Lowly - Keep Up the Good Work (2023)

In 2019 they shook my musical world withe their near-perfect album Hifalutin. This winter, the Danish band of Lowly finally released their next, third one already, album called Keep Up the Good Work. And they did exactly what they mentioned in the title.

They call themselves "restlessly inventive, exquisitely melodic, and defying easy categorisation" and there's no exaggeration in those words. They create indie pop that borders with everything possible. There's a lot of ambitious electronica and synthpop here, that's for sure. There's some dreampop and noise pop elements (although I feel like less than before, instead, there's more tropical, twee vibes). There's a very broad approach to vocals as they very often function as background sounds for the whole compositions. But the main thing is how easily the Danish create absolute bangers that are catchy and melodic to the extreme. On the last album, it was Children and In the Hearts, now it's Seasons and Keep Up the Good Work.

This kind of experimental in nature but also extremely catchy music with positive vibes makes me think of their latest work as a calmer, more artsy version of what Plastic Mermaids delivered us last year. Both albums being something very special.

Keep Up the Good Work costs 8 EUR (7 GBP).

Lowly - Hifalutin (2019)

Check: Seasons

Country: Denmark

Genre: experimental synthpop

Label: Bella Union

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øjeRum - Reversed Cathedral (2022)

The Denmark-based artist with mysteriously Polish-sounding name Paw Grabowski, makes his absolutely fantastic visual art as  øjeRum. Additionally, he creates ambient music and his newest LP is called Reversed Cathedral.

The droney soundscapes, the artist creates, feel very complex and artsy at the same time. There's a lot going on, but it's all drowned in the slow-paced, static drone that makes your mind going to various places. It's like a fossil inside an amber: life enchanted in the beautiful stillness. And of course, as it should be expected from a graphic artist, Grabowski's cover art is exceptional. I love his style and I have to say that his cover arts are ALWAYS exceptional.

Reversed Cathedral costs 8 EUR.

Check: The Smile

Country: Denmark

Genre: lively ambient

Label: Cyclic Law

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Weal - Undivided (2022)

The "Nordic noise noir" band from Denmark, Weal, appeared already on this blog last year with their debut LP called Calm. And it didn't take the artists long to follow it with another well-constructed post-rock album: Undivided. 

 

Although the album is mostly filled with instrumental post-rock music, it is opened by Junky, the only track with vocals here. And I should say, it really works in this song: the melodic psychedelia creeps here into the very guitar-heavy and very loud post-rock genre. And the album stays this way up til the end; I really appreciate the texture of the walls of noise here: they feel extremely overwhelming and crushingly loud. And it all means that the job is well done. But there are moments of more subtle sound, even then, however, the music is not without this kind of poignant nervousness that makes the album exciting (as it is the case with Past to Present). And the whole thing finds its release in the dangerous-sounding (though not that loud after all) finish in La Résistance. A coherent and dark kind of album.

Undivided costs 7 USD.

Weal - Calm (2021)

Check: Junky

Country: Denmark

Genre: heavy post-rock

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Væv - Drømmenes spejl (2021)

The Danish artist Væv debuts with their first ever release called Drømmenes Spejl. It's a striking soundscape filled with dark and fear, but also with the cure for your struggles with reality.

As the project's name translates to "web", the musical goal of the artist is to "explore the interconnectedness in our lives, perhaps chief among them the connection between our day to day reality and our spiritual development". It came from personal and health problems of the musician that ultimately translated into inspiration for music. Granted, rather bleak and gloomy music, but that's it charm really. The dark ambient here reflects our reality in the oneiric and slowly psychedelic way, just like dreams do - this is where the album's title, translated to "The Mirror of Dreams", comes from. The album is filled with mesmerizing and pitch-black drones and dark soundscapes that appear to be populated by some things you may not have the courage to meet.

Also important is how striking the cover art is; together with the music, it has potential to haunt you for the rest of your lives.

Drømmenes spejl costs 7 EUR.

Check: Troværdige svigt 

Country: Denmark

Genre: dark ambient

Label: Winter-Light

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MØL - Diorama (2021)

They debuted on the world's stage (and on my blog) back in 2018 with the spectacular dose of post-metal experience in JORD. Now they show a follow-up in the form of very heavy and very noisy Diorama. The Danish band managed to get a circle of devoted followers who will not be disappointed with the new material.

