The deep resonant crooning of Anders Rhedin is something that is out of reach. It is floating above you, around and below, and wraps you up in a misty cloud of sound that is completely intangible. Although Girl, the second E.P of the LA based Danish producer and musician, has managed to capture the spirit of DINNER’s sound.
Girl is the follow up to Rhedin’s You are like LA, released by Tigerspring, and will be officially released by the Berlin based record label LOOKINGFORWARD, this Friday, April 26. If the title of Rehdin’s last release didn’t already give it away, DINNER’s sound reaches out to LA, the bright warm days, the ocean, the noise the smog… Rhedin has no doubt been influenced by the many nuances that define the City of Angels.
There is a sweet rhythm, reminiscent of slow days with sand between your toes, underlining each of the four tracks featured on Girl. Yet his work does not forget the Danish side. Cold undertones and uncanny undulations in the production that send a shiver down your spine are undoubtedly present. Between the sweet sounds of Scandinavia and the underground pop sound of LA, Rehdin has himself found a way to sum up his songs: “They’re all about girls. And destruction. The divine feminine”.
So who is this girl exactly? According to DINNER, expressed appropriately on the track This Girl, “she’s forgotten the fears that she had, what she has become … she is in her head again, waiting for someone”. The lyrics come with the powerful force that is found the deep chant of Rehdin’s voice. The vocals are unexpected when matched with the cool and echoey nature of the track, but once you get a good listen lyrics like “She’s so cold … she’s forgotten the daemons that she knew…” it all starts to make perfect sense. Elements of this otherworldly dangerously feminine force are made apparent on the title track, Girl. He croons…. “Your hands are very cold, sometimes your body is made of smoke”. The vocals are somewhat reminiscent of MAGNETIC FIELDS front man, Stephin Merritt, and his own lounge-singer, heart-breaking serenading that makes us all become infected with nostalgia and perhaps associated with notions of unrequited love.
Ok, Alright, the EP’s only instrumental track, returns to the frosty edges of DINNER’s sound. The Danes do not fall short when it comes to electronic music, and this track considers the dreamy electronic elements so often found in the highly esteemed musicians, such as TRENTEMØLLER, who are hailing from the North. Often the combination of distorted sounds adds a bit of drama and depth to the otherwise sweet and simple tracks. There are continual reference to certain motifs, such as spells, feeling lost within one’s head. Rehdin’s vocals are almost hypnotic, like hymns and spiritual sounds that are asking you to get on your knees and pray to the sounds of DINNER.
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