In brieflive

In a Warm Bed of Darkness

Gintė Preisaitė, Drew McDowall

Rumor has it that the now-defunct British electronic band Coil once created a soundtrack for the cult horror film Hellraiser – so disturbing that it was rejected for being too frightening. With that story in the background, it almost felt like a natural opening to autumn’s darkness when Drew McDowall, former member of the mythical band, took the stage at Alice in Copenhagen on Wednesday evening. The Scottish musician is known for entering into striking collaborations – with Danish Puce Mary and, most recently, the American-Swedish composer Kali Malone – and it was precisely for this reason that it made sense for the evening to begin with an intense concert by Gintė Preisaitė. Like McDowall, she has the ability to transform even the simplest sounds into all-encompassing sonic landscapes.

Although both musicians clearly work from an electronic foundation, their sonic universes appeared remarkably organic, as if they were shaping living material. In her all-too-brief concert, Preisaitė created a mosaic of field recordings, voice fragments, and cassette tapes – chaotic one moment, ordered and transparent the next. With the same cool precision, McDowall unfolded his performance as if it were one long harmonium drone, slowly creeping under the skin with the inescapable logic of a horror film. For McDowall, darkness is not an alien force but a familiar companion, which he skillfully reshapes into soundscapes that are at once disturbing and reassuringly enveloping – like lying in a warm bed with the nightmare right beside you.

Both Preisaitė and McDowall moved effortlessly across the border between the acoustic and the electronic. Their music appeared as a contemporary legacy of the musique concrète tradition: an insistence that electronic music remains one of the most experimental art forms – vital, organic, and with the ability to let even the smallest sound open up an entire world in itself.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

Playlist

03.07

My name is Nana Pi – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music for me is a tool of infinite expression. It’s where I’ve had the most complex conversations and open-minded experiences. It is the highest form of energy I know.«

Nana Pi is a saxophonist, composer and conductor working within the experimental music scene. She has developed a unique musical vocabulary on the saxophone by incorporating objects and extended techniques, pushing the boundaries of sonic expression. Beyond her work as a saxophonist, she is known for conducting improvisation using her music sign language, Extemporize, for which she received the P8 Jazz Award Årets Ildsjæl in 2020. She is a member of the well established record label Barefoot Records. In addition to her musical career, Nana Pi is organizing events such as Impro Camp and FredagsJAM that focuses on creating networks and inspiring music environments between musicians.

Playlist

20.06

My name is Samyula – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is an emotional refuge. When I sit at the piano I feel safe, it's where I can release everything I carry inside. It's not about performing, it's about being honest, vulnerable and free.«

Samanta Yubero, known artistically as Samyula, is a composer, pianist, and neuroscientist based in Barcelona. Trained as a classical pianist and holding a PhD in her scientific field, Samyula bridges the worlds of art and science in her work. Her music – often within neoclassicism – blends both serene and intense piano melodies with vivid, dynamic string arrangements, creating emotionally resonant and immersive soundscapes. With a deep passion for both composition and performance, Samyula offers audiences a uniquely powerful and moving experience.

Playlist

11.06

My name is Tomasz Dąbrowski – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music is the ultimate gateway to presence, a true expression of the moment.«

Praised by DownBeat Magazine as one of Europe’s most versatile and inquisitive musicians, Polish-born, Scandinavian-based trumpeter and composer Tomasz Dąbrowski creates music that whispers before it screams – blending open, lyrical melodies with raw, unconventional trumpet sounds. Dąbrowski has revealed an unceasing curiosity, stretching and expanding his jazz roots in an ever-widening circle of exploration. From the beginning he’s rejected hierarchies, preferring to see creative music as a boundless practice that can accommodate ideas drawn from every spot on the stylistic map. While plenty of musicians pivot toward new directions, sometimes transforming their aesthetic wholesale, Dąbrowski has long revealed a more ruminative and holistic mindset that has allowed him to retain a clear artistic identity through countless projects, whether driven by improvisation or composition.

Playlist

03.06

My name is Anna Roemer – would you like to see my playlist?

»Music is where my heart is. The place where I feel the most freedom and possibility to express myself. It's also the place I seek to when I need to calm down.«

Anna Roemer is a Danish guitarist and composer from South Zealand, now based in Copenhagen. She has performed with artists like Hannah Schneider, Jacob Bellens, and Guldimund. Together with saxophonist Cecilie Strange, she forms the acclaimed duo K A L E II D O, known for music that constantly evolves. The duo has received national and international praise and won the Carl Prize for »Jazz Composer of the Year« for their albums Elements and Places (2024).

In brieflive

02.06

Not the Royal Rock Star We Might Have Wished For

David M. A. P. Palmquist: »King Frederik X’s Honour March«

Premiere at Amalienborg Slotsplads, 26.05

Jakob Gustav Winckler

Surely, I can’t be the only one who nearly choked on my oyster on New Year’s Eve, when King Frederik X delivered his first New Year’s speech. What a modern take on the old tradition! Instead of sitting solemnly at a desk, he calmly walked into the room – a room demanding attention, where a futuristic mural stole the show. I could barely focus on the speech itself, distracted by the psychedelic imagery behind him: a visual nod to Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. Was this a sign of a rock star ascending the throne?

Wishful thinking, as it turned out. The speech turned into a parade of predictable platitudes. The same can be said about the King’s new Honour March, composed by David M. A. P. Palmquist, former conductor of the Royal Danish Life Guards Music Corps. A traditional and sluggish piece that plays it entirely by the book.

Since H.C. Lumbye gifted a march to Frederik VII in 1861, it has been a tradition for members of the royal family to be granted personal marches. Take the lively and self-ironic Parade March for Queen Margrethe, which includes quotes from both »I Danmark er jeg født« and »Daisy Bell«. Or Crown Prince Frederik’s brisk and quirky Honour March in 6/8 time – written by Fuzzy for the now-King’s 30th birthday – tipping its hat to Carl Nielsen’s »Som en rejselysten flåde«.

But where is the personal character in Palmquist’s march? The composer approaches the task far too conceptually, attempting to give the piece a musical signature with a kind of rebus at the beginning. The first note is an F, followed by one ten steps higher – thus spelling »Frederik the 10th« in musical code. The many references to other military music are just as internal. What’s missing is something that breaks with protocol – just like King Frederik himself has done in his most memorable and beloved moments. In the end, it sounds like a march that has forgotten who it was written for.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek. Proofreading: Seb Doubinsky