The new album seems to be a bit more massive I think and more vocals-heavy too. Maybe it's just an impression but there's so much of Kim Song Sternkopf's vocals that sound very emotional with those desperate and angry vibes all over (and also horror-like, very metal ones in Tvesind). Super interesting is balancing them with contrasting, ethereal female guest voices of Mirza Radonjica and Kathrine Shepard in a couple of songs. The rapid Photophobic slowers a bit in the middle to make room for Radonjica's airy vibes and feels even faster afterwards. The change of pace feels really well also in Vestige, a brilliant track that won't leave anyone standing still.

I'm not huge fan of the clean vocals that appear from time to time; to me they always have some of the alt rock's kitsch, but luckily, they are barely noticeable on the album. What is better audible is the might and weight of the guitar music here; their sound is crisp and satisfying, slowly building up to the extremely massive finish in the album's last track Diorama. I can't not mention the album art that strikes with this kind of attractive artistic minimalism, I like it a lot.

Diorama costs 8 USD.

møl - JORD (2018)

Check: Diorama

Country: Denmark

Genre: desperate post-metal

Label: Nuclear Blast

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LLNN - Unmaker (2021)

One of the hottest heavy post-rock/post-metal names of the last month: the Danish LLNN are back with their third album and, damn, is Unmaker a loud and massive masterpiece. It is filled with the blueprints for post-metal music with extremely heavy guitars, striking compositions and impressive vocals.

The vocals by Christian Bonnesen have those particularly desperate-sounding qualities, they may sound angry or dangerous but I always assume there's some desperation in those and this makes them even more poignant and difficult not to be impressed with. Especially when they lead a composition towards such a touching and loud finish as it is the case with Scion. In Desecrator, on the other hand, they are joined by Matt McGachy, the vocalist in Cryptopsy, and his particularly deep and, honestly, very scary growls, ones that couldn't be more different and still located within the metal spectrum. This is this kind of opposition that makes a song a classic instantly.

But the vocals are not everything. I am more happy with the guitar compositions the Danish proposed on their new release. They strike the perfect balance between metal's uberfast pace and post-metal's massive slowness and, what's the most important, present the perfect quality of noise. There's something in this guitar blizzard that makes it bigger than the compositions they function in. Bigger than music itself. I love how ridiculously poignant and crushing they sound in pieces like Division. The movie music composer Peter Albrechtsen said about LLNN's new album that "[he's] obsessed with music that explores what sound can do to our body, to our mind, to our imagination" and now it's clear why we feel this music with our whole selves.

Unmaker costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Scion

Country: Denmark

Genre: massive post-metal

Label: Pelagic Records

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Knægt - Tragisk komedie (2021)

Led by the "anti-frontman" (and trumpeter) Malte Nordtorp Pedersen, Knægt is a project that sounds like something you know but adds some flavour to it. The new and, as it seems, debut album is an EP called Tragisk komedie with its heavily theatrical theme (and cover art).

When I first heard this album I was sure it was some new material from Efterklang, one of the best modern Danish music makers out there. And it has to be considered as a huge compliment. Perhaps it's the Danish language, something we are not very accustomed to in music. Perhaps it's Pedersen's distinct voice's colour that is somehow similar to what Casper Clausen sounds like. But most likely it's these art rock and slowcore vibes that bring a lot of intimacy and theatre-like approach to emotions and feelings, a unique sound that not many projects go with these days.

This atmosphere here goes very smoothly from the very beginning in the slow and beautiful Lysende Flammer, a song that sets the jazzy and artsy ballad-esque tone for the next couple of tracks with some mellower, dream pop-like fragments in my favourite track here Statistik. Something else starts to happen in Nu Går Det Godt Igen, in which the theatre sound gets even more noticeable with the quiet vocals sounding like a monolouge on stage while the finish in Regiones Rovfugl brings on a real orchestral crescendo. In every part of the album, the music sounds like a soundtrack for a play and it's super easy to imagine the artists on stage (with a prop motorcycle next to them).

Tragisk komedie costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Statistik

Country: Denmark

Genre: slowcore art rock

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Nordsind - Lys (2021)

The Copenhagen-based project Nordsind blew my mind three years ago with their overpowered debut album called Efterår. Now (finally!) the duo of artists known as Ole and Asger showed the follow-up in the form of an excellent post-metal/blackgaze-filled Lys.

