Music Monday

Last week, one of my favorite bands, Copenhagen's Efterklang, announced the new album they've been working on will be released on 4AD February, 2010. Efterklang truly produces some of the most unique, beautiful music I've heard in my recent years, so I'm obviously very excited. And, to add to the excitement and tide us all over for the next few months, they paired the announcement with the free release of a track from the forthcoming album—this week's Song of the Week, Modern Drift. Now, having such a unique sound, you might think that the band would be one that morph or grow too much from disk to disk, but Efterklang has actually made significant strides in development with each release, starting out with charismatically glitchy electronic sounds and, more recently, bringing their unconventional song writing and structure to very conventional instruments—horns, acoustic stringed instruments and the like. With this tiny glimpse into their future, the first thing that strikes me is a much more mainstream sound. The structure is still edgy and, at times, unpredictable, but the voice and starting piano sounds almost Billy Joel-like. Okay, it's not THAT mainstream, but, given the far from mainstream career this band has led to date, it's surprising. That said, the song is an absolute gem—a shimmering, shifting reflection of autumn that's made me smile every time I've listened to it. Check it out. Album cover by design studio, Hvass & Hannibal.