations. Around the same time, Dihr met Lapham, whose electronic and production expertise would later become a cornerstone of MIEN’s sound. These connections led to MIEN, a band that sees its members seamlessly blending their varied musical backgrounds into a unique sound. The band’s newest member Kidd joined on in 2018.

The psych supergroup’s long-awaited sophomore album MIIEN is slated for an April 18, 2025 release through Fuzz Club. The sophomore album reportedly marks a bold new chapter for a band known for an alchemical approach to their work. Building upon the foundations of their critically applauded self-titled debut, MIIEN finds the band and its members pushing their collaborative and explorative ethos into uncharted territories.

Recorded in studios between Montréal, Abilene and Austin, the psych supergroup’s sophomore album captures a unique creative process: Most songs began as a simple idea — a loop, a vocal phrase or a groove — passed between members and meticulously layered.

The band’s collaborative workflow saw each individual sketch evolving as each member contributed their distinct sonic palette. “It’s an organic process,” Rishi Dihr says. “A simple idea can become something monumental when we each put our stamp on it.”

The album’s creative journey was heightened during key in-person sessions, including an intensive recording period in Austin during SXSW. The rare opportunities for the band to work together in the same space added a dynamic immediacy to several album tracks.

Overall MIIEN represents the strength of the band’s collective vision. Each member brings their unique perspective to the table, creating music that is simultaneously personal and universally resonant. Anchored around richly textured soundscapes and fearless experimentation, the album, purportedly sees the band crafting material that actively bridges the golden age of 60s psychedelia with the cutting edge of modern music. Lapham reflects, “Working with these guys has been one of the most enjoyable experiences in my music career. Our synergy is seamless, and I’m excited to see where this next chapter takes us.”

The album’s first single “Evil People” is a propulsive bit of synth-driven psych rock featuring a relentless motorik-like groove paired with Maas imitable delivery and a rousingly anthemic hook and chorus with expressive bursts of reverb-drenched guitar.

“‘Evil People’ has its roots in a 2015 collaboration between Alex and awesome Danish musician Trentemøller,” the band explains. “Fast forward to March 2022, when MIEN reunited in Austin for three intense days of recording during SXSW. Given how rare it is for all of us to be in the same room at the same time, the creative energy was electric—music and ideas flowed effortlessly, and ‘Evil People’ was born.”

The accompanying video by the band’s John Mark Lapham and Raz Ullah features scorching VHS fuzz, collages of the band member’s faces, psychedelic art and more.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Trentemøller Teams Up with Disa on Fragile and Breathtakingly Gorgeous “A Different Light”

Copenhagen-based producer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and electronic music artist Anders Trentemøller, the creative mastermind behind the acclaimed electronic outfit Trentemøller has a long-held reputation for creating extraordinarily memorable melodies paired with dark soundscapes. While many artists follow a pattern of invention and reinvention, the acclaimed Danish artist’s career arc has tended to be a series of points along the same curve, playing the low game, with each release representing a new chapter in constantly evolving series. Throughout his career, Trentemøller’s work frequently explores contrasts, paradoxes, reminiscence and remembrance but while eschewing nostalgia.

Back in 2006, following a run of EPs, Trentemøller released his full-length debut, The Last Resort, an effort that eventually topped several end-of-year lists while exposing him and his work to a larger audience.

Since assembling his first full live band back in 2007, the acclaimed Danish artist has embarked on several world tours, playing over 500 shows and regularly selling out venues and clubs. Through his own label imprint, In My Room, Trentemøller released:

  • 2010’s Into The Great Wide Yonder, an effort that continued where its predecessor left off, further exploring previously minded textures of suspense, tension, release and noir with a tighter focus.

  • 2013’s Lost expanded upon the first two albums while firmly establishing the atmospheric and darkly Romantic qualities that he’s now been a part of his long-held reputation.

  • 2016’s Fixion showcased the Danish artist’s penchant for experimentation with the material meshing his various influences and inspiration while anchored in polyrhythm.

  • 2019’s Obverse was initially conceived as an instrumental album, not bound by the need to be performed live. And with that notion as a launching point, Trentemøller chased down every idea and explored every tangent. He eventually decided that half of the album’s songs could be better served with lyrics and vocals. So he recruited Lisbet Fritze, Jehnny Beth, Low‘s Mimi Parker, Blonde Redhead‘s Kazu Maikino, Warpaint’s Jenny Lee, Lina Tullgren and Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell.

  • 2021 saw the surprise release of “Golden Sun” and “No One Quite Like You,” a stripped down production that featured vocals from the equally acclaimed Tricky.

  • 2022’s Memoria thematically touched upon impermanence, from mortality to relationships, as well as light and dark, turbulence and serenity, piercing chill and comforting warmth with the material seemingly informed by life in the Nordics. The album was supported with a tour that featured a new live band lineup, which included Icelandic vocalist Disa, who later contributed to “Into the Silence,” as well as a cover of The Raveonettes “Cops On Our Tail.”

Trentemøller has also released several compilations including 2007’s The Trentemøller Chronicles, 2009’s Harbour Boat Trips, 2011’s Reworked/Remixed, 2011’s Late Night Tales, 2014’s Lost Reworks, 2018’s Harbour Boat Trips 02 and a live album, 2013’s Live in Copenhagen. The acclaimed artist has also remixed work by Depeche Mode, Tricky, Savages, The Drums, The Raveonettes, Pet Shop Boys, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Soft Moon, UNKLE and Franz Ferdinand, for which he earned a Grammy nomination.

The acclaimed Danish artist’s sixth album, Dreamweaver is slated for a September 13, 2024 release through his label In My Room. The 10-song album reportedly sees Trentemøller meshing elements of shoegaze, dark wave, motorik, noise rock and somber, introspective takes on electronic ream pop but in a decidedly immersive and psychedelic fashion that’s perfect for headphones — and for discovering new layers and interpretations upon repeated listens. The album also features Icelandic vocalist Disa, who contributes vocals throughout the entire affair.

The album’s first single, album opener “A Different Light” begins with an arpeggiated and melodic nylon string guitar figure that’s quickly joined by Disa’s yearning and meditative delivery weaving together until roughly the song’s halfway point when the melodic phrase is joined by swirling and painterly synth layers. Written as a sort of musical companion to a lunar eclipse, as the moon moves against the sky with the synth melody being akin to the eclipse’s penumbra, the song’s arrangement is anchored around many of the acclaimed Danish artist’s trademarks — rich dichotomies, musical shadow play, Nordic frigidity and warm analog waves — while also being an artistic leap forward. “A Different Light” may be among the most fragile and breathtakingly gorgeous songs Trentemøller has released while evoking a cosmic sense of awe, of being struck by your smallness in an infinitely vast universe.

“I wanted something human and timeless to carry the song and vocal melody,” says Trentemøller. “The acoustic guitar gave me the exact sense of fragility and presence that I thought the song deserves. At the same time, I wanted to play with both acoustic and electronic; to get the guitar to weave in and out of the synth role that is introduced in the middle of the track. I feel the interplay between these two worlds gave the song an extra dimension.”
 

“The song considers themes of longing, healing, and the need for personal transformation. It’s also about confusion and unresolved feelings that happen during any metamorphosis,” the Danish artist explains. “I try to reflect on the transient nature of dreams, loss, and love. At the same time I recognize, and even embrace that this is part of being a human.”

The accompanying visual beings with a drone-led visual for seafoam crashing against currents, fog sweeping across a forest with a full moon ahead, dye being injected into water and similar brooding yet psychedelic imagery.