The artists admit to create cinematic music in the sense that it is supposed to evoke particular images, just like a word-based story would. On this album, they focus on light in a very broad sense and its multiple aspects: "We touch on a lot of subjects, stuff like the science behind light, coming out of depression and the spiritual journey that staring into the sky can take you on". It is also no surprise that their particularly energetic take on very heavy guitar music, that also includes this blackgaze-like smooth flow of the compositions, goes exceptionally well with the luminous theme.

The music is overwhelming and very loud but it's not the stoner-esque crude and coarse noise. It can crush the audience but at the same time gives the uplifting feeling of euphoria and if goes a bit darker and slower, it's only to underline the energetic comeback that is soon to come (so great in Drømmefanger). As one of the most important topics the artists took on is dealing with depression, the music here really well depicts the process of slow recovery, or to stay in the theme, coming out to the light.

Lys costs 7 EUR.

Nordsind - Efterår (2017) EN

Check: Midnatssol

Country: Denmark

Genre: heavy post-rock

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Windermere - Unspoken / Unheard (2020)

The Danish Windermere haven't released any new album sine 2006 but somehow recently they are able to entertain us with their music again. After the live recording earlier last year, they released an unused material from after No One Winds, their last studio album. And Unspoken / Unheard makes a sad experience, showing how much hood music have we lost due to the band's inactivity.

Although they are more likely to be called a dream pop band, the new album is purely instrumental and filled with an exciting blend that could be easily called "dreamy post-rock". It is told to be "a bit rough around the edges", but, honestly, I have little idea what they are talking about. Instead, they are a great example of how well the dream pop's ethereal atmosphere can work with instrumental-only post-rock sounds. I bet there would have been lyrics and vocals put on top if it had been to be fully developed, but it really works like it is now.

Actually, it works exceptionally well in Untitled 2, in which the drone-like passages are given so much dream pop fantasy but at the same time preserve their mysterious atmosphere until they transform to a full-time post-rock composition. And when the whole thing dies slowly in the very much instrumental ambient of the fourth track, you can ask yourself a question, "how good their third album could be?".

Unspoken / Unheard costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Untitled 2

Country: Denmark

Genre: dreamy post-rock

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Weal - Calm (2021)

"Noise rock noir" from Scandinavia, the Copenhagen-based Weal are debuting with their long-play album now, at the beginning of 2021. The quartet's music balances between indie rock, shoegaze and several other noisy genres and can be admired on Calm.

The base of their material is indie rock but it's not an ordinary one, that's for sure. There's a lot of dirt and noise all over the place with coarse guitars taking the main role from time to time too. But the way the vocals are constructed (also with a guest female artist I assume) makes me think that the main objective was to be melodic and catchy and then to cover it with a thick layer of psychedelic noise. This is well visible in the great single track Night Drive.

I especially like it when the tracks gain momentum and become very noisy, as it is the case in the cleverly entitled (and very metal-like) In Sickness and Hell, in the angelically ethereal Babylon and very post-rocky Silent King. Also, an interesting fact for Polish readers, the band includes two artists called Niedziella Nørgaard so I'm sensing some Polish roots there. Not that it matters but it's a fun fact.

Calm costs 13 USD.

Check: Night Drive

Country: Denmark

Genre: noise rock

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The Foreign Resort - The Rabbit Hole (2020) EN

"Seriously outstanding" post-punk band form Denmark, The Foreign Resort, make music for a decade already. It's interesting that on my blog they debut with this short EP, but The Rabbit Hole has definitely something in itself.

The band's sound is not really your typical post-punk, the artists aim rather to the combination in which there are inspirations from indie rock, shoegaze and psychedelia that can be sensed. Fantastic job is done by synths on which Down the Rabbit Hole is based. They create both hasty, psychedelic melody and caleidoscopic atmosphere. Shoegaze influences include the dispersed, hidden vocals that, on the other hand, don't lose anything from the post-punk lively nature. What draws attention is the absolute coldwave hit Send Me an Angel / Sunglasses at Night with it's Eurythmincs-like leitmotif and extremely catchy chorus (or even two ones).

That being sad, I completely don't like the duo with Anna Bouchard of Drowner, but fortunately the EP is finished with a decent Under Your Nose.

The Rabbit Hole costs 4 USD.

Check: Send Me an Angel / Sunglasses at Night

Country: Denmark

Genre: indie post-punk

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Ventil - Fluidum (2020) EN

Fluidum is the debut material from the Danish band Ventil. The artists combine a few music genres into one, intriguing mix that they called, probably due to the lack of a better name, post-rock.

