Solen Er Sexet "Solen er sexet" (2022)

Solen er sexet [debut]

release date: Jun. 3, 2022

format: digital (sPlotify)

[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,36]

producer: various

label: Cloudland Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 3. "Kyndelmisse kys mig"

Conceptual project album from Solen Er Sexet - here represented by a Danish music collective led by songwriter Lise Westzynthius and author and playwright Bjørn Rasmussen. Both are credited the majority of the songs here and both contribute as vocalists. The album feature a vast group of individuals, some of which have co-written the songs with Westzynthius and Rasmussen and participants count performers with aliases like HunBjørn, Solveig, GRO, Vakle, peachlyfe, Princess Waterfall, O/RIOH, alongside the following: Anna Brønsted, Frederik Valentin, Laurids Bruun Rørvig, Søren Bigum, Niels Gröndahl, Maria Laurette Friis, and Henrik Vibskov - the latter also took part in the Danish band Luksus together with Westzynthius. Producer credits of the individual songs seems based on the featuring 'guest(s)'.

Lise Westzynthius most recently released the album JA (Sep. 2018), which already pointed to a new focal point of her music, which I experienced as having a new-religous tone of naivety. This is indeed another leap into an extraordinary field of performative expression. I'm fully aware that the album has been met by some positive reviews from established national newspapers and music magazines. That said, I have been in doubt about how to meet this release. My first reaction was one of big surprise and something I found was a disbelief - both when listening to sheer musical qualities and then when confronted by the lyrics. Put together, there's undoubtedly musicality at stake. I think that's a most positive notion and probably the one I'm able to utter 'cause fact is, it's more extreme than good. In some ways, and without further comparison, it's a bit like what I experienced upon listening to Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter's SAVED (2023) in terms of an immediate sense of disbelief. And there's a lot of that going on when listening to Solen er sexet, which btw. translates to 'The Sun Is Sexy', and the end result unfortunately also include my personal rejection of the music, which it also did in the case of Hayter. Musically, it's mostly anything but challenging and completely held in a harmony-driven gear like someone who only hits the white keys on the keyboard. Lyrically, the songs reflect composer skills but not without a strong implication of not only simplicity but also a new age-/new-found-Christian-/new-nature-religious-like naivety. The whole music collective seems fully emerged in a nature-eros lifestyle, which oozes through music and lyrical content. Without pointing any fingers at the performing collective, they obviously represent and embrace non-binary and multiple sexualities; however, their common musical product here reek anything but deeper intellectual thoughts, which in many ways actually reflect the strongest asset but also, and that's most critical: it also imbellishes an amateurish approach that too often reminds me of what you would expect from a secondary school or high-school musical happening.

The songs are positive in subject treatment and even showcase creative, original rhyming phrases. And that's when focusing on a positive feedback regarding artistic intention, but most choruses, and even in the verses, the language is extremely naive and repetitious. "Skødesløse lænder", "Kom i mit smil", "Hej gud", "Heidi her", "Fiskes liste" are all hard to listen to because of downright amateurish language. To me, this is bad on too many parameters and frankly below mediocre. I think, I actually rate it higher only due to the positive starting point and the all-embracing vibes because how can you not welcome someone, when their only desire is to reach out and to preach peace, love, and harmony?

[ Gaffa.dk, Side 33 4 / 6 stars ]

Lise Westzynthius "JA" (2018)

JA

release date: Sep. 14, 2018

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]

producer: Camillo Gino, Lise Westzynthius

label: Heavypop / DME - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Mommo" - 2. "Flyv mig ind" - 3. "Kaster dig op" - 4. "Laura Palmer" - 8. "På den anden side" - 10. "Fuck. Du forlader mig aldrig"

5th studio album by Lise Westzynthius following 6½ years after Tæt på en kold favn (Mar. 2012) issued on Westzynthius own label Heavypop via Danish Music & Entertainment and co-produced by Westzynthius and Camillo Gino (Askjær) (guitarist in the Danish band Rum 37). All songs are credited Westzynthius alone except two compositions: tracks #3 and #4, which are both co-written by Bjørn Rasmussen. Btw. "Laura Palmer" is translated dialogue (by David Lynch) taken from the Twin Peaks TV-series.

