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about
“Sparks” is the first single of Quiet Sonias upcoming full-lenght debut-album “QS” recorded entirely live with the seven-piece group. It’s an upbeat, fresh piece of folky chamber-rock with a punk attitude, a teary-eyed though kind of hopeful pop song with a fierce and loose organic band-quality drawing inspiration from 80’s jangle and college rock - acts such as Hüsker Dü, The Go Betweens and The Wedding Present comes to mind - held together by the structured feel and distinct voice of Nikolaj Bruus’ songwriting. In an abstract, poetic language “Sparks” concerns among other things the absolute value of human bonds, embracing our condition as being exactly “human all too human”, about trustfully giving in to the spectacle of the improvised machinery.
Recorded entirely live in a candle-lit studio over the course of a weekend at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Quiet Sonia’s debut full-length, “QS”, is the first recording with the whole seven-piece group, paying homage to a certain bunch of classic rock records with a distinctive “live” or “band” feel such as Songs: Ohia’s “Magnolia Electric Co.”, Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” or Cowboy Junkies’ “The Trinity Session”. Not at least the way recording worked (before multitrack-recording) when you recorded straight-to-tape, literally cut a track in wax! With a certain raw, stark quality - and no overdubs - this record is all about the core of the songwriting, the quality of the group’s interplay and the momentaneous energy of the individual performances. An exercise in attentive listening and feeling - delicately working with subtle shifts in texture, tempo, dynamics, improvisational elements and the artistic use of silence - the result is a certain warmth, urgency and intimacy perhaps too rarely experienced in rock music nowadays. “QS” is a big, wide open - sprawling yet intimate - noisy, raw and emotional chamber-rock/folk/post-rock record that we hope you’ll enjoy as much as QS enjoyed making it.
lyrics
Have you ever raised the dead
Stirred at the bottom of things
Without body or desire
Felt the guttural moment of gentle apocalypse
Have you ever sought for a measure
Of emotional warmth
Like cold showers through your lungs
Trying to escape the garden of daily threats
Have you ever seen
The red light exit sign
In the city sublime
Towering in the night
You better find, yeah, you better find
Another way out
Have you ever left a message
In the white-grey snow
Asking for help
Thinking that you would like to go home
But you’re not sure what home is
Anymore
But did you know
That some of the divine light
Escapes as sparks
That you’re not alone
And have you really made every attempt
To become human flesh?
Have you ever felt
The brief, blinding epiphanies
Like adding a candle
To the sun
Or just being truly human
With another human being
Felt the glowing paintbrush
In your hands
Explored the rhythms of
The improvised machinery
credits
released March 31, 2023
Lead Vocals / Acoustic Steel String Guitar: Nikolaj Bruus
Grand Piano / Backing Vocals: Frida Rolskov Pedersen
Organ / Backing Vocals: Rasmus Jon Lundager
Electric Bass: Phillip Dyssegaard
Drums: Jens Marl Christiansen
Electric Guitar: Anders Meyer
Violin: Thea Thorborg Pedersen
Lyrics by Nikolaj Bruus
Songwriting by Nikolaj Bruus & Quiet Sonia
Mix & Mastering by Morten Bue
Recorded by Kristian Alexander Pedersen at The Royal Danish Academy of Music
Artwork by Nikolaj Bruus
Design by Brian Raaby Andersen & Nikolaj Bruus
Logo by Anders Bjørn Sprogøe
Quiet Sonia is a Copenhagen-based experimental chamber rock/folk septet. Fronted by Nikolaj Bruus’ compositions on acoustic
guitar, rich baritone-voice and evocative abstract lyrics, Quiet Sonia plays big, sprawling yet intimate and highly dynamic emotional rock music with longer narrative-like structures, improvisational elements and intricate detailled arrangements....more
Shivers down your spine...... AOFY 2023. Stunning blend of Talk Talk / Bark Psychosis influences, some contemporary Asian Glow / Parannoul vibes, a bit of Steve Roach / Jon Hassell. RECOMMENDED. Quiet Sonia
Another AOTY 2023 contender. A bit of Stephan Micus in this. Most heartbreaking vocals I've heard in a long time. An extremely strong emotional experience. Thank you, Le Cri du Caire. Quiet Sonia
Best jangle album I've heard in a long long time. They're British, and apparently inspired by trad British folk, but they sound more like the best kiwi bands to me. Strongly recommended. Quiet Sonia
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