The whole Fluidum was designed as a concept album about this fluid barrier in the "world where the concrete and abstract coexist, but where the borders between them dissolves". My first thought coming with the EP's opener in Ravslot was undoubtedly the likeness to the band's compatriots of Efterklang. Similar colour of the vocal, lyrics in Danish and peaceful, slowcore pace. And when in Autumnus they are joined by the trumpets, the impression is full.

But in the title track Fluidum, the electronic drone and noisy experiment get the upper hand and gradually transform the dark dream pop into a more post-rock construct for the fans of A Swarm of the Sun or Immanu El. Exceptionally intriguing debut.

Fluidum  costs 4 EUR 25 DKK.

Check: Fluidum  

Country: Denmark

Genre: slowcore post-rock

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Meltway - Everytime EP (2020) EN

Their debut has been of interest to KEXP itself, the Scandinavians (Danes and one Norwegian) from Meltway with their EP called Everytime seem to enter the world's oneiric music stage with a bang. And no surprise here.

...as their music is a perfect resultant of all the dreamy music genres. Afer all it's said to "invoke a state of melodrama, daydreaming and soothing euphoria, which often collide in a lo-fi grandeur". The dream pop vocals by Mathias Hammerstrøm are very warm and quite exceptionally put in the foreground. It's quite strange as the noisy guitars are hidden in backgrounds, also due to the lo-fi vibes all over the album.

But still, it is very easy to drown in those guitars, it's enough to listen to, for example, From Blue, in which psychedelic phrases and shoegazing density of their music suck in like the best quicksands. Another intriguing thing is the usage of very clear and ear-catching keys in Everytime. I haven't listened to so oneiric, perfectly dreamy album in a while. And although the albums is over pretty quickly, it's seems as if it's still on inside. 

Everytime costs 4 EUR (30 DKK).

Check: From Blue

Country: Denmark

Genre: shoegazing dream pop

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The Shaking Sensations - How Are We to Fight the Blight? (2019) EN

Six long years after releasing a well-received album Start Stop Worrying, the Danish band The Shaking Sensations are back with a new one. And this come-back is so impressive! At the end of the year we got one of the best post-rock albums of the last 12 months.

The new album "displays a band that has lost this innocence, in favour of reflection, growth and maturity... and yet fresh, dedicated and honing their craft". Maybe it's just writing for the sake of writing by the label guys, but the truth is that the new material from the Danes is absolutely absorbing. Since the beginning they were famous for having two drummers and it's noticeable also here - for instance in the impressive drumrolls in Tremendous Efforts. 

But it doesn't mean that the musicians neglected other aspects of their music. Every instrument has its special moment on the album, like for example the bass in Manual Trauma, but what's perhaps even more important, the band knows the ways of the true clue of the post-rock craft - creating interesting and non-obvious compositions. It's worth to mention that this spring the band will be touring across Europe, be sure to see them somewhere on the way.

How Are We to Fight the Blight? costs 7.99 EUR.

Check: End of Hope

Country: Denmark

Genre: guitar post-rock

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Gliss - In Utopia (2019) EN

Martin Klingman and Victoria Cecilia make their "fucked up noise pop" as Gliss. And every time they release new stuff, you can only fall in love. As it is with their fresh album In Utopia.

The album recorded in Los Angeles and in Berlinie is supposed to show the "underbelly" of those metropolias, as the title itself suggests. Although there must be some irony in there. The artists inspired by the music by Beach House, Best Coast, and The Kills, just like on the previous releases, combines the cheek and dirt of rock with ethereality oh shoegaze. And there's also the string section by Jennifer Cho and Christine Chung.

The album begins with the extremely catchy Into the Night that functions as the atmosphere builder for the rest of the release. And it's airy and catchy plus the poignant atmosphere of the city by night. There's a lot of potential hits like Broke Me, the single track Downtown, and also ballads such as Sister Moon and It's OK. It's an albumfull of them.

In Utopia costs 7 USD.

Gliss - Strange Heaven (2018) EN

Check: Into the Night

Country: Denmark/California, US

Genre: ethereal dream pop

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Lowly - Hifalutin (2019) EN

Their second long play is covered with toxic green and filled with fantastically intriguing pop music. Lowly of the Danish Aarhus can safely be very proud of Hifalutin.

