Vi (Denmark) – Karrusel (sample track from the album Vi)
Still playing catch up with the raft of releases at the moment so tonight’s content is bang up to date with one duo but six weeks behind with the other!
Denmark’s Vi is a new duo to me. They released their new, eponymously named 11-track album at the end of September, describing themselves as a mix of dad rock, world, afro beat and jazz. Dad rock should be right up my street.
But there’s a serious side to them as they say they “write songs about moths and butterflies; about scorching hot Summer days spent chilling in a yellowing, withering lawn and the icy fever dreams of an unending Winter; about being too old to die young – and being childish enough to feel some kind of regret about it.”
And with track titles like ‘Closed book’; ‘In a quiet garden’; and ‘The whole city in the street’ you do get the impression they are they thoughtful, studious types.
I chose the first track. ‘Karrusel’, as the sample one here partly because I was confident I wouldn’t have to translate the title and truth to tell it isn’t really representative of the album, being an instrumental and the two tracks that follow it are completely different.
But it’s a pleasant, while undemanding, introduction to the beguiling sound they make, with hints of 1970’s prog arrangements (think especially early Genesis, I was waiting for Gabriel’s voice to cut in) and a dose of psych thrown in for good measure.
They released the album themselves through CD Baby.
Vi are:
Jens Hansen: guitars, bass, vocals
Aske Duedahl Bendtsen: drums, percussion, keys, vocals
(According to their Instagram page there is also a Thomas Mulvad).
Find them on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vimusikkollektiv/
Millie (Denmark) – Feels like I’m Burning (focus track from the EP Troubles I’ve had with boys)
We do know Millie, a ‘DIY duo’ that has have visited us on a couple of previous occasions. Now they’ve released their debut EP, of seven tracks, the intriguingly titled ‘Troubles I’ve Had With Boys’ (it could be Taylor Swift’s end of career 10-sided compilation album) continuing their established theme of creating music which reflects human and relatable experiences of love, in both its highs and lows.
The focus track is ‘Feels Like I’m Burning,’ another subtle country-inspired one in which the singer, Emilie again laments the turmoil of lurve, a mental conflict akin to standing in the midst of a conflagration and, as she sings, “an awful lot of hurting for a little heart like mine.”
I’ve been impressed by Millie since I first heard them and they seem to have gone the extra mile with this song, completing the leap from Nordicana to genuine full-on Americana. I can imagine twiddling the knob on the radio in the Chevy, on Route 40 coming into Nashville from Memphis, and settling on this tune to keep me company.
Taylor, eat your heart out.
Find them on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millie.wav
