Album of the Week (27/9/2024)

The Soaring Return of Efterklang

I guess this is my first proper post, so I should start by welcoming you all to the Perfect Prescription. I must also assure you that Album of the Week will not be a regular feature. I will endeavour to write about new releases as often as I can, but not every week. One of my aims with this newsletter is to have a degree of freedom to explore ideas and tangents; committing to a regular ‘review’ would be a little like starting No Ripcord 2.0. Been there, done that, wardrobe full of t-shirts etc.

I was going to launch with a decidedly niche post, but my marketing brain won out so here I go, pandering to the masses with this review on a low-key release from Copenhagen’s Efterklang.

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Next month marks the twentieth anniversary of Efterklang’s wonderful debut, Tripper. Writing in No Ripcord, Paul Roylance nailed its essence:

“There's no denying that this is music that invokes the world of wall-to-wall pine flooring and very efficient central heating — a world practically devoid of dissonance, manifest in a wholesome sweetness and purity of tone that ought to be disgustingly cloying but somehow isn’t.”

They’ve taken quite a journey in the ensuing decades, never ceasing to be fascinating, yet rarely inspiring the level of affection garnered by those early releases on The Leaf Label. It’s a familiar story for many artists, but few have navigated a two decade career with the grace and creativity of Efterklang. And they’re thoroughly decent chaps, too. I met them on the Parades tour in 2008.

I stopped paying close attention to the band just after the release of 2010’s Magic Chairs. Life gets in the way sometimes. Consequently, I don’t know their second decade quite as well as I do their first, but do have fond memories of singer Casper Clausen’s 2021 solo release Better Way, particularly the lovely “Used to Think”. I was coming out of my musical funk around that time I guess.

It’s nice to spend some quality time with Efterklang again. Things We Have in Common still has that faint whiff of pine flooring, but the colour palette is a little more vibrant compared to their Leaf era. 

“Getting Reminders” is a warm folky number with a trumpet solo from Beirut’s Zach Condon. The hit of nostalgia is intense — all of a sudden it’s 2006 and Gulag Orkestar is everywhere. “Ambulance” is a early highlight, with its screeching guitars and menacing bass line generating a Flaming Lips on downers atmosphere. It really works. The best moment of all, however, comes with the ultra minimalist “Sentiment”. It’s a stunning composition, all about space and fragile beauty, which both evokes and eclipses anything you’ve heard from the National in recent years.

Efterklang’s capability to demonstrate range and move through the songwriting gears is effortless. If you’re not paying attention, it would be easy to dismiss their work as repetitive, predictable, easy. It’s really not. Maybe the thrill of the new has subsided, but Efterklang’s sheer talent and rock solid foundation — the deep and lasting friendship of the core members — allows them to operate with a level of mastery and cohesion that is awe-inspiring. They have still very much got it.

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If you like Things We Have in Common please considering buying the record to support the band.

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