The band's music balances between pop-ish electronic and extravagantly avant-garde pop, the deep voice of the vocalist Nanna Schannong makes the listener's spine thrill not once and not twice during the album. Especially when she shows what she's able to and she does so without need for any complex music accompaniment (as in the moody Go for a Walk). The album;'s title means something like "pretentious", but I can'r see it here, for me there's only ambitious pop music that is both interesting and engaging. This is Lowly's strength, even when a track seems to be taken by the sweet pop, it suddenly becomes experimental in the very best of the word's meaning. And the best examples of this are tracks like Stephen and Staples.

And finally there comes Children and everything's settled. This track ends with spectacular, electronic finish with clear post-rock's ecstasy vibes. And it gets my vote for the song of the last month.

Hifalutin costs 7 GBP.

Check: Children 

Country: Denmark

Genre: avant-garde pop

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Town Portal - Of Violence (2019) EN

One of two extremely interesting albums released recently by an Australian label Art As Catharsis is a work from the Danish Town Portal. Drawing from bot instrumental post-rock and minimalist experiments artists showed their third album called Of Violence.

It is actually post-post-rock, deconstructed instrumental music fascinates with unique and non-compromised approach. Their energy comes from apparently chaotic composition of melodies, paces and sounds in general. Both the quicker fragments (brilliant Archright) and surprisingly ballad-like (Receiving End) have their originate atmosphere. Town Portal use raw-sounding guitar riffs and absolutely crazy drums but the core of their music is the unorthodox way of writing music that is closer to experimental music than traditional post-rock.

Of Violence costs 12 AUD.

Check: Archright

Country: Denmark

Genre: chaotic math-rock

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Cloud Anthems - Areté EP (2018) EN

Cloud Anthems is a group made of musicians from the Danish Sky Architects and Chilean Baikonur, making a mixture of Scandinavian doom pop and south-american post-rock. Their EP shows how good a mixture it is.

The album's title is a Greek word meaning one of the five base notions of the ancient Greek ethics and is translated to "virtue". The influence of this culture is visible in track titles throughout the whole album with references to gods or philosophers. The real virtue here, however, is great music. Guitar music seamlessly transforms from atmospheric moments to those where the artists shift to a higher gear. And higher and higher. Already "Telos" shows us the grandeur the band want to play with and how energetic their music is.

The project doesn't use brakes even in "Eros", dedicated to the god of love, and absolutely not in "Areté" in which we can at last hear super heavy, soul crushing doom metal guitars. Everything in its right place, tailored to inspire awe and finished with a climatic outro in "The Death of Socrates".

"Areté" can be your for whatever you pay.

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møl - JORD (2018) EN

Danish møl represents this fantastic subgenre in which post-metal atmosphere and shoegazing airiness are combined. It is both brutal and delicate, aggressive and soothing. Aarhus based musicians have released a new album after five years since their beginning and it's brilliant with every track being a small masterpiece.

In their music, the vocalist's metal-like scream is dispersed so it looses a bit of darkness but at the same time gains tons of airiness. Meanwhile, truly black metal drums and loud though smooth, not aggressively raw guitar sounds build monumental, breath-taking compositions.

The first part of the album is dominated by "Bruma", there is something mesmerizing in the tireless effort to get into the listeners' ears, in the ever-changing pace and throat damaging vocals. The latter is sometimes not even necessary to enchant the audience, just look at "Lamdba" with the guitars taking the leading role in the music.

"JORD" costs 7,99 GBP.

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Gliss - Strange Heaven (2018) EN

The duet Victoria Cecilia - Martin Klingman play as Gliss for over a decade now, they are known for creating very atmospheric and at the same time catchy dreampop combining the American art-pop with Scandinavian climate. Or, as they describe it on their Bandcamp site, "fucked up noise pop".

Their new album released by Kraftwööd Musik Fabrik is no exception. It is filled with delicate electronic sounds responsible for the "strange" from te album title and with "heaven" in the form of the angelic vocals by both Victoria and Martin. However, there's not that much of noise here, only some parts have the clear guitar in the foreground ("Strange Heaven", the tack), the band is more focused on the plasticity of basses and the beauty of electronically generated melodies. No way to blame them, especially that they can be called the electronic the Kills".

You can list some tracks that stand out like "Ja Ja: that stays with you thanks to especially well sounding vocals, industrially unsettling "Hand to the Wall" (with backgrounds that look like taken from more experimental music, maybe from the new album by Suuns, but still fits great here) ot he sad ballad "Hold Your Breath For Me".

"Strange Heaven" costs 7 USD.

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