Apparently, and according to Westzynthius herself, she spent some years after her 2012 album finding back on her feet. From her own website it's described as she took "...a deeper dive into her inner self. This lead to a journey of 6-7 years within the fields of body work, shamanism, hypnosis, ayahuasca, tantra, meditation, etc. All along the way, new songs were born, and Lise slowly started working on them together with a good friend, Camillo Gino."  According to Westzynthius this journey was a healing process, where she focussed on being more minded on her physical conditions because she has had a natural way of dealing with emotional aspects, and she need more grounding. In this regard, JA ["YES"] is a way of meeting and focussing on positive aspects of life, and if that includes being stark-naked, Westzynthius has no reservations with that.

Musically, the album mostly follows the tone of her 2012 album. The biggest difference is her extreme positivism, which at times tend to be an expression touching on naivety. Lyrically, she has certainly evolved. Where early lyrics bore traits of obscurity and mysticism, which involved some kind of deciphering of her lyrics, she now expresses herself in a much more direct manner. Thematically, she hasn't completely left her divorce, she returns to the memory of her ex-husband in several lyrics, e.g. on "På den anden side", which also recounts the title of the debut album by her ex-husband, and at the same time she keeps repeating that she's looking forward to meeting his real self "On the Other Side" [of what? When they are dead? Or, when she's finally over the break-up and they can meet again?], but the overall impression is an artist, who appears more willing to experiment. I'm not fully convinced about the end result, though. There's a blue-eyed and near new-religious tone to most of her songs that keeps bothering me but apart from that, it's just nice to have Westzynthius back.

[ Gaffa.dk, Soundvenue 5 / 6, Undertoner 2,5 / 6 stars, Information review ]

Lise Westzynthius "Tæt på en kold favn" (2012)

Tæt på en kold favn

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.

Lise Westzynthius "Siberian Mission" (2007)

Siberian Mission

release date: Nov. 5, 2007

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,26]

producer: Lise Westzynthius

label: A:larm / Auditorium - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Siberian Mission" - 2. "Childlike Curves" - 3. "Motion Picture" - 4. "Soldiers" - 5. "Long Dark Night of the Soul"

3rd studio album by Lise Westzynthius follows the album Rock, You Can Fly (Mar. 2004) by close to four years. Where the predecessor starred British producer Ian Caple, this new album is made with Westzynthius producing seven tracks, mixing engineer and producer Carsten Heller and Henrik Balling (of Gangway) both producing one track each, and then British musician Rob Ellis as producer and arranger of two songs (tracks #1 and #8) still offer high quality guest appearances - it's probably no coincidence that Ian Caple, who produced Westzynthius' 2004 album later produced husband Peter Sommer's Destruktive Vokaler (2008), on which Henrik Balling and guitarist Søren Bigum appears - Bigum also plays guitar on six tracks here, and then also Peter Sommer appears on two songs.

Stylewise, Siberian Mission is in some ways an extension of her 2004 album, blending indie pop and electronica with subtleness, but along the way it's obviously a much more folk-oriented album compared to the predecessor, but also less of a coherent release. Most tracks are soft and mellow in style, some are uptempo pop, but a few tracks simply burst with aggressiveness, which makes them stand out much more when surrounded by quiet and gentle songs, and then hardly any songs in particular attracts your attention and makes this a great album. In fact, I find it a bit underwhelming when thinking of how good the predecessor was.

Lise Westzynthius "Rock, You Can Fly" (2004)

Rock, You Can Fly

release date: Mar. 22, 2004

format: cd (TRBL 111))

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: Ian Caple

label: Auditorium / Playground - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Séance" (video) - 2. "Mousquetaire" - 5. "Break Another Heart" - 7. "Cowboys and Indians" (video) - 8 . "Sunstroke" - 10. "The Wreck" - 11. "Return to Take-Off"

2nd studio album by Lise Westzynthius following 1½ years after Heavy Dream (Sep. 2002) is produced by Ian Caple, who amongst other things has worked with Saybia, Sort Sol (the Danish connection), Tindersticks, Suede, and The Creatures - an international producer name making his engagement on this a bit of a scoop. All twelve songs are credited Westzynthius and the album was recorded with a stable core of (primarily British) studio musicians. The total running time is close to 52 minutes.

