The more the virus lingers the more new bands there are to be found, although NMR did feature Danish quintet, Little Winter last year. They've just released ‘Julia’, their newest single and the first track taken from the band’s recently announced forthcoming album ‘WONDERLOST’ (I take it that’s a play on ‘wanderlust’), which is out in March 2021 via Danish indie label Celebration Records.
They are a group of long-time friends from Aarhus and the album is painted as “homage to the sun-kissed beach vibes of the space age, mixed with the DIY sounds of today’s indie scene. The 12-song album tells a story of feeling lost in a grand, ephemeral world and is the band’s “testament to the small winters we all endure to find our place in the world.” Actually I think this could be rather a long one, chaps.
‘Julia’ is an ode to first love and “the jumble of feelings that it entails” while also “saluting the warming nostalgia and remembrance of the ever-changing world around us.” That’s all starting to sound a little complex with the potential for mixed messages but actually the lyrics are simple and to the point and fundamentally representative of what just about everyone can relate to:
“Julia, loving you was easy/Being young was the fault/Julia, timing wasn’t our thing/We had to move on”. Youth is wasted on the young, n’est-ce pas?
It’s certainly a bright and breezy track. Perhaps the breeziness is slightly overdone given that, well let’s face it, it is a breakup song but you’ll be humming along to it even though the melody line isn’t perhaps quite as strong as it could be and the odd meter requires some lines to be crushed up and others spun out.
What fascinates me about it is the similarity of style – I picked this up from the second or third hearing, you might not do at all – to that of early 1990s Brit Pop and especially The Divine Comedy. This could easily be one of their songs and singer Nikolai Kjeldager Ryan might be Neil Hannon.
At least Julia hasn’t had to suffer the ignominy of travelling on the National Express, let alone having an arse the size of a small country.
‘WONDERLOST’ is set to release in March 2021 on all streaming platforms and limited 12” gatefold vinyl via Celebration Records.
Find them on their website.