Memoria Trentemøller

• 1 Veil Of White 05:59
• 2 No More Kissing In The Rain 04:19
• 3 Darklands 05:01
• 4 Glow 06:23
• 5 In The Gloaming 05:18
• 6 The Rise 04:56
• 7 When The Sun Explodes 05:32
• 8 Dead Or Alive 04:07
• 9 All Too Soon 04:04
• 10 A Summer’s Empty Room 05:05
• 11 Swaying Pine Trees 05:34
• 12 Drifting Star 05:08
• 13 Like A Daydream 05:31
• 14 Linger 05:13
• Total Runtime 01:12:10

Info for Memoria

Analysis and fixed processes have supplanted mystery. Romanticism is in short supply. Luckily there is still music being released that pushes back. Anders Trentemøller’s latest album, Memoria, seems to exist at the confluence of inspiration, coincidence, and maybe even a little bit of the supernatural.

A recent, unanticipated drop of four songs, over two singles (No One Quite Like You, and Golden Sun), might leave one surprised to find that a full album’s worth of material was also waiting in the wings. As with most Trentemøller releases, it’s a body of songs that are thematically linked by many melodic threads.

Classically speaking, memoria (memory) is one of the five canons of rhetoric, along with discovery, arrangement, eloquence, and recitation. It’s how stories are told, and memoria is the central pillar. Trentemøller’s songs never deliver the completed narrative, that’s for the listener to construct, but in every track exists these five seeds, primed for germination.

When the songs hit we’re greeted with a quartet of trance-inducing numbers which explore the liminal space between the dream world and reality, whisking the listener from the temporal to a parallel world, where synesthesia dictates things like sky color and tidal movements. Longtime collaborator Lisbet Fritze’s vocals intertwine with various melodious threads to form a diaphanous fabric in “No More Kissing In The Rain,” which examines impermanence from an abstract angle. The fourth in the set, “Glow,” acts as a bridge to the middle third of the album, where stored energy converts to motion, and we meet the first single released from the collection.

“In The Gloaming,” implies the arc of the album might have actually begun late in the day, giving the sensation of waking in the evening. Nocturne’s dawning. Stars emerge in the form of percussive arpeggios. Fritze flawlessly and profoundly delivers an eventide script. Its accompanying video captures the somber, almost hallucinogenic qualities of the twilight hour. Eyes turn to space.

The album approaches its apogee when the motorik energy of “When The Sun Explodes” propels us towards the kosmische. Its bridge forecasts impending intensity, which is ultimately realized in “Dead Or Alive,” where punk dynamism, urgent bass and unrelenting drums form a pact with id-driven vocals, assembling into what’s sure to be the newest entry into the noise rock canon. The stars collapse, and we enter the third act.

Trentemøller’s fascination with seemingly diametrically opposed subjects, as it relates to our fleeting existence here on earth, is at the heart of “All Too Soon.” The subject of its companion video contemplates this on a motorcycle ride that could be happening at either dusk or dawn. Like emerging from a cold celestial ocean into a warming terrestrial breeze, it takes us back into more gentle territory with its reassuring promises of immortality, materializing like a mate to “No More Kissing In The Rain,” only with the polarity flipped. Flat on our back, staring at the sky, as satellites and star-sailers drift by, “Like A Daydream” chimes on. Earnestly delivered vocals are buoyed up by carillon guitar, tethered to a relaxed drum shuffle, by a progression of bass chords. We come down easy and reach the final composition of the album, “Linger,” which feels like a denouement at half-speed.

2019’s Obverse was an exercise in what could be done if the prospect of performing the songs onstage wasn’t a factor. It opened up some doors, and signaled a new chapter. Memoria, even considering its resplendence, almost feels like it demands to be presented live as well.

Anders Trentemøller

Trentemøller
Copenhagen based musician Anders Trentemøller´s talent for heart wrenching melodic moments and exceptional productions, fused with his trademark sound somewhere between indie and electronic, has established him as one of the most respected and admired artists and remixers of this century. In 2006, following a line of 12” electronic EPs, Trentemøller released his groundbreaking debut album ‘The Last Resort’. High placements in several polls for best album of the year followed and established his name to a much broader audience.

In 2007 Trentemøller assembled his first full live band and since then played almost 300 shows around the world.

After two more studio albums, ‘Into The Great Wide Yonder’ (2010) and ‘Lost’ (2013), artist-compilations (‘The Trentemøller Chronicles’ (2007), ‘Reworked/Remixed’ (2011)) and more releases like ‘Harbour Boat Trips’ (2009) or ‘Late Night Tales’ (2011)

Trentemøller is about to release his fourth album ‘Fixion’ on his own label imprint In My Room in September 2016.

With ‘Fixion’, Anders has crafted a logical successor to 2013’s ‘Lost’ - a record that in many ways managed to truly capture the visceral live experience of Trentemøller as a full-band. In much the same manner that ‘Lost’ built on from the somber cinematic classic that was ‘Into The Great Wide Yonder’, ‘Fixion’ has embraced the Danish artist’s trademark melancholy and matured it into something uniquely atmospheric and darkly romantic.

Rather than attempting to completely reinvent himself, Anders has used his latest outing as an opportunity to highlight certain granular aspects of his signature sound and refine them into a much more organic - and at times perhaps more song-driven body of work. It’s a record that on first listen may seem less detailed but, as you’ll know by now, with Trentemøller, one should never be fooled by initial impressions. It’s the kind of record that will over time repeatedly unlock new intricacies and offer the listener an opportunity to understand the work differently upon each listen.

The album is still notably driven by the producer and multi-artist’s passion for experimentation and effortlessly succeeds in transcending a swathe of influences and unassuming genres­­ - yet all the while holding true to Trentemøller’s unique, and sometimes challenging vernacular. From the cascading minimalist synth-scapes to driving electropunk, each and every track on ‘Fixion’ is bound together with a contemplative melodic complexity.

This album contains no booklet.