One of Scandinavia’s most interesting and prolific songwriters, Denmark’s Jacob Faurholt has released over ten albums, both under his own name and the moniker Crystal Shipsss for the most experimental efforts. Writing of previous release A Lake of Distortion, we described Faurholt’s style as “a marriage of folk and lo-fi pop, the latter wrapping around the former in its gauzy noise to produce […] ‘twisted love songs filled with joy and anxiety’.”
For all of the variation and experimentation, Faurholt has always remained true to such a description, and his latest record is no different. Recorded in his hometown of Aarhus, with an array of local musicians joining him in his “trailer wagon studio,” Shake Off The Fear is Jacob Faurholt’s first album to fully utilise a studio and live musicians.
With Nadia Sharpe Faurholt (vocals) Rasmus Fink Lorentzen (drums, percussion) Victor Kim (esraj, samples, noisy guitars) Mikkel Stenholt (bass) and Anders Ahle (piano, bass, slide guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar) all appearing on the record, the sound is something of a move away from the lo-fi home recordings of previous releases, possessing a newfound richness and sheen. Factor in the production of Victor Kim and mixing by Andy Magoffin (Great Lake Swimmers, Royal City, Richard Laviolette) and the result is Faurholt’s most polished and ambitious record to date.
Despite the stylistic changes, the music of Jacob Faurholt is still based around his deep and striking explorations of the human condition. Drawing on influences like Mark Linkous, Jason Molina, Conor Oberst and even Daniel Johnson, Faurholt’s writing views love and loss through a number of prisms—from the general portrayal of restless anxiety on ‘Stargazing’ to the highly personal ‘The Burning Ship, a song exploring the loss of a childhood friend in the 1990 Scandinavian Star ferry tragedy.
Today we’re sharing lead single ‘The Dark Isn’t Right’ ahead of the album’s autumn release, and the sense of emotion and intimacy is immediately clear. Picking up Molina’s knack for turning classic symbolism and unanswered questions into monologue to absent loved ones, the track transforms uncertainty and doubt into a kind of tender hymn.
What do we do with the lonely nights?
Where do we go when the dark isn’t right?
Shake Off The Fear will be released via Raw Onion Records on the 6th September and you can pre-order it now from the Jacob Faurholt Bandcamp page.
Artwork by Jacob Faurholt, layout by William Kudahl