With the record’s release now a week away, Faurholt has shared new single and album opener ‘It’s the End of the World’. As immediate and compassionate as its predecessor, the song lives up to its title as it probes into the rising tide of apocalyptic moods within the present moment. But rather than dealing with the subject matter via frantic unease or Biblical heft, Faurholt instead paints a picture altogether smaller and more intimate. The end times as experienced in real time, where the lights are set low and homely and the ones you love are still in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Watch the video by Mikkel Elbech of One Horse Town below:

Jacob Faurholt will be released on the 24th November via Raw Onion Records and you can pre-order it now from Bandcamp, including a green/black marbled vinyl edition.

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“When I was young living with my parents, my mother would be worried about my mental state because of the music coming from my room,” Faurholt explains. “One album I listened to again and again was Sophia’s sadcore masterpiece Fixed Water. Indeed the music was gloomy, but to me it felt like a warm soothing blanket, and it resonated in me. ‘Comforting Sounds’ is a salute to the music that has meant so much to me over the years.” In the song’s lyrics he name-drops the bands that form what he calls the soundtrack of his life. “Galaxie 500, Low, Red House Painters,” slowcore/sadcore heavyweights that nevertheless provide comfort rather than desolation.

The mood is therefore downbeat but coloured by an overriding fondness. The kind of melancholy you can wrap yourself in. The tempo is heavy and unhurried, surrounded by a sense of homemade silence that recalls Down Colorful Hill-era Red House Painters. But, in spite of that, its not a dark song per se. The overwhelming feeling is one of grateful nostalgia, the lasting message a positive one. “Do you think music can save your soul?” Faurholt asks, before affirming, “I think music can save our souls, at least it did for me.”

When the Spiders Crawl will be released via Raw Onion Records in the second half of 2022. You can get ‘Comforting Sounds’ now from the Jacob Faurholt Bandcamp page.

Artwork by Nadia & Polly Faurholt

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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

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Fast forward eighteen months and the question is about to be answered with a brand new record. A Lake of Distortion is a marriage of folk and lo-fi pop, the latter wrapping around the former in its gauzy noise to produce what the the press release describes as “10 twisted love songs filled with joy and anxiety.” As such, the album sounds very much a product of Daniel Johnston’s legacy, with the final track, ‘Listening to Devil Town’ making such a comparison explicit.

Lead single ‘Before it Starts to Rain’ is essentially a folk song, delicate and tender though fleshed out with a variety of instruments and samples that lend an extra emotive edge. But the title track, premiering with us today, sees something of a change. Set to sun-bleached home video-style footage, the track is lives up to its name, drenched in feedback and gloriously retro rock vibes. Lyrically however, the song is far clearer. Faurholt sounds clear-eyed and sure, not only declaring his love but promising to prove it.

A Lake of Distortion is set for release on the 20th October and you can pre-order it now from the Jacob Faurholt Bandcamp page, including a transparent orange LP edition.

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