The snow is thawed, tulips are sold in the shops, and lilies of the valley appear in gardens everywhere. Gently sprouting are also these four releases, marking that yes, spring is coming. Let’s welcome all warmth and musical wonders!
These Days I Listen To…
Annsofie Salomon – Soft Dreams (Black Tornado Session)
Even though the song came out in 2020 – and I’m ashamed to have missed it – this acoustic session of Annsofie Salomon‘s debut single “Soft Dreams” feels so perfectly fitting for approaching spring. Annsofie’s delicate, fragile voice builds up to a piece of heaven with the classical instrumentation of cello and piano. Towards the end, she blesses us with a captivating vibrato which is then masterfully echoed by the accompanying instruments. Considering the number of views under this video, this is criminally underrepresented and I beg you, dear reader, to watch it.
VOLA – 24 Light-Years
VOLA are four friends from a Copenhagen suburb who have come a long way. It would be too short to call the band emo just because they have the brain-destroying instrumentation. “24 Light-Years” marries the light and the heavy to become epic. The singer’s vocals are so soft that, at first, the combination with smashing and elaborate drums can feel weird to the untrained ear. But when you finally let go of what had manifested itself in your mind as “genres”, you can be pleasurably consumed by VOLA’s sounds. Let them take you on a journey to an otherworldly state of mind you could have never imagined yourself, visualised in all-blue space animation. I can’t wait for their upcoming album “Witness”.
Pleasure Raft – Josephine
Pleasure Raft is the solo project of Mathias Barford, best known through his former band The Attic Sleepers. His new single “Josephine” is a radiant, enthusiastic track that brings back the best fragments of ’80s synth-pop and ’00s indie. “Josephine” makes you want to wear your galaxy tights again and dance like nobody’s watching. I also very much recommend the music video; with such elaborate wit, it and transports that indie disco feeling right into your heart and feet.
Late Runner – Spring
You came home late from that indie disco last night. Now it’s noon, and the sun is peaking through the curtain and wakes you up. You have a slight hangover and still wonder what is real and what isn’t. You’re lingering to a feeling from yesterday night but can’t really make out what it is or where it came from. But it reminds you of light, of hope… of spring. We’re now letting go of winter completely with Asger Tarpgaard, a.k.a. Late Runner and his “Spring”. It’s an easy psychedelic pop song that lulls you like a walk through falling petals of a cherry blossom. The pedal steel guitar adds just the right amount of melancholy to make you nostalgic, but not sad.
“I Wear Shades” is a welcome follow-up on this double-single that keeps that feeling alive just a little longer.
The live version of “Spring” with Late Runner and his band is as lovely to watch as it is to listen to.