The Kissaway Trail
- Location: Odense,
- Websites:
- Bio: As the clanging of church bells ushers in the panoramic sensation of their new album Sleep Mountain, out April 20, 2010, via Bella Union, The Kissaway Trail arrives on American ... (more)
- Bio: As the clanging of church bells ushers in the panoramic sensation of their new album Sleep Mountain, out April 20, 2010, via Bella Union, The Kissaway Trail arrives on American shores with a renewed sense of purpose. Sleep Mountain is less a reinvention for the Danish quintet than a fabulous progression from the band’s 2007 self-titled debut, released in the UK and Europe to critical acclaim.
The Kissaway Trail established a sublime fusion of different musical strands. Imagine the urgent ebb-and-flow dynamic of bands as diverse as Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips with bona fide singer-songwriters, from Neil Young’s plangency to the dreaminess of Another Green World-era Eno to the frailty of Daniel Johnson. Sleep Mountain simply refines, improves and enriches that fusion. Add in dabs of electronica to the breadth of guitars and you have a contemporary, timeless, vulnerable rock classic.
“Our previous album had a lot of different flavours to it, clearly showing that we were a band in the process of discovering ourselves,†declares co-singer/guitarist Thomas Fagerlund, “whereas the new album has a greater sense of direction and style, and shows that we had grown as musicians and people as well.â€
The band’s origins are in singer/guitarist Thomas Fagerlund, singer/guitarist Søren B. Corneliussen and bassist and backing vocalist Rune Pedersen, who originally recorded together as Hostmom and then Isles. As Isles, they released one album “We Have Decided Not To Die†in 2005 before they were joined by Daniel Skjoldmose (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) and Hasse Mydtskov (drums, backing vocals). Thomas then joined Søren as co-frontman. As for Isles’ album title, well, this is one emotionally charged band, fronted by two quite different songwriters �“ Søren’s more observational tack against Thomas’ more personal approach. But both are united by a melancholy you can cut with a knife. This extends to Sleep Mountain’s one cover version. “Philadelphia†- the theme tune to Jonathan Demme’s groundbreaking AIDS movie - is simply one of the most stunning, revealing Neil Young covers you’ll ever hear. Thomas heard the song when he was 10, and saw the film many years later.
“I discovered not many people knew this song, not even fans of Neil Young. So it was something we just had to record and it works well within our album.†He continues, “The film is very sad in its own way, while the song makes me think of my own adolescence and all that I went through.†Yet as Søren adds, “the song is about the love of friends and family.â€
The positive outweighs the sadness.
It’s that combination that makes The Kissaway Trail special. On the first album, there were some bleak titles like “Smother + Evil = Hurtâ€. But then there was “61â€, with its backdrop of tragedy but a defiant chorus of “We can! We're strong! We'll beat it.†The titles on Sleep Mountain are less obviously revealing �“ and Thomas and Søren follow the party line of not revealing song origins.
“I like the idea of people generating their own story from the words they hear and the emotions they feel,†says Søren.
The overall theme of Sleep Mountain, says Thomas, is “about being a dreamer and sticking to your dreams regardless of the efforts of people trying to wake us up… Sleep Mountain symbolises staying true to your opinions and beliefs.†The first album’s theme of, “love between boys and girls,†he says, has broadened out to, “a love of mankind and our generation �“ those who have the same passion for art, and the love we feel towards our family and friends.â€
In turn, Søren pinpoints his predilection for, “grief, loss and love, but written from a bystander’s point of view… My new lyrics are about sentiments and pictures in my mind that seems to linger on indefinitely. They’re more of a collage than a story but they’re still thoughts and images from the real life.â€
The 12 songs that make up Sleep Mountain came together at the second attempt. They started writing and recording in early 2008; “the only rule was to write as many songs as possible.†Thus armed, they rehearsed in a desolate rented farm close to their home in Odense (Denmark’s third largest city, situated on the island of Funen) before shifting to the French mountains to narrow down their material. In late 2008, they began recording in Sweden and Denmark but two months later, “we discovered it did not sound the way we had intended and we were afraid that it never would!†So they started again, from scratch, at Odense’s Lydkraft Studio where they’d recorded the first album. They had just two weeks to nail this one, “but as we laid down the first drum track, we knew we had made the right decision.â€
Although producer Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, The Twilight Sad) was unavailable to work with the band during the first attempt, he was free for the Lydkraft sessions. “We told him we simply could not imagine our record being the way we wanted it to without him on board. Fortunately he accepted.â€
Sleep Mountain has that satisfyingly deep, rounded Katis sound, and none more so than the bell-clanging six-minute album opener “SDP†(no, they won’t reveal what that stands for). As Thomas says, it’s the perfect opener, “because it sounds like us, but still shows we have evolved.†Evidence of evolution can also be found in the acute hooks of “New Year†and the brilliant, euphoric “Beat Your Heartbeatâ€. Alongside “Philadelphiaâ€, “Painterâ€, “Friendly Fire†and “Pharaohs and Kings†show a more restrained Kissaway Trail, while “Three Million Hours†is a very poignant end to a 55 minute tour de force. In the end, it’s a positive outcome. As the words of “Philadelphia†go, “Sometimes I think that I know / What love's all about / And when I see the light / I know I'll be all right.†(less)
