Dancing Years Archives - Various Small Flames

Advent Calendar [10th]: House By The Lake – Redwood

Liam Doyle — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 15:45:42 +0000

House By The Lake was once the solo project of Norway’s Sondre Strandskog Arnesen, but has since become a fully-fledged five-piece band. Arnesen has been joined by members of two other Norwegian bands, Monstereo and Ekkolodd, as well as a member of the production team that worked on Bastille’s debut album.

‘Redwood’, the band’s new single, was released at the end of November and was premiered on Norwegian national radio station NRK P3. It’s a really nice harmonious indie/folk track that will appeal to fans of American acts such as The Head And The Heart and British bands like Bear’s Den and Dancing Years.

Listen to the track in the player above and then download it at the House By The Lake Soundcloud page. Hopefully we’ll be hearing more from the band in the near future.

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Dancing Years – Here’s To My Old Friends

Jon Doyle — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 15:32:00 +0000

When I first wrote about Dancing Years back in 2012, I suggested that they were on the verge of stepping things up. Just over a year later, I can now report that that is indeed what has happened, with the band having shared a stage with acts like Dry The River, James Vincent McMorrow, Stornoway and Benjamin Francis Leftwich, as well as being featured in a number of noteworthy places, such as Q Magazine.

Their new single, ‘Here’s To My Old Friends’, is soon to be released on Hide & Seek Records. The song is a nostalgic-yet-realistic look at the past, slow burning lament for times gone by that never descends into rose-tinted sentimentality. Rather than shouting “being young is great! Being young is great!”, this is nostalgia as sense of sadness, a fondness for familiar things in the face of a superficial present.

The single is yet another signal of intent from the band, placing them alongside British acoustic/alternative/folk acts like Keaton Henson, as well as those they have alread supported. They are doing a widespread tour of the UK, beginning at the end of the month. A full schedule can be found here.

You can pre-order the upcoming single here, as well as pick up some smart merchandise.

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Dancing Years

Jon Doyle — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:35:00 +0000

I’ve given these a listen before but never really followed it through with repeated attention. It’s only now I’m hearing them again as a friend who is in the band promoted their new Facebook page. Formerly Joseph & David, the outfit have decided that a change of name is required to match their evolution as a band. I’m not entirely sure how to classify the sound – it definitely borrows a lot from folk but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they are an outright folk band. Whatever it is, it’s an impressively accomplished sound for a relatively small band. I’m eager to stay clear of making direct comparisons because I can imagine as a band it must be disheartening to see your work labelled as a clone of some bigger, already established artist. I think fans of the ‘popular folk-rock’ scene (stupid term – you know what I mean) that has seen the rise of Mumford & Sons and Noah & the Whale will be impressed. ‘Falling Wood’ (which can be heard below) builds slowly with gentle vocals and piano to numerous sing-a-long crescendos reminiscent of Typhoon. Similarly ‘Borderline’ meanders along before whipping up to a delightfully cathartic ending. the title track ‘Rise Up The Sun’ is a fantastic closing song that brings to mind Beirut.

I think the change of name (and the impending end of university life) indicates that Dancing Years will be stepping up a gear in the near future and I am looking forward to hear what they do next. There are a number of releases available on their Bandcamp page to keep you occupied in the meantime.

– Jon –

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