We Were Born Canaries - We Were Born Canaries

Scandinavian music tends to conjure a sense of theatrical fantasy. Whether it is satanic Norwegian Death Metal, impish Swedish pop, or Icelandic maverick music makers such as Bjork and Sigur Rós; but what of Denmark? We Were Born Canaries look to imprint themselves onto this great Scandinavian fairy tale with an arresting self-titled album which extols the vitality of half-forgotten youth.

The Danish duo – vocalist Stine Grøn and the beatmaker Jakob Steen - tap into subconsciously buried childhood memories under bleak black skies shorn of stars. In the case of this self-titled debut, the light comes from their imagination. Sleep Party People’s Brian Batz has mixed the record, to utilize this galvanizing power source, adding the necessary professional sheen.

‘Go Cold Turkey’ sets us off, the opener is a joyous frolic with dandelion chains and sugar fuelled grins. There is a hint of Arcade Fire pomposity as the track swings along in a carefree manner. Stine Grøn’s little girl lost slash Alice ‘Through the Looking-Glass’ vocals have glorious range, especially when warped amongst the interesting sound textures - from orthodox instrumentation to daring electronic dabbling. ‘Dead in Silence’ has that chilled out Zero 7 vibe,  recalling nitrous comedowns, as the slowed down joviality distorts into a peeping sunrise.

‘Only Light’ is a sleeper hit in the making, Grøn’s chilling refrain “rest your head now” is dizzying. The bandy synths that flip flop around in the middle of the song add an alluring layer of intrigue. Deeper we go into a more malevolent place as ‘I Still Like To’ dallies into a place where few pixies dare to tread. Sparsely produced, the song is one of the albums more darkly poignant moments.

The one thing that becomes apparent as the album goes on is just how much effort has gone into the production, every moment is significant, each beat, each melody, each chord. There is an attention to detail akin more to classical composition, a desire to seek perfection. Jakob Steen in his role as beatmaker has blended, and binded, forged and fastened together a colourful sound collage.

The album’s final stages are equally breath-taking; the tempo drops considerably allowing ‘In the Future’ to bubble a cascading eighties beat that gets rudely punctured by a blooming beautiful chorus with vocals soaring skywards. Ending with an instrumental farewell is perhaps the only disappointment, as ‘Yon’ seems better suited as a bookmark placed somewhere in the middle of an album.

We Were Born Canaries have managed to create a debut album that contains enough memorable material to allow them to venture forwards into a plethora of possibilities. Peeking over their shoulders the duo may well see that a trail that has begun to flicker a blue flame, who knows, one day that trail might even blaze.