Mining the rich territories of The Velvet Underground and the 90’s Madchester movement, and combining with the sound of classic 4AD, the Danish / Swedish troupe Black Light White Light shine a light into dark corners often left alone in contemporary psychedelic indie-rock.
Based in Malmo, Sweden the musical project is centred on the Danish singer, guitarist and songwriter Martin Ejlertsen.
The band’s new single “California Love” – released this Friday 20th April – follows previous singles “Teenage Dream”, “King Kong” (as well as avideo for the album title track “Horizons”) which achieved UK national radio play from BBC 6 Music, Amazing Radio, and Radio X, along with heavy rotation on Danish National Radio DR KarriereKanonen.
On an album that introduces undulating keyboards as a new and fundamental element of their sound, with harmonies and chiming delay guitars under attack with fuzz, all enveloped in dark and pervasive melancholic melodies, “California Love” takes a slightly different direction and see the band in a quieter, more introspective, mood.
Ejlertsen talks about new single California Love:
“This song to me really has that sunny element of California to it. When I came up with the main melody theme for this song I just knew it had to be a song about California. We recorded our first album in Los Angeles, California. This was a magical period. Like a time warp – just an adventure to be there living the dream. The lyrics are not specifically about this though. It’s really a bittersweet love song about meeting a special person that brings that sunny spirit and warmness of California into your life.”
Listen to “California Love” HERE
Black Light White Light have also just signed a deal to release the album in the US with Custom Made Music (Peter Hook And The Light, Pete International Airport, Ringo Deathstarr). “Horizons” can be ordered on CD and cassette HERE.
About new album “Horizons”
The creation of the band’s third album Horizons began in early 2015, with Ejlertsen taking stock of their catalogue to date, and looking for a new vantage point from which to approach his music. With a desire to make a dark pop record with razor-sharp rock songs, new material slowly began to unfold in a basement studio, deep underground in Copenhagen, where the band twisted their ideas and sketches in co-operation with a new drummer, Viktor Höber, and producer/ engineer and fellow musician Christian Ki.
Citing film as a huge influence on his music – in particular the works of David Lynch and Danish film maker Nicolas Winding Refn – Ejlertsen began to experiment in coupling Lynch-ian concepts of duality, visions, and dream states, with the bloody self-destruction and gallows humour that pervades Refn’s work.
Horizons is out now.
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