It would seem that Carlsberg and Tuborg are not Copenhagen’s only intoxicating export. The Danish synth-pop quartet When Saints Go Machine are achieving growing notoriety, despite their incomprehensible name. Fortunately, their most recent album Konkylie (meaning: Conch shell) released back in June, is not at all misunderstood. With an abundance of seductive ‘shakes and shivers’, front man Nikolaj Manuel Vonsilds’s quivering vocals inject a compelling vulnerability to the set, complementing the haunting synths, in tracks such as Parix and Konkylie. Comparable to the likes of the ethereal Anthony Hegarty (Anthony and the Johnsons) Nikolaj maintains an irreplaceably constant performance throughout this crescendo of an album.
Avoiding the trap of the, occasionally, contrived ‘electro-pop’ genre, this album is certainly not accidental either. The tracks effortlessly flow into one and other, with Jets serving as a pivot between the low tempo introduction, and the final high energy conclusion of the ensemble. The album lifts your mood unconsciously, and before you even realise it, you are grabbing a bottle and preparing to dance disastrously with yourself. Admittedly, this album takes a second listen before it really registers, and it may be lacking in intensity against its contemporaries. But as any GCSE English student will tell you, the conch in Lord of the Flies serves as a vessel, permitting an individual to talk. This album is the conch, and in my opinion, it deserves to be sat up and listened to.
Words by Camilla James, Copenhagen Connection Correspondent.
