In this interview, Anne, the vocalist of DANEFAE, delves into their latest single "Fuglekongen" exploring existential themes, Nordic myths, and the balance between complexity and accessibility in their music.
1. Your
latest single, "Fuglekongen" draws inspiration from Saint-Säens'
"Danse Macabre". How did this classical piece influence the song, and
how do you see the connection between life, death, and free will in the music?
I think a lot of people see life as some grand scheme that they are a part of.
That our free will gives us the opportunity to create a unique role for us in
this world. I think lif
e and death is a lot more random than that. I think our
past defines our choices, and that our past is a piece of random history. Your
parents are your parents, you grow up somewhere not much you can change about
that and you are only given one body and one set of DNA. All the things that
influence who we are and what we do happens at random. I imagine that freaks
out a lot of people. It for sure scares me too. If I'm not the main character,
that means I could get killed at any time. I think Danse Macabre is a truly
disturbing piece, that kind of captures this feeling, that we're on our own and
can't do anything to improve our situation.
2. You’ve
mentioned that "Fuglekongen" deals with existential themes and
questions free will. Could you tell us more about the symbolism of the
Goldcrest in the song and how it represents this concept?
It actually has a bit to do with the Danish name for the Goldcrest: fuglekonge,
which directly translated means King of the Birds. So the bird king/goldcrest
is a metafor for the heritage we carry around as individuals that essentially
controls our actions. I like to think of it as a reverse pirate parrot:
instead of having a bird that repeats everything you say, it's actually us who
repeats everything the bird says. There are no parrots in Denmark, but a lot of
Goldcrests, that look a bit like tiny parrots. It's also the smallest
bird in Denmark, so I thought it was funny to think of a bird that was so tiny,
that you barely notice it, and still controlling our every move. Just like we
rarely notice how our past affects our present decision making.
3. The new album Trøst seems
to focus on nature, myths, and personal stories. How do these elements shape
the overall sound and atmosphere of the record compared to your debut
album Tro?
I think we might have some of the same intentions with Trøst, as we did with
Tro, we just did it a lot better on this one. That's my opinion at least. I
like songs to be personal and not become too broad and superficial, therefore:
the personal stories. The nature is something that means a great deal to a lot
of people, it's a place, where you find peace and find back to your roots. Also
nature is very different from country to country, so by letting your local
nature inspire you, you'll also have something very unique. And lastly you
mention myths. I just think we love the stories and since the bandname Danefae
is a word for historical items, we think it's very fitting to take in these old
words and hint to myths and legends. Overall I think these factors makes the
sound of the record quite clean. We try to hit something pure and would rewrite
pieces of the music a lot of times to nail the vibe of a specific story or
nature setting.
4. Anne,
as the lyricist and vocalist, your storytelling draws heavily on Danish legends
and literature. Can you share how your personal experiences influence your
writing, and how these myths and stories resonate with your own life?
I grew up on the countryside close to a historical outdoor museum and close to
both the moor, forests and lakes. In the city where I went to school, there was
hardly anything besides the school and the local church. So these old tellings
of wights and elfs living in the lakes and hills just where I lived seemed so
real! Because it was a small school that had a big connection to the church, we
sang a lot. So these old folk melodies, was something I met on a daily basis. I
loved to sing and I loved how the old stories in a song could describe both
what I felt and what my world looked like so spot on. Even though the song was
maybe more than 200 years old! So I love to let myself inspire by these old
songs and tellings, because they remind me of something I have always loved
within music.
5. DANEFAE
is known for combining progressive metal with a Nordic tonal language. How do
you balance complexity with accessibility in your music, and how does this
fusion contribute to your unique sound?
I'm glad you ask! It's something that is very important to us: to have a catchy
tune that is hard to play. We like to show off when we play live. We like to
challenge people that think music is all about emotions and feeling. To us,
it's also about skill. But one thing shouldn't exclude the other. Songs we love
are the songs, we can easily sing along to, so our songs should always have a
chorus that our moms can learn by heart after only a couple of listens. No
matter the time signature or the harmony. That is one of our most important
goals.
6. Your
debut album Tro received significant attention for its
distinctly Nordic-sounding progressive metal. What were some of the key lessons
or evolutions you experienced between Tro and your upcoming
album Trøst?
I think the production on Trøst is a lot better. That's one thing. Besides that
we made less compromises and the songs were written over a shorter amount of
time than the first one, so there is a bit more coherence between the tunes. We
had some things that we wanted to keep and improve on from the previous album:
the catchy choruses that I mentioned earlier, the nordic tonal language (and
actual language) and the choir heavy parts. And some things we wanted to evolve
would be the level of the riffs, we tried to make it heavier and tried to be
more precise on the arrangements. Trying to make the album more streamlined.
7. You've
spent the past few years refining your sound and musical direction. How do you
feel DANEFAE has grown as a band during the creation of Trøst, and
what can listeners expect in terms of musical progression on this album?
They can definitely expect a more heavy sounding album and maybe also a bit
darker album. I think these last couple of years we've become more precise with
a vision for the music.
8. With Trøst not
following a general thematic thread but rather exploring various human stories,
how did you approach structuring the album? Was there a particular flow or
emotion you aimed to convey across the eight compositions?
When we started writing the album we took a trip to a Danish cottage and
listened to a lot of old school Opeth when we didn't play or write ourselves. I
think both the cottage and the Opeth-albums inspired us to try to experience
more with dynamics on this album and also try to have a bit more patience in
the tunes. We usually never rest on a riff or a chord for more than a couple of
bars, but here was some music that was almost hypnotizing in the way the themes
went on and on. So that was a kind of flow we wanted to maintain through the
album.
9. You’re
performing a series of live shows around Denmark this fall. How does performing
live influence your creative process, and do you find that the audience's
reaction shapes the way you approach future music?
The live performance has a lot of influence on this album Trøst! Something we
did before writing it was to talk about what kind of tunes we miss, when we do
live sets. 'Cause we had realized that many of the tracks on Tro had the same
structure and dynamic, so it was actually very hard to make a variated live
set. So we used that frustration as an off set to make some songs where the
structure and the dynamics were completely different from something we'd
usually do. Another thing is that we love the interaction we have with the
metal fans in the audience when we did our heavy parts, so that's also one of
the reasons why this album has a heavier sound than the previous one.
10. Finally,
as you prepare for the release of Trøst in January 2025, what
message or feeling do you hope listeners will take away from the album,
especially in a world that seems increasingly in need of solace?
We end the album with a tune called Song of Hope. It reminds us, that even
though we can't fix anything on our own, we can always share some goodwill with
others and then maybe, that goodwill can increase their power and energy. So I
think the album is about never turning the blind eye to something shitty, but
trying to help out in the way you can even though you can fix the problem
completely. Whether it's wars, human crisis or family issues, you can only do
that much to help, and that's okay. Just keep cheering for the others when you
pass on the baton.
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