Her debut album gave hints of originality but basically didn't come through as a strong coherent release. In contrast to that, Rock You Can Fly boasts with diversity and musical artistry on a level that immediately puts her on par with international names of electronic indie pop with a singer / songwriter edge. On earlier releases - with Luksus and on her debut - she took too strong inspirations from say Dolores O'Riordan or Morrissey, but here she appears mostly in her own original projection. It's predominantly in an introspective and ethereal corner of indie pop and the overall sensation is remarkably well-grounded, as if coming from someone who has released 5-7 albums prior to this. I think, with this Westzynthius really proves her worth as a solo artist, providing great expectations for upcoming albums.

This particular album is recommended as Westzynthius' best (ever) solo album.

Lise Westzynthius "Heavy Dream" (2002)

Heavy Dream [debut]

release date: Sep. 9, 2002

format: cd

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,04]

producer: Rune Schjøtt, Henrik Balling, Nikolaj Nørlund, Lise Westzynthius

label: Auditorium - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Based on a True Story" - 2. "Heavy Dream" - 5. "Still Life in Sthlm" - 8. "Élite" - 10. "The Spectral Psalm"

Studio album debut by Lise Westzynthius following the disbandment of indie-pop band Luksus in 2001, after which the band's two primary songwriters and vocalists Westzynthius and Mikael Simpson initiated solo careers. Westzynthius shortly played with Nikolaj Nørlund in his project-band Rhonda Harris - and she takes a solid part of the album The Trouble with Rhonda Harris (2001). Simpson debuted in May 2002 with the self-released album Os to + lidt ro 2002.

Heavy Dream is a more quiet turn from what Luksus played, and it comes out as something quite original in an electronic art pop style with focus on singer / songwriter material - actually, much in the same way Simpson examined on his debut. Westzynthius sings in a light, delicate, spheric vocal, which doesn't vary much from track to track and over the span of the album, where it both proves fine and giving, although, it also appears with too little to offer on its own terms. At times she does sound a bit like Nina Persson from The Cardigans. Heavy Dream is nevertheless an approved debut, and Westzynthius is definitely an artist to look out for, although, the album stands a bit in the shadow of Simpson's stronger solo debut.

Luksus "Repertoire" (1998)

Repertoire [debut]

release date: Mar. 10, 1998

format: cd (LIDOCD12)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]

producer: Tue Madsen & Mikael Simpson

label: Lidocaine Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Waiting for the Good Life" - 2. "Myrtilles" - 3. "Hit-and-Run Driver" - 5. "Victoria" - 9. "Wash & Go" - 11. "El Dorado"

Full-length studio debut by Luksus is like the '97 ep produced by Madsen and Simpson. The song "El Dorado" also appears on the ep but here it's included in a new arrangement and apart from that the album comes with ten new songs.

Compared to the ep, Repertoire still echoes especially Lush, Sundays, and The Smiths, but also at times here: The Cranberries, although, everything is held in a stronger original tone of their own when comparing to the ep.

Repertoire is a fine debut, which gave promises of more ahead but alas it also became the band's first and only full-length album as the band decided to part ways in 2001. Both Mikael Simpson and Lise Westzynthius solo-debuted in 2002.

Luksus "Luksus" (ep) (1997)

Luksus (ep) [debut]

release date: 1997

format: cd

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]

producer: Tue Madsen & Mikael Simpson

label: Lidocaine Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Particularly Lucky" - 2. "I Miss You" - 3. "Stardust" - 4. "El Dorado"

Studio ep debut by Danish indie pop band Luksus cosisting of vocalist and guitarist Mikael Simpson, vocalist and keyboardist Lise Westzynthius, bassist Georg Rune Andersen, and drummer Henrik Vibskov. Three tracks (tracks #4, #5, and #6) are written and composed by Simpson, two tracks (tracks #1 and #2) are credited Westzynthius, and track #3 is by Simpson and Westzynthius. The album consists of six compositions with a total running length of just under 27 minutes.

Musically, the band doesn't walk new paths, but the combo of strong influences from Lush and The Smiths are obvious, and at times a bit unoriginal. Especially, the vocal performance by Westzynthius often appears as attempts to copying the vocal phrasing by Morrissey (listen to "Particularly Lucky" and "My Late Twin (Piano)" - on which she even mentions listening to the Smiths).