Slaughter Beach are the lilting and romantic lo-fi heroes that the Danish indie scene has desperately craved since the moody likes of Lower and Iceage first broke. Their uniquely euphoric and psychedelic melange has already attracted praise from NME, The Line of Best Fit, and Pigeons and Planes since they released ‘Spinning Globes’ as one of their first SoundCloud uploads. They’ve now prepped their debut EP ‘Love/Venice’, out for release 9th October, and it thrums with a warmth and a technicolour vitality that’s worlds away from their ice- cold monochromatic Copenhagen countrymen.
Based in their hometown of Odense, where the trio eat, sleep and make music in their studio, Hasse, Nikolaj and Mads are careful to not rush things. It’s a tactic that has seen them take their time over the release of ‘Love/Venice’, which is due out on Norway’s Brilliance records. The much-appraised ‘Spinning Globe’ is included, as is it’s follow-up release ‘Nuked’. Both songs find cohesion among the newer inclusions. Lead single ‘Clear Insight’ precedes the EP on September 14th, and next to ‘Spinning Globe’ it’s the other big pop moment. With its sprightly rhythms, classic pop structure and infectiously tripped-out vocals it’s a lysergic jaunt that will find obvious joy played live. It also ends in inter-dimensional fuckery in a jam so far-out it might still be orbiting Saturn.
For all its psychedelic wig-outs, ‘Love/Venice’ is far from a pastiche of the summer of love. Opener ‘Made Up True Love’ starts with some deeply unsettling noise before shifting gear into the sort of restlessly hip song that would make Deerhunter or Modest Mouse proud. Driven by a pedalled note guitar riff that could have come straight out of a Johnny Marr jam, it sets a high standard. The irreverent strains of ‘Introvert’ mark it as a buoyant tongue-in-cheek number in the vein of Pond. Its military marching beat, combined with Nikolaj’s purposely naïve delivery, tells the story of a relationship in dissolution. The softness of touch and pining subject matter accompanies closer ‘Nuked’ in sentiment. What starts as a lack of communication in ‘Introvert’ ends in a total conflict of personality in ‘Nuked’ as Nikolaj criticises the superficiality and insincerity of a departed beau.