release date: Mar. 5, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Søren Bigum; Henrik Balling
label: A:larm / Universal Music Group - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Tæt på en kold favn" - 2. "Lukker mig om dig" - 3. "Den eneste løgn" - 4. "Sangen om langfart" - 6. "Alt hvad du gør" - 7. "(Når du vil) la mig elske dig" - 8. "Jeg glæder mig (til at slå dig ihjel)" - 10. "Malurten i mit blod"
4th studio album by Lise Westzynthius follows more than four years after Siberian Mission (Nov. 2007). The album is her first with lyrics entirely in Danish, and it's also stylistically different from her previous albums. Søren Bigum played guitar on her 2007 album and here he works as multi-instrumentalist and as producer on five tracks. Henrik Balling is a recurring artist who plays on and is exclusive producer on three tracks. Nikolaj Nørlund appears on one song, "Sangen om langfart", a song he also produces, which also introduces a duet with Sebastian on his classic song - Westzynthius has previously supported Sebastian on live occassions, and she also participated on the 2009 tribute album En hyldest til Sebastian. Westzynthius is credited as songwriter and co-producer of the song "Den eneste løgn" with Solveig Sandnes (from Lovebites), who is credited as composer and additional vocalist. The album also includes lyrics by Lone Hørslev for one song (track #6). Hørslev is btw. one half of the duo-project Er De Sjældne, which also features vocalist Solveig Sandnes. In 2009, Sandnes started the world musical project KonoKone, which ended up featuring 21 artists and musicians from Mali and Denmark including Westzynthius, and together they released the ep Hvorfor græder nattens fugle? (2010).
Tæt på en kold favn doesn't yell electronica nor synth pop and basically doesn't shout that much as it's more personal and introspective than her previous albums. Only "Jeg glæder mig (til at slå dig ihjel)" (translates to "I'm looking forward to killing you") (!) is an uptempo electronic song, which in a way sums up what the album thematically is about. Around 2010 Westzynthius divorced Peter Sommer with whom she has a son, and many of the songs here are about the break-up. The title of album and title song translates to "Close to a cold embrace", and several other songs are about the implications of lost love, about lies and betrayal. Once again, Westzynthius isn't an artist who produces hits, nor traditional sing-a-long pop songs, but still, the album simply turns out as her so far second-best. At first, I found it too grey, too anonymous, but after some spins, it sort of invited me in, and frankly it sounds like a fine coherent album, which makes it one of her most succesful releases. One year following this album, Peter Sommer released the album Alt forladt (Jan. 2013), which in many ways is his reaction to the same break-up. Unlike that, however, Tæt på en kold favn is actually a fine album.
Recommended.
