Black Light White Light | Interview | New Album, ‘The Admirer’
Black Light White Light is the musical project of Danish/Swedish songwriter Martin Ejlertsen based in Malmo with a brand new album out, ‘The Admirer’.
Spacious soundscapes echoing catchy pop songs with a neo-psychedelic touch and enveloped with pervasive melancholy and a Scandinavian noir vibe. Black Light White Light is the musical project of Danish/Swedish songwriter Martin Ejlertsen based in Malmo. Spacious soundscapes echoing catchy pop songs with a neo-psychedelic touch and enveloped with pervasive melancholy and a Scandinavian noir vibe.
Black Light White Light started working on the new album ‘The Admirer’ in 2019, when songwriter/singer/guitarist Martin Ejlertsen, drummer Viktor Höber and pianist Pontus Örnstrand retired to a studio in central Copenhagen, Denmark where they jammed and made Ejlertsen’s demos come to live in a close collaboration with Danish producer Christian Ki. The recordings for the album was completed in 2020 in Tambourine Studio in the band’s hometown Malmö when closed borders between Denmark and Sweden due to the covid-19 pandemic forced the band to find creative solutions to worldwide problems that came too close. The album was mixed in The U.S. by American Grammy Award-winning technician Kennie Takahashi (The Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells, Portugal The Man, Michael Kiwanuka et cetera).
‘The Admirer’ marks the band’s most personal and probably most versatile and creative album to date. The creativity and Ejlertsen’s desire to explore new musical ideas is clearly noticeable in the albums’ three first singles – all exploring new musical as well as linguistic and lyrical territories. The new songs showcase that the band has set an exciting course towards making unusual rock songs about personal issues that reveals a robustness in the face of despair, but also a steely gaze directed towards a hope for the future.
“I don’t want to paint myself or the band into a particular musical corner”
How much work is behind your latest album, ‘The Admirer’?
Martin Ejlertsen: The genesis and process behind the album was quite long. That was actually the intention as well. Because we went into the studio with a musical journey in mind builded on my loose sketches for some songs and only then got a clearer picture of how the album could be and sound. The playful process in the studio means it all takes longer. But that time is well spent, because this approach to creating art together is fun and rewarding for everyone involved. We started little by little in autumn 2019 and didn’t finish recording until spring 2021. However, the whole process was also delayed by the covid-19 pandemic. Because that meant that the borders between Sweden and Denmark were closed for several months and we could therefore not travel over the bridge from Malmö, Sweden to the studio in Copenhagen, Denmark and complete the album. Instead, we had to finish it in Malmö, where the band is also based in a new studio and with a new technician. It presented certain challenges, but at the same time also opened new doors to change songs and ideas. It gave, for example, the title track ‘The Admirer’ a completely new shape and sound, which I am very happy with.
Would love to hear where it was recorded and what was the production like?
We recorded most of the album in Viktoria Studio in central Copenhagen, Denmark with fellow producer and musician Christian Ki. At the time we were only 3 in the band – now we are 4. The band typically met with Ki in the and then we just started recording my song sketches and ideas which were quickly further developed into finished songs. Sometimes I would take the ideas with me back home and further develop them to the next session. This model provided fertile ground for new ideas for other songs and thus the whole thing just became a fruitful chain reaction. We usually recorded the foundation of the song live – that would often be the drums – but ideas and recordings could be cut up and new ones added. Everything is really allowed and thus in play.
Do you have a certain way of writing songs or does it depend on the song itself? Tell us more about the material on your latest album…
I don’t want to paint myself or the band into a particular musical corner. I don’t want to be associated with a certain scene, because I have no affiliation with a scene. This is perhaps both the band’s strength and weakness. We might be a little bit difficult to capture, because we have both the more experimental side but to some extent also some more pop elements in us. I find this to be a big strength. I want to make melodic songs that settle in the brain and the heart, but I also like them to have an edge in both the sound and lyrics. Piano has become a central element in several of the new songs, like ‘Too Tired,’ ‘Epilepsy’ and ‘The Admirer,’ which in this way has given us a completely new sound. I think that really suits us and lifts the whole album. The idea for e.g. Too Tired was a little melody on a piano that came to me quite a long time ago. I knew this was going to be a piano driven song. We never did this before. However, most songs are written on my Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar, which I typically tune in an open E minor. The melody line for Epilepsy came to me one day and I quickly found that singing e-p-i-l-e-p-s-y in the chorus was appropriate. As if that song was meant to come here and now. It is dedicated to my daughter, who has epilepsy.
“As life is multifaceted, I wanted the album to be the same”
The album is quite diverse, was that an original plan? Do you feel there’s a certain concept behind it?
I found out quite early in the process that this album should and would be something different. Already in the earlier part of the songwriting process, I came up with conceptual and textual ideas for songs about, for example, epilepsy, an ode to my son and a declaration of love to my wife and our life as parents. The idea behind the album this time was that it should be very personal. This should be reflected in the texts. But it was also to be expressed in the actual music. Where I have previously written and described things around me in the world on a looser basis often completely open to the listener’s own interpretation, this time the texts are very personal and tangible. There is a completely different presence. There are songs about personal fear, doubt, and uncertainty, but also the enormous joys and love associated with being a father, living as a parent in a family for better times or sometimes worse. As life is multifaceted, I wanted the album to be the same. The Admirer is like a companion down the road of my life. There are beautiful things, but also illness, fear of death and uncertainty about life’s mysterious labyrinth.
How would you compare it to your previous releases?
Our new album bristles in many directions and thus far more in its musical expression than we have done before. To me that is a great strength. We have once again made room for new ideas and new ways of expressing ourselves as a band. It is artistically a great satisfaction for both me and the others in the band that in this way we give room to develop musically together and individually. Personally, I also think that the songs on the new album are the best I have ever written. Not just because they are very personal to me, but because musically they are something new and far more than we have achieved before. And in terms of production and final sound, they have really come into their own right and have gained wings.
Are you planning to go on tour?
The band has been busy with life’s many tasks lately. For example, our drummer has had a child. But we have a couple of concerts in Sweden at the beginning of September together with Badlands. We do have a desire to get on the road to present the album if there is interest and demand for it. The live scene is undergoing a hard change these years and it has become increasingly difficult and expensive for bands to go on tour. We feel that too.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
My musical inspiration for this album comes from many places. From both new and old. For example, I have found great inspiration from Blur’s late and more experimental 90s albums, which are still masterpieces. But also a constant flow of inspiration from, for example, The Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Beck or Sparklehorse. It’s good to hear great tunes from newer bands such as Broken Bells, Big Search, Sam Cohen, Nik Brinkman, BC Camplight or our Swedish companions Les Big Byrd.
Thank you. Last word is yours.
Thanks for a really good chat. We hope that our music, like small waves, will wash ashore at old and new latitudes, and that it will find new homes in hearts that can use the music for something in their lives, as we can use it on our own. Take care out there and thank you for reading along. Maybe we’ll see each other along the way.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Jannick Boerlum
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‘The Admirer’ by Black Light White Light | New Album, ‘The Admirer’ | “Scandinavian noir vibe”
