Parades

Parades is the highly anticipated second album by Denmark’s Efterklang, the
follow up to their underground hit of 2004, Tripper. Comprising 11 majestic,
otherworldly pop songs, Parades manages to be both magnificently ambitious
and engagingly intimate; a breathtaking panorama of sound with few clear
antecedents. Music with no boundaries. In a parallel universe, songs like ‘Mirador’
and ‘Caravan’ would be number one forever…
Though the music that became Parades was recorded concurrently with the
critically acclaimed (and already collectible) Under Giant Trees mini-album that
preceded it in April, the latter was essentially a summation of songs the band had
pieced together on tour in 2005. Parades is cut from a different cloth: this is all
new material spun from raw ingredients, carefully stitched and lovingly
embroidered with fine detail. If you let yourself be enveloped, this living tapestry
could take years to unpick.
Childhood friends Casper Clausen, Mads Brauer and Rasmus Stolberg grew up on
the small Danish island of Als, close to the German border. Fuelled by youthful
ambition, the trio moved to Copenhagen where they were joined by Rune
Mølgaard and Thomas Husmer, forming Efterklang in December 2000. Early on,
the band instituted a self-sufficient working method that they still apply to
everything they do: writing, recording, producing and organizing every element of
their music and performance from their Copenhagen bunker.
With the release of Tripper in 2004, Efterklang established themselves as a band
apart. The record mixed multilayered vocals, electronic rhythms and string
arrangements into a series of emotionally charged orchestral movements
containing grand romantic flourishes. Tripper stands as the fastest selling debut
album in The Leaf Label’s history, and Efterklang went on to become one of
Denmark’s best loved groups (Under Giant Trees debuted at number one on their
home country's singles chart).
Work on Parades began in late 2005 with a series of simple song sketches. Then,
they began to develop. The recording itself took 18 intense months and involved
more than 30 guest musicians, including a string quartet, a brass quintet and three
separate choirs. The band describes their writing and recording method as “one
long process of sculpturing; adding, stretching or subtracting the pieces of each
song, finding the right melodies to guide the different pieces and instrumentation
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of it all.” The album title refers to this approach; the notion being that each song
is an assemblage of separate celebratory events, brought together as a
accomplished whole. As the band describes it, “We like the idea that these songs
are a huge parade moving past the listener – each section creating a new
experience, an individual room of a house. Yet all the elements fit together, so you
get a sense of the entire structure as the elements shift and coalesce.”
Unlike previous recordings, the band relied less on digital techniques and went
for a palatial sound by recording in large rooms. A boys' choir and a church organ
were recorded in a church, while other instruments were recorded in their studio
bathroom and hallway; others in an echo chamber. Darren Allison (who worked on
My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, and Ladies and Gentlemen… by Spiritualized –
records that surely need no introduction) mixed the album on analogue
equipment with Efterklang’s Mads Brauer, distinguishing the minutiae of sound
while keeping the bigger picture of each song firmly in focus.
Parades features similarly lavish artwork to Under Giant Trees, by Danish artists
Hvass&Hannibal and UFEX. Like a day-glo Hieronymus Bosch, the design carries
through the musical idea of minuscule detail on an epic scale.
Efterklang will take their stunning eight-person live show on a World tour this
autumn that will continue until late next year, with numerous festival appearances
planned for summer 2008.
Like a gigantic piece of musical theatre, Parades is a remarkable achievement,
dense and diverse, and clearly a lot of fun to put together. You've never heard
anything like it.

Here are the tour dates confirmed ‘presented by Qu Junktions’

Tuesday 16 October 2007
Divan du Monde, Paris, FRANCE with Peter Broderick

Wednesday 17 October 2007
Cabaret Electric, Le Havre, FRANCE, with Peter Broderick

Thursday 18 October 2007
Electroni-k Festival, Rennes, FRANCE

Sunday 21 October 2007
Festival de Otono, Madrid, SPAIN

Tuesday 30 October 2007
Debaser, Malmø, SWEDEN with Peter Broderick

Wednesday 31 October 2007
Blå, Oslo, NORWAY with Peter Broderick

Thursday 1 November 2007
Debaser, Stockholm, SWEDEN with Peter Broderick

Friday 2 November 2007
Stenhammersalen, Gothenburg, SWEDEN with Peter Broderick

Thursday 8 November 2007
Forbrændingen, Albertslund, DENMARK with Slaraffenland

Friday 9 November 2007
Bygningen, Vejle, DENMARK with Slaraffenland

Saturday 10 November 2007
VoxHall, Århus, DENMARK with Slaraffenland

Thursday 15 November 2007
Lille Vega, Copenhagen, DENMARK with Slaraffenland

Friday 16 November 2007
Studenterhus, Odense, DENMARK with Slaraffenland

Wednesday 21 November 2007
Thekla Social, Bristol, UK with Peter Broderick

Thursday 22 November 2007
Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham, UK with Peter Broderick

Friday 23 November 2007
Bush Hall, London, UK with Peter Broderick

Saturday 24 November 2007
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK with Caribou & Peter Broderick

Sunday 25 November 2007
Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK with Peter Broderick

Tuesday 27 November 2007
The Arches, Glasgow, UK with Peter Broderick

Wednesday 28 November 2007
Whelans, Dublin, Ireland with Peter Broderick

Thursday 29 November 2007
Spring & Airbrake, Belfast, UK

Friday 30 November 2007
The Roadhouse, Manchester, UK with Peter Broderick

Saturday 1 December 2007
Concorde 2, Brighton, UK with Peter Broderick

Sunday 2 December 2007
VK-club at Palace, Brussels, BELGIUM with Slaraffenland

Monday 3 December 2007
Paradiso, Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS

Reviews:

“Every so often an album comes along that’s so original it’s difficult to accurately liken it to anything else – even Efterklang’s last album, Tripper, is left behind by Parades.” 4/5, Mike Barnes, Mojo Nov 2007

“More organic than their 2004 debut, Parades is just as richly rewarding” 4/5, Stephen Troussé, Uncut, Nov 2007

“An album to blow minds and warm hearts” Graham Lynch, Rock-a-Rolla, Sep/Oct 2007

“...warmth to spare” 3/5, John Aizlewood, Q, Nov 2007

“a beautiful record of lush, and endearing electronic/indie pop music” Cillian McDonnell, Totally Dublin/Cork

Tracklisting: