One Track Mind

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There seems to be a flurry of excellent, inventive indie music pouring out of Denmark these days. At the crest of that tide is Efterklang, the Copenhagen-based quartet who will be releasing their third full-length, Magic Chairs, on February 23rd. The album will be the band’s first on their new label, 4AD, where they will find like-minded allies in the form of The National, Bon Iver, and St. Vincent.

The core of Efterklang’s music is based on standard rock instrumentation, and for Magic Chairs, the band recorded all of their songs “live” as a foursome. However, what distinguishes Efterklang from other bands is what they layer atop that base–tweedling electronic ambience, towering melodies delivered by string and horn sections, a rich comprehension of how to transform the melodic into the symphonic without being bombastic or heavy-handed. “Modern Drift” offers a lovely example of all these ideas in practice, a track which (as its title implies) is capable of both drifting along with ease but also of rising to dizzying heights. Casper Clausen’s vocals, delivered in a hybrid falsetto, toe the line between the substantial and the feathered, perfectly paired with the intensifying musical accompaniment. By the time “Modern Drift” sounds its last notes, all of its many instruments are engaged in a sonorous, polyphonic dance, and the following silence feels like waking from a peaceful daydream.