044: Efterklang - Animated Heart (Ft. Sønderjysk Pigekor)

tom johnson

Jun 18, 2024 — 2 min read

In the most romantic of ways, I often think of Efterklang as the soundtrack to a life I never got to live. From the first time I got to travel to a Nordic country, a decade or so ago, their records have played in my headphones as I've gazed out of bus windows and curious landscapes, wandered city streets in the crisp of winter, been dizzied by summer days that stretch long into the night.

Wherever and whenever I've found myself back in that part of the world, I've felt that odd little tug in my stomach that we occasionally carry with us; some kind of kinship with the lay of the land, the people within it. In another life, only lightly different to this, I found a way to relocate there, to find my own place there rather than watching from the outside in.

It's no surprise that Efterklang have been at the heart of my listening throughout the years. Formed in 2000, the band have been releasing spectral, beautiful pop records since 2004, finding a larger audience with their third record Magic Chair, after a move to the 4AD label for the 2010 release.

Ribbon-bowing a trilogy of albums with the forthcoming Things We Have In Common (City Slang, September 27th), the Danish trio have sounded as brightly invigorating as ever on the pair of collaborations they've released from the album thus far - 'Getting Reminders' which featured Beirut's Zach Conlon and previous single 'Plant' which found them joined on cello and voice by Mabe Fratti.

The album's latest cut - and one of the finest pieces of music we've heard in 2024 thus far - is 'Animated Heart', and this time the band have reunited with Sønderjysk Pigekor (South Denmark Girls' Choir), a collective they've worked with a number of times over the past decade or so.

Accompanied by a lovely, surprisingly moving tribute to the voices involved, the song is quintessential Efterklang, a stirring four-minutes or so, where gorgeous musical textures provide the backdrop for Casper Clausen's voice to draw you further and further into their uniquely captivating world. The use of the choir is richly inspired, the swoon of their collective voice gently illuminating an almost otherworldly sense of magic; a moment of golden light before the whole thing unexpectedly collapses in upon itself.

"Their addition brought a whole gospel vibe to the track, which I found incredibly appealing. I was struck by how their voices seemed to lift the composition into another realm, creating a sense of expansiveness that no instrument or single voice could achieve. I’m singing about being alone, clinging to the stone, kissing oneself to the bone, deep in the heart of the soul." - Casper Clausen